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Unread 22-01-2008, 20:20   #1
John J
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Default Problems validating tickets electronically

We all know that Iarnrod Eireann and things that are broken tend to go hand in hand.

A signal, a toilet, a train door, an intercom, aircon, heating on a 29000, an information display between Ashtown and Maynooth... chances are, if you travel with IE any time soon, you'll come across something that doesn't work as you go on your merry way.

Well it looks like we now have something new to add to the list.

Is anyone else having problems validating tickets in those machines at Connolly Station?

I have a 2008 Dublin DART/Commuter annual ticket and I have been experiencing problems with it since the start of the year. I got a replacement yesterday, but it doesn't work either.
I asked a member of staff tonight and he said there are recurring problems with the tickets and "I will just have to keep getting replacements until I find one that works."

Funnily enough, it seems to work at Pearse, Tara St and Leixlip Louisa Bridge.

Much as I love the new validators, especially the choo-choo noise they make (or used to, when last year's ticket worked for me)... I'd much prefer something that actually did the job... especially when I'm usually already pissed off from a sardine-can trip on the Calcutta Express.
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Last edited by John J : 22-01-2008 at 20:24.
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Unread 22-01-2008, 20:35   #2
Mark Gleeson
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There is a well known software problem http://forum.platform11.org/showthread.php?t=3553

If the ticket is refused the message you get would be extermely helpful as that can explain the difference between broken machine, bad software and damaged tickets
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Unread 22-01-2008, 21:44   #3
zag
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Default Stupid tickets

My annual ticket has gone again today. It refused to read in two different validators in Booterstown this morning and again when exiting at Clontarf Road.

I didn't need to use it to get on at Clontarf Road in the evening because one of the barriers was left open.

I think the message was along the lines of . . . you put the card in upside down.

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Unread 22-01-2008, 21:46   #4
Mark Gleeson
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Wrong side up, thats the ticket nearly always
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Unread 23-01-2008, 21:58   #5
John J
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Same ticket worked perfectly this evening in the same machine - but the guy in front of me had problems with his.
Very strange
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Unread 24-01-2008, 00:03   #6
Colm Moore
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They have a special aisle in Connolly for annual ticket holders - next to the staff desk. The even have a proper sign for it.
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Unread 26-01-2008, 15:04   #7
John J
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I have never seen that aisle. Is it new or am I just more dopey in the morning than I realise? I will look out for it in future...

Anyway on Friday they looked to be doing some work on the gates as some of them had been left open
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Unread 27-01-2008, 16:03   #8
Thomas Ralph
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson View Post
There is a well known software problem http://forum.platform11.org/showthread.php?t=3553

If the ticket is refused the message you get would be extermely helpful as that can explain the difference between broken machine, bad software and damaged tickets
What does "no valid route" mean?
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Unread 27-01-2008, 16:09   #9
Mark Gleeson
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Typically happens at Connolly when you are travelling on a ticket from the Heuston side, eg Cork Dundalk
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Unread 07-02-2008, 22:42   #10
zag
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Default There is/was/isn't/wasn't a problem

I had to get my annual ticket replaced *again* recently and while in Abbey Street I asked why my annual ticket had never worked on a bus since I had it replaced a while back (see above). I was getting tired of going through the motions of putting the card in the validator and then immediately showing it to the driver.

The story was that there was a problem with the validators on the buses (what, all of them ?) but that had been ironed out some time in January.

There was a guy in just before me who asked the exact same question and while I can't be sure what he was told (it was over the phone) I'm pretty sure it was a different story. He wasn't given a new card, just told it would work now . . . go figure.

Assuming there was actually a general problem with the bus validators, do you not think someone in the general industry (like CIE, DB, IE, DTI/O/A/E/U) might have felt the need to communicate this fact ?

I was all set to verify that it was working on the bus home after picking the ticket up, but the validator itself was bust and wasn't taking any cards at all.

I have a strong hunch that it won't work next time I'm on a bus and if it doesn't I'm going to be giving out to someone, just as soon as I figure out who.

Even if it does work, I will probably give out to someone - if they know there is a general problem then why can't they proactively contact people (it is done through work, so they can't claim they don't have contact details) and organise replacement tickets.

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Unread 16-02-2008, 11:02   #11
MrX
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It always seems to me that CIE is fixated on over-complex ticketing systems and "control points" for passengers.

This mess is completely typical of their checking, rechecking and making things complicated obsession.

i.e. endless ticket check for no logical reason and city busses with only one door in case anyone might 'sneek' in ...

Personally, I think it displays an old-school civil service administrative attitude and deeply held contempt for customers.

All of these processes should be streamlined for the benefit of the end user, not made excessively complicated.

I would like CIE to produce a cost benefit analysis of their ticketing system and make it public and available to the joint Oireachtas committee to whom they are responsible.

I'd like to see a similar cost/benefit analysis for the RPA's Luas ticketing system and then perhaps we could actually look at what CIE companies are up to...

Most of these fares are so small (relatively) that people will pay without any fuss and the % of evaders should be tiny.

I can understand checking tickets on long distance pricier services, but it needs only to be done once i.e. on board. Forcing people to queue for long periods of time on the platforms removes one of the key advantages of rail travel. You might as well fly!
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Unread 22-02-2008, 16:45   #12
MOH
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My new annual ticket hasn't worked on a bus since I got it, last time I tried was Wednesday and it still didn't work. So either I have a different problem to zag, or the bus validators aren't fixed yet.
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Unread 22-02-2008, 20:26   #13
zag
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Default I'm not sure

I used my new card in a bus validator the other day - as soon as it started being pulled in I could tell there was going to be a problem. It seemed to go in slightly sideways and made a funny noise. Then it gave me some new nasty message and I had to show the card to the driver. I was *not* impressed at all.

I had to take a bus again the next day and had the same problem again.

Then I took the DART the next day and the ticket which had worked at the station for the previous week was rejected. To say I was annoyed is to understate it quite a lot.

Getting out at Clontarf Road the ticket did the hokey pokey with the validator. It went in again, it went out again, it went in again it went out again, and so on until finally it seemed to fix itself.

I don't know what kind of voodoo that validator pulled, but on the way home that evening and every day since then it has worked correctly.

I'm afraid to run it through a bus validator again.

z
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Unread 23-02-2008, 00:21   #14
MrX
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The bus machines simply do not like shiny paper. They work fine with a matt 'old-style' card. Anything else seems to slip, get stuck or misread.
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Unread 03-03-2008, 18:00   #15
Thomas Ralph
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Well, the rail machines rewrite the stripe every time it's put through one (it includes the latest used time if nothing else — you get a JUST VALIDATED error if you try and use a season ticket twice in short succession). Perhaps it had been poorly written but once the Clontarf Road machine actually managed to figure it out and rewrite the stripe it wasn't a problem any more.
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