In article ,
(tim......) wrote:

wrote in message
...
In article ,
(Neil Williams) wrote:

On Thu, 21 Nov 2013 14:17:20 -0600,
wrote:
Are they going to introduce Oyster history printing facilities at
ticket machines then? That can only be obtained from ticket offices
now.

Which is another trick missed with Oyster - such services should have
been machine only from day one.

I agree. You can see the details on screen but not get a permanent
record. The ticket office printers also fade pretty quickly so are far
from permanent.

Will the machine printed ones last any longer?

Since they don't currently exist it's hard to tell.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

On Thu, 21 Nov 2013 12:11:38 +0000, Mizter T
wrote:
Blimey - I knew fewer ticket offices is the general direction of
things,
but wasn't expecting quite such a radical proposal. The pill is of
course sweetened by the plan for 24hr running on some Tube lines,
which
in its own right is most welcome.

I don't think the Tube needs ticket offices, rather it needs staff on
the floor helping with things. German systems are often near enough
completely unstaffed. So I broadly support the idea.

Neil

--
Neil Williams. Use neil before the at to reply.

On Thu, 21 Nov 2013 21:54:12 +0100, Neil Williams
wrote:

On Thu, 21 Nov 2013 12:11:38 +0000, Mizter T
wrote:
Blimey - I knew fewer ticket offices is the general direction of
things,
but wasn't expecting quite such a radical proposal. The pill is of
course sweetened by the plan for 24hr running on some Tube lines,
which
in its own right is most welcome.

I don't think the Tube needs ticket offices, rather it needs staff on
the floor helping with things. German systems are often near enough
completely unstaffed. So I broadly support the idea.

I take it Oyster cards will still be available at retail outlets; also
the ability to add value to them. Will visitors and others you be
able to buy an Oyster card at NR main termini, either a the (NR)
ticket office or at a shop there, and at Heathrow etc?

On 21/11/2013 21:38, Scott wrote:

On Thu, 21 Nov 2013 21:54:12 +0100, Neil Williams
[snip]
I don't think the Tube needs ticket offices, rather it needs staff on
the floor helping with things. German systems are often near enough
completely unstaffed. So I broadly support the idea.

I take it Oyster cards will still be available at retail outlets; also
the ability to add value to them. Will visitors and others you be
able to buy an Oyster card at NR main termini, either a the (NR)
ticket office or at a shop there, and at Heathrow etc?


There's no suggestion whatsoever that Oyster cards are to disappear from
the scene. So Oyster cards should continue to be available from shops as
they are now - and they're already available for vending from Tube
ticket machines (at least one machine in each station).

I can't help but think that a lack of Tube ticket offices at main NR
termini and other arrival points (Heathrow, VCS etc) just isn't very
visitor friendly though - however much TfL might try and push Visitor
Oyster cards to visitors before they arrive in London, people are just
going to turn up and expect to sort it on arrival. (CPCs may be a
solution for some of those visitors, but not all.)

In article , (Mizter T) wrote:

On 21/11/2013 21:38, Scott wrote:

On Thu, 21 Nov 2013 21:54:12 +0100, Neil Williams
[snip]
I don't think the Tube needs ticket offices, rather it needs staff on
the floor helping with things. German systems are often near enough
completely unstaffed. So I broadly support the idea.

I take it Oyster cards will still be available at retail outlets; also
the ability to add value to them. Will visitors and others you be
able to buy an Oyster card at NR main termini, either a the (NR)
ticket office or at a shop there, and at Heathrow etc?

There's no suggestion whatsoever that Oyster cards are to disappear
from the scene. So Oyster cards should continue to be available from
shops as they are now - and they're already available for vending
from Tube ticket machines (at least one machine in each station).

Really? I've never noticed one at East |Putney. And the ticket stop outside
shuts long before the end of service.

I can't help but think that a lack of Tube ticket offices at main NR
termini and other arrival points (Heathrow, VCS etc) just isn't very
visitor friendly though - however much TfL might try and push Visitor
Oyster cards to visitors before they arrive in London, people are
just going to turn up and expect to sort it on arrival. (CPCs may be
a solution for some of those visitors, but not all.)

Agree. I found Berlin a little bewildering for visitors to get going on the
U & S Bahn.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

On Thu, 21 Nov 2013 18:31:32 -0600,
wrote:

[Mizter T:]
There's no suggestion whatsoever that Oyster cards are to disappear
from the scene. So Oyster cards should continue to be available from
shops as they are now - and they're already available for vending
from Tube ticket machines (at least one machine in each station).

Really? I've never noticed one at East |Putney. And the ticket stop outside
shuts long before the end of service.

If there isn't one, then that will be fixed before 2015 (the year!).

I can't help but think that a lack of Tube ticket offices at main NR
termini and other arrival points (Heathrow, VCS etc) just isn't very
visitor friendly though - however much TfL might try and push Visitor
Oyster cards to visitors before they arrive in London, people are
just going to turn up and expect to sort it on arrival. (CPCs may be
a solution for some of those visitors, but not all.)

I heard there was a list somewhere of ticket offices that *are* to
remain open. A few stations stand out, surely: airports, King's
Cross, Oxford Circus, Victoria?

Agree. I found Berlin a little bewildering for visitors to get going on the
U & S Bahn.

The machines could be better but all you need to remember is that most
of Berlin is in zones A and B. The new airport is in C. Some places
have their own zones A, B and C within the global zone C, like
Potsdam. I'm beginning to see your point! A weekly/monthly ticket
has an odd name designed to confuse visitors (like the Swiss "tariff
community tickets" screen option that only sells to anoraks). Once
you've done all that, the transport is good quality, although the lack
of money for the bus service particularly has to show an effect soon.

Richard.

On Thu, 21 Nov 2013 21:38:08 +0000, Scott
wrote:
I take it Oyster cards will still be available at retail outlets;
also
the ability to add value to them. Will visitors and others you be
able to buy an Oyster card at NR main termini, either a the (NR)
ticket office or at a shop there, and at Heathrow etc?

You can now do both of these at ticket machines.

Neil

--
Neil Williams. Use neil before the at to reply.

In message , at
07:53:28 on Fri, 22 Nov 2013, Neil Williams
remarked:
Will visitors and others you be
able to buy an Oyster card at NR main termini, either a the (NR)
ticket office or at a shop there, and at Heathrow etc?

You can now do both of these at ticket machines.

And ticket machines, once a quick way to buy a ticket, often have long
queues, especially those where a visitor spends ages essentially
pressing buttons at random.
--
Roland Perry

In article ,
(Neil Williams) wrote:

On Thu, 21 Nov 2013 21:38:08 +0000, Scott
wrote:
I take it Oyster cards will still be available at retail outlets; also
the ability to add value to them. Will visitors and others you be
able to buy an Oyster card at NR main termini, either a the (NR)
ticket office or at a shop there, and at Heathrow etc?

You can now do both of these at ticket machines.

You can only add less than £5 to Oyster at a ticket stop. I don't use the
tube enough to add that much at a time.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

On 22/11/2013 10:07, wrote:

In article ,
(Neil Williams) wrote:

On Thu, 21 Nov 2013 21:38:08 +0000, Scott
wrote:
I take it Oyster cards will still be available at retail outlets; also
the ability to add value to them. Will visitors and others you be
able to buy an Oyster card at NR main termini, either a the (NR)
ticket office or at a shop there, and at Heathrow etc?

You can now do both of these at ticket machines.

You can only add less than £5 to Oyster at a ticket stop. I don't use the
tube enough to add that much at a time.

It would still be there for when you next want to use it Colin, as you
well know.

Anyhow, you can add less than £5 at Tube ticket machines, ditto for NR
ticket machines that do Oyster top ups.