Just spent ages going through this thread, so many good points to reply to, but I'll add my two-penneth on the subject of gates from a recent (16th August 2008) experience at Paddington. Well, another older one first...
Now, a couple of years ago I nearly flipped when I wasn't allowed back on the platform after changing my mind when reaching my train and discovering I needed some drinks for the long journey. This was when Valentas were still running but were starting to become an endangered species. I returned to the barrier and told him I was just off to get a drink. Upon my return, I went back to the barrier to get on the Carmarthen train (the pair of Valentas being on this) and changing at Reading. That was the plan and I was perfectly valid to do so on my Saver Return of London Terminals to Hereford, Route Evesham. I wanted the Valentas, who wouldn't?!
I don't think I had the same gentleman on the barrier when I returned and I swear I'm not trying to be racist or nowt, but this gentleman was not of British origin and could hardly understand what I was saying, let alone understand the complex ticketing rules. Either way, he insisted I went to platform 10 for the 1242 to Hereford. No way would he accept that I was wanted to get the Carmarthen train and change at Reading. To him, this was not allowed. When it is perfectly valid, I don't know how he could say no, but as I say he couldn't understand most of what I was saying anyway. I give up after a few minutes and go to platform 10. I was not aware at the time that it was the first Sunday of booked 180s on this train, which had seen HSTs on it for so long I assumed that would be the same. My jaw hit the floor and I nearly dropped my bags too, I was so angry I'd have to suffer that pile of junk all the way home.
What made that journey worse was that I had been unable to get anything I wanted to drink so had returned with just some food for lunch. What I didn't know until we left and I had upgraded to First Class was that there was no catering staff on so we would have no complimentary stuff. London to Hereford, roughly 3.25 hours, without drinks? I have two fingers to raise to that idea. Thankfully we had a few minutes at Reading so I raced off the train into the shop on platform 4 and forked out a lot for a bottle of Diet Coke. £1.25 is a lot of money for those things, but desperate measures...
Quite simply it was a horrible end to a brilliant 21st birthday bash around London. We arrived back late (surprise surprise) and the journey was horribly long and boring. Since then I've had a special hate for barriers, the FGW staff who work on them and 180s. No, it's not a hate, it's a fiery passion against those things much akin to my same fiery hatred of 222s and 442s.
Right, and now what I was originally going to say. On 16th August 2008 I was awaiting the 2130 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads. I knew which platform it should be (2 or 3 I narrowed it down to in the end), so waited by the barriers. No way was I waiting amongst the veg. So eventually it comes on the screen. My AP fare doesn't work in the barriers (surprise surprise, they NEVER work), so I go to the manual gate. The FGW man is moaning at someone that was moaning about not being allowed through. This is after the platform had been announced with the FGW man insisting that the passenger awaits the announcement. During this time it had been put on the screen with dozens going through the barrier, so I had lost my place to go through the barriers quickly. A manual announcement is being made but the FGW man is more interested in arguing! Eventually he gives up with the passenger, then checks my ticket which I had got out ready. He insists on checking my reservation (the first time I've seen that on the barriers) which delayed me even more. By now there was about 4 dozen passengers on the platform with the other lot already in their seats and another few dozen coming up behind me. Eventually he reads it three times, why I don't know, then lets me on. I really wanted to say to him "about bloody time", but thought better of it. He even asked to see my railcard. Now I had never seen anyone so desperate before. Still, I found my seat in coach A where I was booked and plugged everything in.
My beef with the gentleman is that it was already cutting it thin to get everyone on in time, whilst he was purely focused on triple-checking everyone's ticket that went to the manual barrier. If I have my way, I'll never have an AP to go through a barrier again, they're a bugger to deal with. I have two fingers to raise to barriers, they drive me nuts.
Don't get me wrong, they are useful to stop fare evasion or at least reduce it. What gets on my nerves just as much though are the barriers at Clapham Junction. Not once have I passed my travelcard through one of them without it telling me to seek assistance. And as soon as you hit the manual gate they glare at you something rotten as if you're on an invalid ticket or trying to dodge the fare. When you've paid a lot of money for a ticket it makes me even angrier that does. They're always reluctant to give you your ticket back too, once I had to ask for it back. She looked at me as if I had scared the living daylights out of her!
hock:
So you might be under the impression I hate barriers. You would be totally correct. My experiences above, in my eyes, will be repeated many times on these stations to be barriered and I predict a riot when the wires go down on the ECML, not to mention when people's tickets don't work. The evil looks you get from the staff make me want to bellow at them something rotten sometimes...
I'm not an angry man, honest guv, but I just hate the barriers not liking me!
