In message .com, at
01:34:32 on Wed, 1 Jun 2005, Mizter T remarked:
ONscotland ) gurgled happily, sounding much like

they were saying :

I was sure that barriers were placed on the footbridge too...

Yes there are LU barriers on the footbridge, but they are placed so
they 'enclose' two of Paddington's suburban platforms from which First
Great Western Link services run (the gates are obviously programmed to
allow FGWL tickets as well as LU tickets). However you can also access
these suburban platforms by walking up one of them from the main
Paddington concourse - and this is the route that isn't gated.

LU knows about this route as the have provided Oyster readers on the
H&C platforms for those Pre-Pay passengers who enter via this route.

I wonder if these are new? When I was there a year ago it was very
difficult to find an Oyster reader having just got off a local FGW from
Ealing Broadway. I eventually discovered one hidden away near the ticket
office.

I presume the placement of the LU gates on the footbridge was
determined in part by space and safety considerations, and they could
not merely have enclosed the H&C platforms.

And also the relative position of the ticket office and the barriers
(the office overlooks the barriers). See below.

As for why there are no gates on the
route from the concourse to the FGWL platforms, I don't know. But I don
know there arn't any, at the moment at least.

The layout predates any barriers for national rail trains at Paddington.

My ASCII skills are rubbish but here is an attempt to illustrate the
situation:

= is the footbridge
/ is the LU gates
_ are the stairs down from footbridge to platforms
'H&C' is the Underground H&C island platform s
'FGWL' is the FGWL suburban island platforms, with ungated access to
the concourse.


FGWL H&C
_ _
_ _
_ _
_ _
===/===_=====_
TTT

T=ticket office.
--
Roland Perry