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Unread 09-03-2017, 18:59   #14
Jamie2k9
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Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 2,146
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Quote:
Eh... there's nobody in the Edgeworthstown ticket office for most of the day. It opens about ten minutes before a train arrives.
Unless the staff member lives next to the station it's just not true, ticket offices can close but station still be staffed. According to IE website (could be out of date) but:

Quote:
06:00hrs-21:00hrs Mon-Wed
06:00hrs-15:00hrs Thur-Fri
08:30hrs-17:36hrs Sat
09:00hrs-21:00hrs Sun
Quote:
if the on board train staff are ticket vendors then i suppose many of the problems of unstaffed stations can be neutralised, but you are still left with those who need assistance boarding/alighting.

there are many people who do not have the ability to book tickets on line or to use a TVM, they may not have a debit/credit card, they may not have internet access, they may have a difficulty like dyslexia or mobility issues.

as an organisation we represent all those people as well, so it is a valid issue for us to not just accept this as inevitable progress.
Represent all however ticket accessing is really splitting hairs here, no phone/internet, pass, annual ticket, debit/credit/cash. I mean we could be talking one or two in a thousand here. Staff should be able to supply tickets on board however it should not be a service that eliminates the current requirement to have a ticket to board if TMV is available. They would be in charge of getting people on/off who need help just like drivers today at unnamed stations.

Quote:
eaving trains unstaffed has always seemed a very bizarre policy to me.
Not really, now that doesn't mean I support it but there was major waste for to many years. There just isn't a need for every train to be staff on the network. There are a lot of trains today that operate with more than just the driver.

On Waterford services you have some form of interaction with staff on a lot of services, there is 3/4 staff who operate on various services (usually one of peak morning/evening) and corresponding middle of day service and also two RPU staff who generally swap services en route. Cork are staffed with separate RPU and there is always a few staff staff who do Tralee/Limerick/Galway from time to time.

What the network needs is some staff and a proper transport police division who in most cases could deal with 90% of problems driver only trains cause.

The 45-60 minute wait for guards (not anyone's fault based on current set) is the core issue here and why to an extent, there is reluctance to get them unless it's really necessary.

I do get the impression the staffing could be a rather seasonal thing, a little like those customer service staff they took on last summer for assisting in stations such as Heuston.

Last edited by Jamie2k9 : 09-03-2017 at 19:03.
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