London Banter - View Single Post - The barriers at Euston platforms 8-11 cannot cope

Colin Rosenstiel · March 2nd 08, 11:16 PM posted to uk.transport.london

In article ,
lid (asdf) wrote:

On Wed, 27 Feb 2008 01:54:35 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

I'd really like to have some way of having my oyster card (or ticket
if you're a season ticket holder) flagged to hold the barrier open
for
a few seconds more - five seconds would be all it would take. I know
this _could_ be abused but there's enough regular cyclists who are
using these barriers every day (I see the same 5 or six on my train
every morning) and we're recognised by at least some of the staff as
regular cyclists so it could be something like getting a form and then
getting one of the barrier guards to sign that you are a regular
cyclist and then getting some sort of flag put on your ticket (of
course, this all presupposes that the gates are even capable of having
an extended opening - I know they can stay open with the right ticket
but I don't know about a longer opening.)

I don't think that's how it works. It's not done with a timer; there
are sensors at various points which detect when you've passed through,
and close the gates after you. If you put your ticket through but
don't walk through, they just stay open for ages until you do.

They can't cope with someone carrying a large object though, because
they can't tell the difference between that and someone trying to
tailgate.

The new wide automatic barriers at King's Cross Suburban are hopeless
with bikes. It is impossible not to tailgate another cyclist if one
follows another at all directly.

--
Colin Rosenstiel