Travel hell as ticket machines fail at Brighton Station (From The Argus)
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Travel hell as ticket machines fail at Brighton Station
11:10am Friday 22nd February 2013 in News
Queues at ticket machines in Brighton Station – picture by Liam Nicholes
Frustrated rail passengers missed their trains after ticket machines broke down.
Commuters queued for up to 45 minutes at Brighton Station on Wednesday, February 20 and yesterday morning (February 21) after three machines stopped working.
One passenger said: “I saw lots of people missing their trains because they couldn’t get their prepaid tickets.
“When you pay so much to travel it’s really frustrating to be let down like this.”
A spokesman for Southern Rail apologised for the disruption and said passengers would now be able to travel if they had their ticket reference number.”
He said: “We are working to resolve faults with these three ticket machines at Brighton Station as quickly as possible.
“In the meantime we have additional staff on the station concourse helping passengers and selling tickets and passengers can also buy tickets from the ticket office.”
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Comments(23)
Peter58
says...
11:25am Fri 22 Feb 13
Maxwell's Ghost
says...
11:25am Fri 22 Feb 13
I've been commuting to London for a client for a month and the trains and bus service to my estate have been atrocious.
People like Ian Davey, Kitkat and Lucas should be made to work in jobs where they have to be on time, five days a week or they lose pay and then try to use public transport before killing off the car.
In this town we have a band of self employed 'consultants' middle class retired stay at home mums, pushing people out of cars without a reliable or affordable alternative.
My month long experiment has laid bare the failings of relying on public transport.
When will the 81 bus turn up?
Crystal Ball
says...
11:28am Fri 22 Feb 13
Hoarder12345444
says...
11:43am Fri 22 Feb 13
Peter58
says...
11:53am Fri 22 Feb 13
Purple55
says...
12:16pm Fri 22 Feb 13
Additionally the ticket swipe-thru barriers were all closed, so everyone had to go through the open gate where the ticket guard stands, so no-one could get through without a ticket. as commented above, if we had ticket-issuers on the trains as we used in the "good ol' days" this wouldn't have been such an issue. However, in these supposedly modern civilised times everyone was stuck until they bought a ticket, after queuing, queuing, queuing...
Peter58
says...
12:28pm Fri 22 Feb 13
Hoarder12345444
says...
12:30pm Fri 22 Feb 13
Peter58 wrote:I agree, lots of jobs across sussex that are commutable (is that a word??) but car. The quality of life would go down massively. Leaving home at 7am and getting home at 7pm 5 days a week? For what, and extra 20 grand a year? hmmm, nah I dont think so.
London weighting allowance is simply not worth it. By the time u take away the season ticket cost, & also the emotional stress getting a train, u are way out of pocket in my view. I know people who have, & it is a killer - a time bomb inside u (lives are shortened - early heart attack for example)
rolivan
says...
12:39pm Fri 22 Feb 13
chilliman
says...
12:41pm Fri 22 Feb 13
For some people it is worth it, to live on the coast and travel, for some they don't feel they have an option if they want a particular job and can't afford to move closer, and I have known a few people wo claim to enjoy the commute.
Maxwell's Ghost
says...
12:47pm Fri 22 Feb 13
Generally the city has few jobs for professionals. It's a service industry city with work for plumbers and builders and a few media jobs.
Many families eventually leave and head into mid Sussex where the commute is quicker and the schools and housing better.
Hence scruffy brighton and its transient population.
Purple55
says...
1:12pm Fri 22 Feb 13
Personally I was shocked at the attitude, the guy looked seriously puzzled why the station was so busy, the 'lights were on but no-one was home'. Whilst us public know Sats are always busy... maybe Southern have trained their staff to 'act thick' so people leave them alone!
Were these the same machines broken on Saturday which were in the corridor approach? If so, how come they still weren't fixed by Wed? Or did the others break down due to 'excessive-use'? Whichever it is, it's still a total shambles… they want people to travel yet hamper us at every turn.
This highlights the shoddiness of Southern/Bton station, a supposedly 'city-geared-up' public hub, whereas it performs no better than a small town station (some of which are vastly superior).
Can't cope with:
1) lots of people travelling (how dare they use the station!)
2) B&H Albion football matches – e.g. taxi rank closed Sun 17th Mch 0130-2000 cos of B&H v Crystal Palace, quoted "for safety reasons" by Transport Police who act on requests from the station itself
3) taxi rank being outside despite every cab paying £425 permit
4) being a train station!
Hoarder12345444
says...
1:57pm Fri 22 Feb 13
Maxwell's Ghost wrote:Well summed up sir.
The average house price in the city is £250,000 and the average salary about 22,000 hence many people with families having no choice but to commute.
Generally the city has few jobs for professionals. It's a service industry city with work for plumbers and builders and a few media jobs.
Many families eventually leave and head into mid Sussex where the commute is quicker and the schools and housing better.
Hence scruffy brighton and its transient population.
Fairfax Sakes
says...
2:21pm Fri 22 Feb 13
Peter58
says...
3:51pm Fri 22 Feb 13
davyboy
says...
5:20pm Fri 22 Feb 13
CatoTheCat
says...
5:22pm Fri 22 Feb 13
southwicker2
says...
5:28pm Fri 22 Feb 13
Hove Actually
says...
7:34pm Fri 22 Feb 13
Wow Open sky thinking here................
...
Somethingsarejustwrong
says...
9:02pm Fri 22 Feb 13
southwicker2 wrote:Engage brain and then post
Given the cost of a London to Brighton Season Ticket (around £20k for four people), surely it would make sense for 4 people to share a car to work to London even at todays petrol prices. Obviously with the general poor state of the economy it is now very difficult to find any employment and I'm sure given the opportunity many commuters would prefer to work nearer to home but the jobs (and salaries) are just not there. I would also agree that there is a big human cost to pay for the higher salary such as the very long day that must eventually take its toll on your health and the fact that many parents miss out on time spent with their children and families and must spend much of the weekend recovering from the exhaustion of the stressful weekly commute.
FatherTed11
says...
12:58pm Sat 23 Feb 13
Maxwell's Ghost wrote:But if you like to ride a bike a kilometre or two at a speed faster than cars are allowed to drive, you can't beat it!
The average house price in the city is £250,000 and the average salary about 22,000 hence many people with families having no choice but to commute.
Generally the city has few jobs for professionals. It's a service industry city with work for plumbers and builders and a few media jobs.
Many families eventually leave and head into mid Sussex where the commute is quicker and the schools and housing better.
Hence scruffy brighton and its transient population.
Purple55
says...
6:16pm Sat 23 Feb 13
davyboy wrote:Do you really think we're that stupid not to have considered purchasing from the ticket office which is in clear view and directly next to the machines? On Sat, ALL queues were of similar length but the office queue was moving more slowly which is normal, so a no-brainer as to which queue to join!
as this appears to be for those collecting pre-paid tickets, or purchasing from the machine, why not just go to the ticket office, and buy your ticket when you want to travel. they should also be able to give you your pre-paid tickets there too. i suppose these people pre-book expecting it to be easier, but it seldom is. a minor hiccup makes front page news. get a life you lot! whether the staff knew of the problem or not, people are still making a mountain out of a mole hill. leave yourselves enough time to purchase your tickets, instead of blaming everyone else for your failures
In both queuing circumstances people were missing their trains. I was at the station 30mins before my train was due to leave – ample time as usually only takes 10mins to get a ticket. We have every right to blame Bton station for this debarcle as they dealt with the situation in their normal incompetent manner, yet another example of their dire customer service. I wonder, are you an employee of theirs? That would explain the stupidity and arrogance of your comment.
FYI, the ticket office is mainly used by people that require advice or need to buy multiple tickets, so it's a much slower moving queue. The machines are 'fast-track' extensions of the ticket office for people that know their journey, and are intended to reduce the office queue. "These people" who pre-book tickets are attempting to use a system that's been created to ease pressure on ticket purchasing, they're planning ahead which is commendable; yet you consider them wrong for this for some odd reason. You say " should be able to give you your pre-paid tickets" – so you don't know? Not a frequent traveller by the sound of it, yet advising us to "get a life" because we dare to complain about disruption to our journeys due to utter incompetence. Maybe you were one of the dullards I spoke to on that day…
uniteagainstparkingcharges says...
11:17am Fri 22 Feb 13
Why should I be made late due to no fault of my own?