South West Trains Discover A Way To Make Passengers Feel Worse
THERE is something annoying about ticket inspectors on trains.
They make you rifle through your bags and pockets to find the ticket you have already put through a ticket barrier. And then they tick it with a pen, like a teacher scoring your efforts.
Well, now things are set to get a lot worse for commuters who use South West train services as a leaked memo reveals that guards are to be judged according to the amount of money they collect in penalties.
The memo which is headed “commercially sensitive, please do not circulate” tells inspectors to treat passengers as fare dodgers even if they approach the guard on the train and ask to buy a ticket. Guards are also advised to sell the most expensive peak ticket and give no rail discounts, which could mean that passengers will be paying over double the normal price.
Inspectors will also be held accountable if they accept any explanations by passengers, even if the passenger was unable to buy a ticket at a machine due to long queues.
One South West guard tells the Times: “We are in the horrible position of having to enforce a policy we know to be unfair, or risk losing our jobs.”
South West is reported to be making profits of more than £1million a week. Yet apparently that’s not enough to afford more ticket machines. Those machines must be mighty expensive.
Posted: 22nd, June 2007 | In: Back pages Comments (7) | TrackBack | Permalink
