12:00pm Thursday 29th July 2010
By Emily Roberts
BASINGSTOKE railway station has been branded one of the worst for queuing times because the fare options on its ticket machines are too complicated.
Research from watchdog group Passenger Focus shows that because the ticket options are not clearly displayed, many customers avoid the machines or give up and instead queue at the ticket office and risk missing their train.
At Basingstoke, at least a third of queues were longer than recommended by the industry standard, despite ticket machines standing empty.
Anthony Smith, Passenger Focus chief executive, said: “Passengers catching a train for the first time or buying a different type of ticket from their normal one may well be defeated by ticket machines.
“This stress adds unnecessary pressure to buying a ticket. However, many passengers who buy a particular ticket often, or use a familiar ticket machine, may have less trouble.”
The research, carried out at 29 stations where passengers had reported ongoing queuing problems, showed that 33.2 per cent of queues at the Basingstoke ticket office were longer than the industry standard of three minutes off peak and five minutes during peak hours. It was the third worst station behind Guildford and Winchester.
However, the research also showed that the queues for self-service ticket machines at Basingstoke were never longer than the industry standard.
Mr Smith added: “Passenger Focus’ research on ticket queuing times confirms that at some stations, industry guidelines on queuing times are not being met. As pressure to reduce staff numbers increases, it is even more important that the industry sorts this out soon.”
A spokesman for South West Trains said the company recognises that further improvements can be made to the machine technology, but added: “We are, however, disappointed at the selective and unrepresentative picture painted by Passenger Focus in its press release on queuing times.”
South West Trains has started testing new enhancements to the machine software to create a more user-friendly screen layout with clearer information about off-peak and super off-peak tickets.
The spokesman said: “In the key morning peak period, the research shows that around 90 per cent of customers at our bigger stations got their ticket within three minutes, most far more quickly.
“For people who had a wait at a ticket office longer than our standard, the average excess waiting time was a matter of seconds.”
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