An Open and Shut Case

UK railroads are beginning to add automatic ticket gatelines at passenger stations, making the UK the only European country to use ticket barriers on inter-city services. This article argues that such gates are more suited to metro and suburban services and can actually discourage long-distance passengers. Although many stakeholders appear to accept the ticket gates, there is little objective measurement of the true impact on fare evasion. At gated stations, there is no visual cancellation of tickets and without further checks, only the minimum fare at that station is protected. Access to and from trains is restricted, often with the closure of secondary entrances and exits, which extends travel times and causes congestion and customer confusion. Many long distance users are unfamiliar with gates and are encumbered with luggage, so the staff providing assistance can be under continuous pressure. This results in degraded standards of customer service and reduced revenue control. Suburban stations afflicted with vandalism may benefit from the claimed benefit of security from the gatelines, but that is as much due to visible staff as equipment. Closing off the platforms at major stations does nothing for security in other public areas of the station where much of the crime risk still exists. Although evidence suggests that ticket gates at suburban stations can cut the fare evasion rate in half, there is also evidence that this effectiveness declines with length of journey. The proliferation of ticketing technology like barriers, which require significant hardware and complex software integration, will inhibit introduction of new ticket formats such as smartcards, print-at-home and mobile phones. Reducing open access to stations leads to a situation where the stations cease to be part of the public realm and instead are a place where people are processed. The overall message to customers is negative and unwelcoming.