Sheffield station why no ticket gates?

[northwichcat]

The best deterrent to fare evasion is to keep potential evaders off the trains in the first place.

If it's a metro system with a fixed priced single fare then ticket barriers prevent fare evasion. If not ticket barriers mean fare evaders change their approach to get around the system e.g. buying the cheapest ticket that gets them through the barriers or using an alternative station without barriers.

Note also that at Wigan North Western both Northern and Virgin occasionally operate revenue blocks. Again these can be quite lucrative given that checks on board Virgin services between Preston and Wigan are very rare due to TMs nearly always changing at Preston, and the chancers know it!

Manual blocks surprise more people as they don't know exactly when they'll be there. Ticket barriers can't jump on the train and base themselves at another station on a different day.

 

[londonmidland]

Northern Revenue on today at Sheffield..

 

[Andyh82]

I was at Meadowhall yesterday, same problem as with Sheffield, the big goons Northern hires harass innocent Supertram people as they were blocking part of the suspension bridge. I had my ticket, but I don't see why I should be forced to put up with the breach of privacy, for all they know I could of wanted to get a paper before changing trains.

They seem to do manned ticket checks at Meadowhall very frequently. As you say they do sometime blockade the bridge (as it's less labour intensive than blockading each individual platform) which means non ticket holders have to pass through, either having used the station car park or the super tram or accessing the entrance/exit beyond Platform 4

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

If it's a metro system with a fixed priced single fare then ticket barriers prevent fare evasion. If not ticket barriers mean fare evaders change their approach to get around the system e.g. buying the cheapest ticket that gets them through the barriers or using an alternative station without barriers.

Of course any network with "complex" fares requires some en-route checking: barriers by themselves are never going to provide a complete solution! As for the evaders' changed approaches, the first when detected is a slam dunk RoRA prosecution with (possibly heavy) fine and criminal record, the second demonstrates the deterrent effect of barriers and will only be adopted by the very determined who are always going to be harder to deal with.

Manual blocks surprise more people as they don't know exactly when they'll be there. Ticket barriers can't jump on the train and base themselves at another station on a different day.

Except that barrier lines need fewer staff to supervise them releasing others to form a permanent mobile "hit squad". But that presupposes a willingness to commit staffing resources to revenue protection in the first place. The legacy of the open stations era tends to the opposite POV.

 

[sheff1]

Northern Revenue on today at Sheffield..

I have never seem them on the platforms before. A lot easier to avoid them there I would think.

 

[northwichcat]

Of course any network with "complex" fares requires some en-route checking: barriers by themselves are never going to provide a complete solution!

They actually provide a potentially less complete solution than manual checks at a station. A barrier can't stop someone using a railcard discounted ticket without a railcard, someone with an advance ticket getting on the wrong time train or someone using a ticket which isn't valid for the train they are boarding e.g. boarding a Virgin service with a LM only ticket. If you have a railcard but didn't have it on you would you rather have to go to the ticket office and buy a full price Off-Peak ticket after a RPI asked to see your railcard or be made to buy a full price Anytime ticket on the train after the barriers let you through or be threatened with prosecution at your destination station?

As for the evaders' changed approaches, the first when detected is a slam dunk RoRA prosecution with (possibly heavy) fine and criminal record,

And how do you ensure only the genuine fare evaders get penalised and you don't finish up prosecuting passengers who didn't realise they made a mistake and putting people off using the trains in the process?

the second demonstrates the deterrent effect of barriers and will only be adopted by the very determined who are always going to be harder to deal with.

Some people live or work close to multiple stations and even when they always buy a valid ticket they find changing the station they use is a sensible option after some 'rail expert' decides there's room to fit in y barriers (where y is a number) without considering that for the volume of passengers 3y barriers are needed even though that number can't fit in the existing station layout.

Except that barrier lines need fewer staff to supervise them releasing others to form a permanent mobile "hit squad". But that presupposes a willingness to commit staffing resources to revenue protection in the first place. The legacy of the open stations era tends to the opposite POV.

I think in the real world the cost of the installation and maintenance of the barriers is recouped by reducing the number of revenue staff.

Also note at many unstaffed stations anything more than a short peak time revenue block wouldn't happen as the revenue staff can't be based at a station without toilets for an extended period.

 

[JIMMY8008]

If you look forward 10 years I think passenger numbers / journeys will continue to increase, resulting in barriers at most medium and large stations. Manned most of the time by one member of staff left open out of hours and the trains operating with a driver only!! This would be almost the same as how Elstree & Borehamwood station operates today.