London Midland Trains

[D10]

it's not a trick question at all - the West Midlands ROC was evacuated at 1135 due to a fire alarm sounding, which brought all services in the West Midlands area and surrounding areas that is signalled by the ROC to be brought to a halt, as is standard procedure.

Of course, the only service running was the Stourbridge Shuttle as this is unsignalled.

Yeah, got stuck at Banbury station this morning on a Cross Country for ages due to this!

[the trainbasher]

If the Stourbridge Shuttle was its own TOC, it would have a 100% reliability rate @T840MAK

[T840MAK]

If the Stourbridge Shuttle was its own TOC, it would have a 100% reliability rate @T840MAK

It wouldn't. They still have their fair share of unit failures.

[Sh4318]

172217 has been given a Snow Hill line map above every passenger door, very useful. I imagine other units will follow suit

[Stu]

Last week, I caught the train home from Small Heath. There was no ticket office I could see (apparently on the website it is open from 7am to 10am only!). There was no self-serve ticket machine. The Permit To Travel machine didn't work (looked like it hasn't for a while). And there was no staff checking or issuing tickets on-train. So I ended up travelling on the train unchallenged without a valid ticket for free to Acocks Green*

Are there any other stations like this on the network? I mean, even Spring Road, a little shithole of a station, has a self-serve ticket machine.

The least that London Midland could do, if they're going to keep reducing ticket office opening hours, is to ensure that working ticket machines are available at every station, so that people like me can buy their tickets before they get on the train. What would I have had to do if I'd got off at Snow Hill or Moor Street, where you need a valid ticket to get through the barriers?

*As it happens, the ticket office was also closed at Acocks Green. But they do have a self-serve ticket machine, so I paid for a single journey from ACG to SMA, just for my own peace of mind.

[2206]

Last week, I caught the train home from Small Heath. There was no ticket office I could see (apparently on the website it is open from 7am to 10am only!). There was no self-serve ticket machine. The Permit To Travel machine didn't work (looked like it hasn't for a while). And there was no staff checking or issuing tickets on-train. So I ended up travelling on the train unchallenged without a valid ticket for free to Acocks Green*

Are there any other stations like this on the network? I mean, even Spring Road, a little shithole of a station, has a self-serve ticket machine.

The least that London Midland could do, if they're going to keep reducing ticket office opening hours, is to ensure that working ticket machines are available at every station, so that people like me can buy their tickets before they get on the train. What would I have had to do if I'd got off at Snow Hill or Moor Street, where you need a valid ticket to get through the barriers?

*As it happens, the ticket office was also closed at Acocks Green. But they do have a self-serve ticket machine, so I paid for a single journey from ACG to SMA, just for my own peace of mind.

You don't need a valid ticket to leave Moor Street.

[Stu]

You don't need a valid ticket to leave Moor Street.

That may be true (I don't use Moor Street personally, but I assumed there were barriers there), but my point still stands if you do get off at a station where there are barriers.

I also wonder just how much revenue is lost, from people who knowingly don't buy tickets, knowing they won't be challenged. If I was that way inclined, I'd save a bit of money by catching the train for free every day! (But thankfully I'm not)

[Trident 4194]

That may be true (I don't use Moor Street personally, but I assumed there were barriers there), but my point still stands if you do get off at a station where there are barriers.

I also wonder just how much revenue is lost, from people who knowingly don't buy tickets, knowing they won't be challenged. If I was that way inclined, I'd save a bit of money by catching the train for free every day! (But thankfully I'm not)

I know what you mean eg:new street, what would happen, as they wouldn't have a clue where you come from?

[2206]

That may be true (I don't use Moor Street personally, but I assumed there were barriers there), but my point still stands if you do get off at a station where there are barriers.

I also wonder just how much revenue is lost, from people who knowingly don't buy tickets, knowing they won't be challenged. If I was that way inclined, I'd save a bit of money by catching the train for free every day! (But thankfully I'm not)

There are in the main entrance, which are often/occasionally left open anyway. Not in the entrance on side.
Water Orton don't have a ticket office, or ticket machines.
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations/WTO/details.html

[Tony]

You don't need a valid ticket to leave Moor Street.

What do you put in the barriers to get out then?

[2206]

What do you put in the barriers to get out then?

From what I remember there aren't any on the entrance to platform 1 on the side. Haven't been to Moor Street for a while though.

[Tony]

From what I remember there aren't any on the entrance to platform 1 on the side. Haven't been to Moor Street for a while though.

Barriers were installed on the entrance to Platform 1 at the same time as the main entrance. I certainly had to use my pass to get on and off there today

[mikestone]

When penalty fares were first introduced the idea was that all stations concerned all stations in the penalty fares area should have had a permit to travel machine.
;
The rot of course set in when some clown decided to extend it to areas with lots of unstaffed station -  I suspect that if every passenger joining at an unstaffed station presented a permit to travel guards diagrams would have had to have four hours train working and four hours to cash up!

[MW]

What do you put in the barriers to get out then?

I've caught the train plenty of times between Spring Road and Moor Street free of charge. Moor Street does have barriers but whenever I've gone there, the barriers are all open.

[bususer12]

I used to work at Old Hill and catch train from but not to work. There was a permit to travel machine, permanently broken, ticket office open mornings only and a card only payment machine, I always got on holding £2 coin to pay for travel, paid for 2 tickets in 8 months! Call me what you want, but if there would have been a machine for me to purchase a ticket with cash I would have, but there wasn't