Posted 16th October 2008 | 7 Comments
Rail watchdog and train company release ticket machine research
The findings reveal the psyche of the passenger which is a crucial element in resolving concerns and maximising the use of available resources.
New research reveals what passengers like and dislike about using ticket machines to pay their fare.
South West Trains and Passenger Focus have today released research showing passengers are still queuing at ticket offices despite knowing that ticket machines are available. Although 78% of people questioned in the survey said they had used ticket vending machines, a variety of reasons were highlighted for those who had not tried them including wanting a more personal service, being unable to get the ticket they required and not being sure how to use the machine.
Passenger Focus and South West Trains have jointly funded the research to understand the way people buy their tickets. The findings reveal the psyche of the passenger which is a crucial element in resolving concerns and maximising the use of available resources.
Ashwin Kumar, Passenger Focus director, said: “We are delighted to have part funded this research and hope that the industry as a whole will use it to improve their ticket buying facilities for passengers. There will always be a clear need for both staff and machines for ticket buying and information purposes - making the most of both resources will ensure queuing times are reduced.”
Ian Johnston, South West Trains’ customer service director, said: “We were pleased to carry out this joint research with Passenger Focus to look at exactly what passengers think about using ticket machines. While more than 40% of people now use them, we want to put in place improvements such as better communication and more functions to make them even better to use and increase this percentage still further.”
Reader Comments:
Views expressed in submitted comments are that of the author, and not necessarily shared by Railnews.
Ben, Gloucester
The problem i find with ticket machines is that they are hardly working, i have seen one on my route that has been out of order for the last 6 months. Not many of them take cash,
sam josic, bournemouth, england
South west trains want all ticket offices closed and everyone to buy a ticket from the machine ,which is extremmely complicated.Not what the public want!the ticket machines are extremely vunerable to vandalism being outside and unprotected.i work for south west trains(as a Guard) and every morning a list as long as your arm comes on the pager of all the ticket machines out of order(0ne morning a least 30!).The guard has absolutely no time to collect the fares in the morning rush hour!south west trains are only interested in saving money ,not service to the customer which hypocritically it keeps banging on about all the time!
Matt Moll, Huddersfield
Ticket machines are great when they are simple to use like the ones at Huddersfield station, the only problem is one of them is often out of order or temprimental when paying with cash.
Chris, Haywards Heath, UK
The key reason that 'PRIV' tickets are not available through ticket vending machines is the substantial discount that these offer on many flows - selling these without verification of the passenger's entitlement would open the floodgates to those not entitled to them to be able to purchase them and take a chance on potentially only being checked by automatic gates, which can not verify status either.
Noam, Oxford
I use a machine when I can - and am particularly pleased that ordering on line and collecting from the machine *actually works*!
However as I usually travel by Cross Country trains, I am usually delayed and claim back rail travel vouchers in compensation. Ticket machines do not accept these so I still have to use the window when using vouchers.
Rowan Hodgson, London, U.K
My exact reason why I get sick of being told to use a machine when the machine dosen't sell my ticket type (priv). The same reason I was annoyed they closed ticket offices as I now have to pay at the other end which always takes longer.
Graham Morgan, Honiton, England
Ticket machines are all well and good but why is it that you can't buy a 'priv' ticket on them? Surely it must be possible to programme the machine to carry out this function?