Re: Northern Rail (Self Service) Ticket Machines


"Mike Roebuck" <mike.roebuck@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1152290674.824141.160140@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Nomura wrote:

Actually on the old setup Guards always took out Sportis with a few RPA
manned stations (i.e a protection assistant turns up at the peaks to
sell tickets) also using sportis in the main (and everywhere across the
former arriva area) booking office/travel centres used Aptis now being
phased out (slowly) by the new Cubic Fastis I have been a Guard on
Northern(Former Arriva) for 6 yrs now and have never looked back I
actually think on some routes that Avantix is far better

Presumably not on the Leeds - Huddersfield stoppers, though? The guard
on the one I used today was pretty stressed, trying to sell tickets,
operate the doors on the 144 and make the required announcements. It
seems to me that Avantix transactions take longer than the old Sportis
ones, and, coupled with relatively close stops, this causes overtime
delays at station stops (definitely the case today).

Of course, the need to dash to the back of the train to release the
doors doesn't help either. It's not necessary on the 158's, so why has
no-one thought of re-equipping the other units so that you can operate
the doors from each end (or even intermediately, as e.g. GNER do).

With "Northern's" recent migrations to Avantix "many wavings of the magic
plastic probe" the guards job does seem to be a more time consuming task for
just the same result. This does cause delays at stops!

--
Ken Ward

"Society for the production of Maritime Reefs using MerseyRail 142's"
(For membership email... mersey142.splash@xxxxxxxxxxxx)
"Leave the Mobile Phone at home day Oct 25th 2006"


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