"Anon" wrote in message ...
"Richard" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 28 Jan 2004 14:17:26 +0000, Kat
wrote:
When gates are set Open (from the SCU) they are still set in either
entry or exit mode. Whichever sort you need to validate the start or
finish of your journey, look for gates which have their paddles on the
side away from you.
I can see that this is a problem for stations which for staffing reasons
have the gateline unmanned, so thank you for an interesting point.
(This applies to electronic gates; as I've never worked at a station
with pneumatic gates, I don't know how they behave.)

That's interesting... As a user I'd have expected that *any* barrier
with a card reader on my side of the gate would be OK. I suppose I'd
be more likely to approach a gate with a green arrow if it's quiet.

What happens if a station needs to be evacuated? Once the message
about "touch out", and the potential expense if you don't has sunk in,
will people be more difficult to shift from the station in an
emergency? Not a new problem - the Paris metro discovered it 101
years ago at Couronnes with terrible results.

Thanks,

Richard.

Many staff have asked the same question but there is no corporate answer
yet. It just adds to the trouble already discussed in another thread about
evacuations. The other thing that has not been addressed is a local power
failure. Some stations can remain open but would have no facility for the
Oyster cards. When I asked about this I was told it would never happen!

IMO if a station is evacuated for any reason, TfL have two ways to deal
with Oystercards:

1. Set up a booth with a battery-powered wireless validator and simply have
everyone touch their card to erase the entry record, then let them go.
2. Do the same as above, but instead generate an exit record and charge them
for their abortive journey.

We can all guess how much angst #2 would cause...

Brad