I don't know how old any of the other posters here are but I have been travelling on CIE trains since the mid-1960s and have seen more different ticket barriers than you can shake a big stick at. The one thing they have all had in common is that they do not work! They are the product of a management obsessed with shedding staff at whatever cost. Why have a team of ticket checkers who can check tickets/provide a level of security and perform other useful tasks when you can spend thousands on the latest useless barrier technology. The pic below shows crowds arriving in London in 1934 for a football match - how many barriers did they pass through? And don't give me the bull about the cost of wages back then.
