Paul Terry wrote:
In message
,
MIG writes

My initial reaction to the news of OEPs was that TOCs had been forced
to accept Oyster and were determined to sabotage it by making it
unusable. That opinion hasn't changed.

While I agree that OEPs currently seem a total mess, I don't think
that will do anything to sabotage Oyster. When OEPs were first
announced it was said that the percentage of journeys likely to need
an OEP was incredibly small. That's no excuse for making the
procedure difficult, of course, but it is not necessarily an
Oyster-stopping issue.

I suspect as franchises are renewed (as seen with SN recently), DfT will
work towards having all stations in the zonal area fitted with barriers, at
which time OEPs will become redundant?

Paul

On Sun, 3 Jan 2010 19:40:38 -0000, Paul Scott wrote:

Paul Terry wrote:
In message
,
MIG writes

My initial reaction to the news of OEPs was that TOCs had been forced
to accept Oyster and were determined to sabotage it by making it
unusable. That opinion hasn't changed.

While I agree that OEPs currently seem a total mess, I don't think
that will do anything to sabotage Oyster. When OEPs were first
announced it was said that the percentage of journeys likely to need
an OEP was incredibly small. That's no excuse for making the
procedure difficult, of course, but it is not necessarily an
Oyster-stopping issue.

I suspect as franchises are renewed (as seen with SN recently), DfT will
work towards having all stations in the zonal area fitted with barriers, at
which time OEPs will become redundant?

They'd only become redundant if the stations were also staffed while
open, since the barriers would have to be left open while the station
is unstaffed, which at many stations is most or all of the time.

"asdf" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 3 Jan 2010 19:40:38 -0000, Paul Scott wrote:

Paul Terry wrote:
In message
,
MIG writes

My initial reaction to the news of OEPs was that TOCs had been forced
to accept Oyster and were determined to sabotage it by making it
unusable. That opinion hasn't changed.

While I agree that OEPs currently seem a total mess, I don't think
that will do anything to sabotage Oyster. When OEPs were first
announced it was said that the percentage of journeys likely to need
an OEP was incredibly small. That's no excuse for making the
procedure difficult, of course, but it is not necessarily an
Oyster-stopping issue.

I suspect as franchises are renewed (as seen with SN recently), DfT will
work towards having all stations in the zonal area fitted with barriers,
at
which time OEPs will become redundant?

They'd only become redundant if the stations were also staffed while
open, since the barriers would have to be left open while the station
is unstaffed, which at many stations is most or all of the time.

The same recent franchise changes also provide for increased staffing hours
though...

Paul S

asdf wrote

They'd only become redundant if the stations were also staffed while
open, since the barriers would have to be left open while the station
is unstaffed, which at many stations is most or all of the time.

Depends.

Thus some stations have a CCTV equiped Help Point, where the remote
operator can release the barrier gate for you (after looking at your,
perhaps paper, ticket).

Example Walton-on-Thames (SWT, outside zones) down platform exit,
though curent practice is just to leave the barrier bypass gate open.

--
Mike D

On 4 Jan 2010 18:55:06 GMT, Michael R N Dolbear wrote:

asdf wrote

They'd only become redundant if the stations were also staffed while
open, since the barriers would have to be left open while the station
is unstaffed, which at many stations is most or all of the time.

Depends.

Thus some stations have a CCTV equiped Help Point, where the remote
operator can release the barrier gate for you (after looking at your,
perhaps paper, ticket).

Does the remote operator have to be on-site, or can they be miles away
in a control room somewhere?