Hi,

Once again there were no staff on the East Putney gateline @ 1530ish
yesterday. And once again, all the ticket gates were closed (including
the side gate) despite there being a sign saying that people could pay
at their destination due to the ticket office being closed. As I have
said before, the information button doesn't seem to connect in these
situations.

Which of the following would get me in the least trouble if I got stuck
in the station due to this (and my paper ticket not working)...
a) Climbing over gate
b) Pushing the emergency open button
c) Returning to a platform and attracting the attention of the next
driver
d) Kicking a gate hard to try and open it

Chris! wrote:
Hi,

Once again there were no staff on the East Putney gateline @ 1530ish
yesterday. And once again, all the ticket gates were closed (including
the side gate) despite there being a sign saying that people could pay
at their destination due to the ticket office being closed. As I have
said before, the information button doesn't seem to connect in these
situations.

Which of the following would get me in the least trouble if I got stuck
in the station due to this (and my paper ticket not working)...
a) Climbing over gate
b) Pushing the emergency open button
c) Returning to a platform and attracting the attention of the next
driver
d) Kicking a gate hard to try and open it
I took LUL to task on more than one occasion after they left the gates
at Brent Cross shut when the booking office was not open. LUL never
once got back to me regarding the complaints that I had made regarding
the clear breach of safety regulations. That was before 7/7 so I hope
that they have now got their act together and don't ever leave the
gates shut when there is nobody to offer assistance.

Kevin

On 22 Nov 2005 02:53:36 -0800, wrote:


Chris! wrote:
Hi,

Once again there were no staff on the East Putney gateline @ 1530ish
yesterday. And once again, all the ticket gates were closed (including
the side gate) despite there being a sign saying that people could pay
at their destination due to the ticket office being closed. As I have
said before, the information button doesn't seem to connect in these
situations.

Which of the following would get me in the least trouble if I got stuck
in the station due to this (and my paper ticket not working)...
a) Climbing over gate
b) Pushing the emergency open button
c) Returning to a platform and attracting the attention of the next
driver
d) Kicking a gate hard to try and open it
I took LUL to task on more than one occasion after they left the gates
at Brent Cross shut when the booking office was not open. LUL never
once got back to me regarding the complaints that I had made regarding
the clear breach of safety regulations. That was before 7/7 so I hope
that they have now got their act together and don't ever leave the
gates shut when there is nobody to offer assistance.

Kevin

Well, after 7/7, I still on occassion come down to the Gates at Kings
Cross at 0545 most mornings to find that the gates are unattended, and
people with large suitcases, probably bound for the Piccadily line to
Heathrow, often wait for several minutes before a member of staff
leaves their cubicle between the escalators!!

Which of the following would get me in the least trouble if I got stuck
in the station due to this (and my paper ticket not working)...

b) Pushing the emergency open button

I'd go for this one, and have done on several occasions.
The louder the noise it makes, the better. You'll also find that
several people will follow you through when opened, and any
RPI who turns up is going to have to contend with lots of people
rather than just one.

Of course, if you haven't got a ticket then, when you do get through,
you must at least attempt to seek-out a persun who will accept your
payment.

Richard [in PE12]

In article . com,
(Chris!) wrote:

b) Pushing the emergency open button

IT's a legal requirement that the gate line be manned - I'd use the
emergency button.

--
Paul Cummins - Always a NetHead
Wasting Bandwidth since 1981

I'm Backing Blair - www.backingblair.co.uk

"Paul Cummins" wrote in message
.. .
In article . com,
(Chris!) wrote:

b) Pushing the emergency open button

IT's a legal requirement that the gate line be manned - I'd use the
emergency button.

Not technically correct. It's a requirement for the gates to be monitored,
which can be remotely, and the emergency plunger activated.

Robin Mayes wrote:
"Paul Cummins" wrote in message
.. .
In article . com,
(Chris!) wrote:

b) Pushing the emergency open button

IT's a legal requirement that the gate line be manned - I'd use the
emergency button.

Not technically correct. It's a requirement for the gates to be monitored,
which can be remotely, and the emergency plunger activated.

Well they obviously aren't being monitored remotely which a breach of
health & safety. If they were being monitored remotely why are
passengers having to vault the closed gates or force them open to get
out of a station. Sounds like a bull**** excuse by LUL.

Kevin

Someone must be within 5 seconds of an emergency plunger. If they aren't
watching the gateline they should be open. If you plunge it will be noticed
in many places and questions will be asked. I'd plunge.

Mal
wrote in message
oups.com...

Robin Mayes wrote:
"Paul Cummins" wrote in message
.. .
In article . com,
(Chris!) wrote:

b) Pushing the emergency open button

IT's a legal requirement that the gate line be manned - I'd use the
emergency button.

Not technically correct. It's a requirement for the gates to be
monitored,
which can be remotely, and the emergency plunger activated.

Well they obviously aren't being monitored remotely which a breach of
health & safety. If they were being monitored remotely why are
passengers having to vault the closed gates or force them open to get
out of a station. Sounds like a bull**** excuse by LUL.

Kevin

Mal wrote:

IT's a legal requirement that the gate line be manned - I'd use the
emergency button.

Not technically correct. It's a requirement for the gates to be
monitored,
which can be remotely, and the emergency plunger activated.

Hi,

I've noted this gate manning issue before (although it didn't seem too
well enforced at Stamford Brook in the evenings that I could *see*) but
am a little confused by the real issue. Do the gates need to be manned?

Having moved to New York this summer, I am interested that despite being
a daily commuter I've not spoken to one member of MTA staff and apart
from a few ticket clerks (with big signs listing the tickets one has to
buy from the machine--which is pretty much all of them!) in their
cubicles, the subway seems to run fine without all the gate line staff
milling around. Indeed, as a fairly regular tourist to New York I had
the view that the tube was a much better, safer, cleaner, more efficient
mode than the NYC subway, but I have to say my 25 minute daily commute
on the 1 line from the Village to the UWS is a pleasure and we seem to
manage fine without any gate line staff (next train departure boards
would be nice though.)

So my question is, is the MTA putting its passengers in danger, or are
the gates of the NYC system very different from London's (they appear
more dangerous to me, but beyond cries of "health and safety" I am
unsure exactly what the argument for the gateline staff is anyway), or
are these "health and safety" reasons for manning gatelines actually a
very expensive policy decision with little benefit to passengers or the
commerical operator?

Any expert knowledge welcomed,

Tom

--
T.S.Cordiner
Columbia University, New York City.

T.S. Cordiner wrote in
:

I am unsure exactly what the argument for the gateline staff is anyway

One very important function that gateline staff perform is letting out
passengers whose tickets refuse to open the gates. Almost every time I
go up to London, I find that somewhere during my travels around the
underground I'll encounter a station whose gates won't recognise my ticket,
either on entry or else on exit.

And we'll have no jokes about the effect of my magnetic personality on the
magnetic stripe on the ticket ;-)