Ticket Barriers at Kent

[James Howard]

If they are the same gates as they have in Connolly then there has always been an issue with them when using magnetic cards. The delay between inserting the card and opening the barriers is about a second too long so that if you are walking when putting the card in, you end up too close to the barrier which triggers a sensor that blocks the barrier from opening.

They are fine with the newer smart-cards, but they were always just a little slow with magnetic cards. Ticket barriers are a fairly simple thing - they shouldn't need instructions. If you're explaining you losing.

I notice a poster that has gone up in Connolly explaining that it is very dangerous to tailgate through the barriers and could result in injury. Perhaps they shouldn't be install equipment that could potentially injure customers. You can legitimately have up to 6 people travelling on a single family ticket.

[Mark Gleeson]

Commuters in London are very well drilled bunch that's the reason the system actually works as well as it does.

Main reasons for delay
1. Passengers digging in pockets/handbag for tickets
2. Passengers pushing up against the gate, safety feature will prevent the gate opening
3. People tailgating

Its very simple, insert ticket, collect ticket, move forward

[Thomas Ralph]

Originally Posted by SeanT

The barriers are very slow to open, causes a bit of a queue, I was expecting the swift working ones, like on the London Underground!

Works perfectly fine; there's a rhythm to it. As soon as the gate has opened for the person ahead of you, or as soon as they've taken their ticket if the gate was already open, you put your ticket in. The main issue I've seen is people who feel they should wait for the gate to close ahead of them before they put in their own ticket. This is perhaps inherited from car park barriers.

Originally Posted by James Howard

I notice a poster that has gone up in Connolly explaining that it is very dangerous to tailgate through the barriers and could result in injury. Perhaps they shouldn't be install equipment that could potentially injure customers. You can legitimately have up to 6 people travelling on a single family ticket.

Family ticket holders should be using the manual gate.

Someone standing too close to the gate will prevent it from opening this is because it can be used for reverse tailgaiting i.e. the person too close and the next person both try to go through on the one ticket.

Over here in London the biggest problem is person A touches their invalid card or puts in an invalid ticket, gate doesn't open, person B automatically touches their card or puts in a valid ticket, person A goes through and person B gets stuck behind the gate.

[James Howard]

I was trying to say that the poster is a typical example of treating their customers like mugs.

Either the barriers are dangerous or they are not. If they are dangerous, they shouldn't be installed in a public area. If they aren't then Irish Rail are basically lying to their customers with the announcement.

The point with a family ticket illustrates that there are situations that the barriers are not able to cope with yet there is nothing to tell you to avoid the allegedly dangerous ticket machines. Note that the only copy of the notice I have seen is after the barriers in Connolly and so doesn't count as instructions even if it did tell you to use the manual barrier if you have more than one person on a ticket.

Finally, I have seen people passing children over the barriers so it is not obvious to infrequent users that they should be using the manual exit. People on this forum use the rail system every day so know a lot more about how to get around it than the person who takes his kids to Dublin once a year for the spin.

[SeanT]

It seems to me that the gates are slow to open, whether there is a person in front of me or not. A second delay. But also, when they do open, they open slowly, so that I find myself pushing through them while they open. It just feels sluggish.

I can also see how people are not used to the new process, that will improve with time I'm sure.

Glad to hear that revenue has increased, the system was way too open.

And good to hear Cork will get the LEAP card!

Anybody have any ideas when the changes to Kent will take place so that the entrance will be on the quay?

I always thought that the Glanmire Road entrance introduced the visitor to not the prettiest side of Cork. Should save the commuters some walking time too.

[SeanT]

Originally Posted by James Howard

Either the barriers are dangerous or they are not. If they are dangerous, they shouldn't be installed in a public area. If they aren't then Irish Rail are basically lying to their customers with the announcement.

I was thinking the same about those posters that I saw, it seems bit ingenious to me, the barriers' safety should not depend on customer behaviour!

As regards my comments on sluggishness of the barriers, I am using the magnetic strip cards that the machines dispense as weekly tickets. Maybe that explains my experience, as you suggest.

[Jamie2k9]

All I know is Cork revenue is up significantly since the barriers appeared

RPU teams are also out in force down South much more, first time in weeks I was asked to produce a ticket for RUP teams and they were much more friendly that some of the Dublin teams. They could teach some other employees customer service skills.

[Mark Gleeson]

They are out as the TVM's are live so they can actually catch some people

Some of the most horrific cases we are aware of with respect to the RPU are from the Cork area, so it remains to be seen.

[MaryK]

When I came off the Dublin Cork train on Tuesday there was a big queue to exit the barriers, I think it would be good if they could switch direction for the majority of the barriers to cope with the surge of people leaving the train.

My magnetic ticket only worked once during the journey when leaving Cork in the morning, all the other times it just kept going in and out of the machine and was un-readable.

[Colm Moore]

Originally Posted by MaryK

When I came off the Dublin Cork train on Tuesday there was a big queue to exit the barriers, I think it would be good if they could switch direction for the majority of the barriers to cope with the surge of people leaving the train.

They can be changed using a control panel that the ticket checker has - in Connolly its next to the wide gate, not sure about Cork.

My magnetic ticket only worked once during the journey when leaving Cork in the morning, all the other times it just kept going in and out of the machine and was un-readable.

Possibly wasn't a proper magnetic ticket, i.e. printed only. Are you happy you were putting it in the right way?

[comcor]

Isn't normal practice to have more exit gates than entry gates?

People arrive off a train en masse, but gradually arrive for one.

[haddockman]

Originally Posted by comcor

Isn't normal practice to have more exit gates than entry gates?

People arrive off a train en masse, but gradually arrive for one.

Are they not bidirectional?

[Colm Moore]

Originally Posted by haddockman

Are they not bidirectional?

They are, but tend to be set one way or the other.