Platform tickets on the Bluebell

I understand that the procedure now is that a ticket should be purchased from the Sales and Information office when there are no station staff. This applies on days when trains are not running as well.

 

OK, so how is this to be communicated to the customer and what measures is the railway going to put in place to ensure that its wishes are carried out?

I can understand that there are going to be times when there aren't going to be platform staff, like when the railway thinks that there aren't going to be sufficient customers to make it worthwhile. But ... wouldn't it be better on these occasions to regard the railway's stations as 'open' stations rather than involve the customer in a traipse to the Sales and Information Office?

I support the railway's desire to ensure that it gets some revenue from station visitors via the platform ticket procedure. This has the virtue of being simple, direct, and it has an historic resonance. But this 'off-peak' procedure seems to be horrendously bureaucratic to me, not the way that customers should be greeted at all.

Regards

 

Relax Orion, you'll give yourself a heart attack !!!

I suspect that Sinclair is not correct, and even if he is I have never seen or know of anyone being refused 'free' admission to Sheffield Park on days when there are no station staff on duty. This includes days when just the observation car train operates during the spring and autumn.

Chris

 

I am correct.
From the website:
Sheffield Park, including admission to Loco shed and Museum:
Adult: £2.00, Child: £1.00, (when no train is running, £1.00)

 

Think this is a case of mountains and mollhills. How much passing trade does Sheffield Park actually do? Answer is probably not a lot to be honest. How can a person turn up and demand to be let in just because he wants to use the shop? To say that it leaves a bad impression on the general public is a misnoma as I can't see many people actually turning up and asking for free admission. There is no precedent for it in comparable entertainment venues such as Alton Towers, Chessington, National Trust etc (yes this is the direct competition) and you wouldn't for a moment turn up there and be suprised when you were asked to leave if you wanted free admission to pop to the shop.

 

Thanks for the free medical consultation!

I think I'm much more likely to suffer from depression at the antics at SP. My heart, lungs and arteries are in perfect working order, but thanks for the advice

Regards

 

Platform Tickets at Sheffield Park

I stand corrected,I thought you only needed to buy the tickets for travelling from the General Office when the booking office is closed. There must be a notice up at the front door to the station which I did'nt notice as I don't use it as a working volunteer.

Regards,Tim.

 

The only antics I can see is your determination to nick-pick over a problem that in reality don't exist.

Now there's a corker of a political "U-turn" if ever I saw one.

If there is a notice displayed advising vistors to purchase station admission tickets from the general office, it is very well hidden because I've never seen it. And as you mentioned before, on the days when there is no real activity going on at SP, and hence the booking office is closed and there are no station staff on duty, visitors are able to and indeed do access the station for free. It may not be the policy intended by management or what is displayed on the website, but in reality that is what happens as you yourself indicated in message #40.

Chris

 

I think that the £15k earned via the Bluebell entrance fee shows why it's worth bothering with, but I think there's a few things that can be done to avoid resentment and keep people onside:

- platform ticket can be torn in half, the half giving £2 (or certain percentage) off shop purchases

- put the funds earned towards a specific project. This means the railway can have a poster saying that the funds generated from platform tickets will go towards restoring a coach / station canopy / keeping railway staff in tea and biscuits etc

- change the project each year, so next years's poster can say that x amount was raised last year, and this year we're going to restore a truck / repair a signal box / switch to coffee and cake.

I think the combination of a voucher and a specific cause (rather than a vague 'running costs') would keep most people happy as they'd be getting something back and can see where their money is going.

Good point made by the WSR poster who is happy for people to go on to the platform as they reckon they'll make more through the shops and cafe that way.

Any thoughts from any other railways?

 

Good, I'm glad that is the reality on the ground as it were. As for my 'nit picking' I thought I was arguing for what is actually happening, ie that the stations are open stations when there is little or no activity on the railway.

Regards

 

Hahaha, what did I say would happen?

Frankly, if any 'crank' - who by the very definition wants preserved railways to succeed - is so miserly that they're not prepared to spend a measly two quid on a platform ticket to help ANY of those preserved railways, then in my opinion they fully deserve to be discriminated against for being so pathetically tight-fisted!

 

Do you work in the current government by any chance mate ?, certainly fit right in!.

So what happens if for arguments sake, for a change i decide to bring the missus and 2.4 kids, what then ?.

Im not against what your saying per say, just why it seems to be ok for some people and not for others.

Im just of the opinion that a friendly welcoming atmosphere is more likely to result in a large customer transaction than a football turnstyle "pay on the gate" coldness.

 

£2.00 for a platform ticket on Sheffield Park is nothing short of scandelous,


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I`d demand to be charged a fiver at the very least

 

I'va always maintained that the best way to attract visitors (and therefore make money) is to create a friendly welcoming atmosphere, the way some in this thread (not necessarily Bluebell involved) seem to look down their noses at enthusiasts is somewhat disturbing in what is in effect now a tourism industry that relies on visitor satisfaction to survive.

 

surely preserved railways are run by enthusiasts?

 

You have got to be kidding me, more likely the other way round.

Regards
Chris

 

Hmmm, the other way round OK, surely enthusiasts run preserved railways, I might be being a bit fik here, but whats the difference?

 

At the end of the day, it is entirely up to the Bluebell Railway what to charge for a platform ticket. In the same way as I am free to allow people to look at the gardening efforts of my wife (mainly) and myself and to charge £20 for the privilege, there is no duty to provide anybody witrh free or cheap entertainment. Obviously, there is a tipping point where charging too much will mean that nobody comes and you don't get any income, but this is a matter for commercial judgment.

Having said that, it may be beneficial overall not to charge for platform tickets because allowing free entry to platforms could encourage better donations and/or people to think it would be nice to have a ride. I respect the Bluebell Railway's right to make its own decision about that.

John

 

Hi Shredder, you are not being " fik" as you say, far from it.

I do not want to get bogged in in politics in any way,however IMHO you have a situation where the tail is wagging the dog. Granted preserved railways are big business now and one has to have a management structure in place but I feel that sometimes this volunteer management think it is THEIR railway and that volunteers are just there to do their bidding.

And lets face it , are these people better qualified to tell us what to do? the answer is usually no even if the Directors are volunteers too.Volunteers with years of experience in management and industry are being told what to do by people with little of no experience. As Directors they should be there to guide and listen to people with more experience than they will ever have, mould them into a team and not huffing and puffing and saying ,"I am a Directer and you will do what I say".

That said it is not easy moulding volunteers into a unit, but I do think sometimes that people stand for election on some Railways for entirely the wrong reasons, usually self interest and finding it hard to even say thank you to someone because they cannot take the credit for themselves.

That also said their are some great people who have worked wonders with little rescources and even less money who are a credit to the movement.

Just me opinion, well you did ask.

Regards
Chris

 

I think Shredder knows all about poor railway management - from close experience.