Revenue Protection Officers Now In Operation At Sheffield (Read 577 times)

[crossscythe]

Revenue Protection Officers, operated by East Midlands Railway, are now in operation at Sheffield Railway Station. Ticket checks will take place before customers enter the platform, and after they alight services or attempt to leave the compulsory ticket area, across all platforms on the station. Passengers must purchase a valid ticket before proceeding beyond the booking office, or else they may be issued with a Penalty Fare or be referred for prosecution. Customers alighting at Sheffield, should retain their tickets until they have left the station at the end of their journey.

[60657]

Does this apply to the footbridge, as I know there was some controversy over whether it was a public right of way hence why ticket barriers were never installed. Indeed this may be even more of an issue now the grotty old bridge that dumps you out onto Cross Turner Street is closed.

[crossscythe]

Aug 8, 2023 6:15:36 GMT 60657 said:

Does this apply to the footbridge, as I know there was some controversy over whether it was a public right of way hence why ticket barriers were never installed. Indeed this may be even more of an issue now the grotty old bridge that dumps you out onto Cross Turner Street is closed.

I have only seen them at the bottom of the stairs, leading to the platforms this year. But they can do barriers on the bridge and they have done many times in the past (under Stagecoach). A "baton" system was in place for non-passengers who wanted to cross the bridge, they had to seek permission from an Officer to cross and were given a baton to hand to the Officer at the other end, to prove that they had not travelled. 


As a customer, I find station ticket checks to be a great fetrement to my experience. It slows down my boarding, makes it difficult if my train is delayed and I decide to pop back to Upper Crust for a sandwich, it's not practically pleasant getting tickets out whilst walking around the station, especially with luggage and risks losing something. If we have to have checks at the station, I would rather they did what Northern do at Doncaster, just wait until a train pulls in and ask anyone they witness alighting for their ticket, thus maintaining an element of an open station.

Revenue Protection seemed to be effective in recent years, with most EMR London services having Officers on board, who checked tickets quickly, meaning I could put my ticket away and relax. A significant number of Liverpool-Norwichs had Officers onboard too. Many Northern services have Officers onboard and the Senior Conductors are much more efficient at checking tickets these days. CrossCountry and TPE ticket checking onboard has improved too. 

Surely, there should be a balance between protecting revenue and not disrupting the journey of fare paying customers. I always thought that the high number of onboard checks was a fair compromise but evidently not with the introduction of at station checking at Sheffield.

I also want to add that passengers should check that their ticket is valid before proceeding beyond the purchase point, e.g. if it's an Off Peak, that the train you are travelling on is an Off Peak, is the route valid, do you have a Railcard to accompany Railcard discounted tickets? All of these things could be scrutinised at any point in your journey. Keep your tickets and travel documents with you at all times. Do not enter First Class without a valid First Class ticket.