Should a closed gateline always been staffed (for health and safety reasons)?

[Jamiescott1]

I say this as the Gateline to platforms 10 and 11 at Paddington is often closed (red crosses on all gates) and no staff present.
This is the platform where the bike racks are so have to push through the gates to get my bike.

Should they be staffed if not open?

 

[JonathanH]

Should they be staffed if not open?

There is more than one gateline to platforms 10 and 11. Are the staff attending the long gateline at the end of platform 11, while not attending the gateline at the end of platform 10?

 

[jon0844]

If they're all closed (red X both sides) then I'm not sure they'd need to be manned. In an emergency you'd use the plunger and nobody is getting trapped unless they were forcing their way through.

If the gates are operational then they'd need to have staff.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

From previous threads, barriers need to be monitored rather than staffed.

 

[deltic]

Netherlands seems to manage fine without staffing gatelines

 

[DelW]

Netherlands seems to manage fine without staffing gatelines

Unfortunately we still have valid tickets that don't work the barriers, for various reasons.

On three of my last four journeys from my local station, my ticket hasn't worked the entry barriers, despite having been bought from the station's ticket office a minute or two beforehand. (These being orange cardboard tickets as the journeys included Tube transfers - where they worked the barriers). I was let through manually without comment each time (having shown the ticket).

 

[AF91]

Some gatelines are monitored remotely from a panel at another set of gates. That way several sets of gates can be staffed by a single person. Not ideal for busy times but fine for when there's dribs and drabs coming and going.



That said I've raised a few complaints in the past after staff walked away from a single gateline and left it closed with no supervision.

 

[Horizon22]

I say this as the Gateline to platforms 10 and 11 at Paddington is often closed (red crosses on all gates) and no staff present.
This is the platform where the bike racks are so have to push through the gates to get my bike.

Should they be staffed if not open?

If it's fully closed then no.

Platforms 10/11 has two gateline entrances; one on the overbridge and one by the main concourse. Which one do you refer to?

 

[Jamiescott1]

If it's fully closed then no.

Platforms 10/11 has two gateline entrances; one on the overbridge and one by the main concourse. Which one do you refer to?

The one on the main concourse.
The one on the overbridge is a gateline for platforms 10-14

 

[PsychoMouse]

Unfortunately we still have valid tickets that don't work the barriers, for various reasons.

On three of my last four journeys from my local station, my ticket hasn't worked the entry barriers, despite having been bought from the station's ticket office a minute or two beforehand. (These being orange cardboard tickets as the journeys included Tube transfers - where they worked the barriers). I was let through manually without comment each time (having shown the ticket).

Had this in Paris going back to DeGaulle on the RER. Valid ticket wouldn't work, very quiet middle of the afternoon, not a single staff member in site. Fortunately I wasn't in a rush so I waited 20 minutes in the hope that somebody would turn up. They didn't so I jumped the barriers in the end.

 

[The exile]

I say this as the Gateline to platforms 10 and 11 at Paddington is often closed (red crosses on all gates) and no staff present.
This is the platform where the bike racks are so have to push through the gates to get my bike.

Should they be staffed if not open?

Suspect this is one of those decisions made in an ivory tower by someone who knows all about the theory but not the reality on the ground. No trains from those platforms for a long while so deploy the staff elsewhere where they can be useful and “lock” the barriers for H&S reasons. All very logical - except for the fact that there ia another reason to access the platform (the bike rack).

 

[Jamiescott1]

Once again today the gateline was closed and unattended. Pushed through and got stopped by btp and details taken.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Once again today the gateline was closed and unattended. Pushed through and got stopped by btp and details taken.

Oh dear, that'll probably cost you an £80-£100 settlement (unfortunately pushing through a barrier is itself a Byelaw offence regardless of any ticket held).

Make sure you post the letter on the Disputes forum when you get it.

Perhaps use the bike racks on ungated P8/9 instead?

 

[Jamiescott1]

Oh dear, that'll probably cost you an £80-£100 settlement (unfortunately pushing through a barrier is itself a Byelaw offence regardless of any ticket held).

Make sure you post the letter on the Disputes forum when you get it.

Perhaps use the bike racks on ungated P8/9 instead?

Thankfully no address taken. He just Wanted to check that I'm not known to police and he gave me a warning.

I had bike stolen from racks at 8/9 (which is ungated for those that don't know) so prefer the gated 10/11 for a bit of added security

 

[Bletchleyite]

Thankfully no address taken. He just Wanted to check that I'm not known to police and he gave me a warning.

I had bike stolen from racks at 8/9 (which is ungated for those that don't know) so prefer the gated 10/11 for a bit of added security

Fair enough. Presumably the trade-off (I guess the BTP were making sure you weren't a bike thief!) would be that to use 10-11 you might occasionally have to walk round to the other gateline and ask for staff to open that one for you. I'm not sure there would be any need to staff a gateline where the platforms are fully closed, i.e. nobody should be in there, any more than they would need to staff a gateline when a station was completely closed e.g. overnight.

 

[najaB]

Thankfully no address taken. He just Wanted to check that I'm not known to police and he gave me a warning

I would have been surprised if they had. Technically, yes, it's a Byelaw breach but BTP aren't likely to start a prosecution and it would put the TOC in a bad light if they tried: "Fined for trying to use my bike on public transport" while global temperatures are going through the roof.

 

[samrammstein]

Are ticket barriers linked to station fire alarms and do they automatically open if the alarm sounds?
If so this would appear to solve any concerns about entrapment in an emergency.

 

[rg177]

Abroad I've had all sorts of silliness, including having to climb under and over barriers in Spain with an Interrail pass. I always had my (back then, paper) pass in one hand in case the Seguridad appeared out of nowhere with batons in hand.

Back in the UK - I recall only one being faced with an unmanned gateline and a ticket that didn't work, which was at 4am at Wembley Central back when London Midland called first thing in the morning. I shouted in the direction of the office at increasing volume until someone sauntered out.

From my own work though, it was a huge no-no to leave a gateline unattended (no remote ones, either). Technically speaking you had to have someone a certain number of seconds from the emergency plunger at all times.

Are ticket barriers linked to station fire alarms and do they automatically open if the alarm sounds?
If so this would appear to solve any concerns about entrapment in an emergency.

Yes, and from experience it takes a damn age for them to turn back on afterwards.

 

[najaB]

Are ticket barriers linked to station fire alarms and do they automatically open if the alarm sounds?

They're definitely supposed to be, and in my limited experience are. That's not to say that someone somewhere hasn't done something silly.

 

[Horizon22]

Are ticket barriers linked to station fire alarms and do they automatically open if the alarm sounds?
If so this would appear to solve any concerns about entrapment in an emergency.

Yes and yes. Have to be manually reset afterwards.