On 18 Oct 2006 07:56:27 -0700, Mizter T wrote:

Oh great, so the several times when the gates have cocked up (3 for me),
instead of paying an extra 50p, I'll pay £4.

I've never had the gates "cock up" when I've been using them, in fact
I've found them very reliable and robust. What problems have you had?

In the early months of pre-pay, I once touched out on the validator
while the gates were still open from the person in front passing
through. My card was accepted with a beep and the journey on it was
resolved, but the gates closed on me as I went through. I backtracked
and went to the side gate, where the staff member told me to touch my
card on the reader, which then counted it as an entry (which landed me
with a couple of unresolved journeys, but that's a moan for another
day). Perhaps the person who went through the gate before me had their
ticket rejected, and went through on "my" touch-out, but afterwards I
didn't think I'd been close enough behind them for this.

Since then, I've always waited for the gates to close before touching
my card on the reader, and I haven't had a problem since.