Re: Yarra Trams Article in Sunday Age

[Railvic <railvic@primus.com.au>]

Daniel Bowen wrote:
> 
> "Railvic" <railvic@primus.com.au> wrote in message
> 3A809196.3DC61550@primus.com.au">news:3A809196.3DC61550@primus.com.au...
> > Further, it is unreasonable to expect railway stations to be able to
> > serve ** every ** customer within 5 minute of thier arrival at the
> > booking office windows during morning peak, because it is ** NOT **
> 
> Before automatic ticketing, it was not uncommon to arrive at my local
> station and see a queue of 15-20 people in peak hour. The station assistant
> could clear the queue in a matter of minutes - faster than the 2 machines
> that replaced her can - and rarely was anyone left missing the train.

Daniel,

One thing that commuters did not know is that in the old days, most
station staff would pre-dated (pre-punched) tickets and all credit card
payments are processed manually.  Such practice maybe required because
Met tickets were not widely available like today.  Not to mention large
number of unsold tickets get cancelled and then pulped (such a waste of
money).  Some stations have cancelled so many tickets that I'm sure
those tree-loving (greenies) would go mad!  Nowadays, Metcards are
available at retail outlets in addition to the railway stations, etc. 
Furthermore, to reduce waste, Metcards are normally not pre-issued and
this practice can cause some problem when customers are paying with
EFTPOS.  

As I have stated many times before, transport operators cannot force
customers to purchase tickets in advance.  However, if customers choose
not to take this advantage, then they must be prepared to queue up. 
And, if you missed your train, don't blame the staff, but those queued
before you!!