Just a warning - the new gates installed at Potters Bar station retain travelcards on exit - so if you need the ticket for further use like on the bus or to claim for delays with the tube charter, be sure to get the staff to let you out instead.

I expect this is to stop people re-selling or passing on tickets. Technically with a travelcard/rail extension, you only have unlimited travel on the travelcard part, not the rail extension. So you couldn't ride between here and Hadley Wood all day - it's only a return ticket here to there. Of course you can have unlimited use within the zones on rail/tube/bus/DLR etc. I guess this is their justificiation for retaining the ticket but I think they ought to have made people aware.

For some reason I didn't think that the PB gates retained cards. Would this have been only just implemented or has it been happening since the gates were installed?

Actually now you mention it my girlfriend recalled the last time she had a ODTC it did give the ticket back, both times it was the same gate - the disabled one at the bottom of the northbound platforms. As she put it in the girl said something about it "taking those tickets". You could be right in that it's a recent implementation but if that's the case I can't understand why.

If they're the same as the LU gates, the last ticket put in is retained in a short-storage hopper before joining the rest of the tickets in a big bag, so long as you're quick in asking you can get it back!

That gate was so slow in closing and does not allow you to put your ticket in until it's closed, I walked through without putting my gold card in (there was a certain amount of faffing at the other gate by people who didn't have tickets ready).

When installed all tickets were returned, only in the past week have the machines been programmed to retain certain tickets.

I have already complained because they are soooo s....l....o.....w.....

Was talking to one of the ticket inspectors who stand at the bottom of the ramps and they claimed that since they (the inspectors, not the gates) arrived in PB ticket sales have increased 700% at PB alone I tried my best not laughing and didn't bother explaining that for ticket sales to increase by 700% meant that before they arrived that would mean that 6 out of every 7 that now have a ticket didn't before?

Smiler Wrote:Was talking to one of the ticket inspectors who stand at the bottom of the ramps and they claimed that since they (the inspectors, not the gates) arrived in PB ticket sales have increased 700% at PB alone I tried my best not laughing and didn't bother explaining that for ticket sales to increase by 700% meant that before they arrived that would mean that 6 out of every 7 that now have a ticket didn't before?

Well I dont know much about it, but, tbh, I wouldn't be surprised if there was some credibility in that!

Loads of school children used to just use it every day with no ticket!

slimgym Wrote:Actually now you mention it my girlfriend recalled the last time she had a ODTC it did give the ticket back, both times it was the same gate - the disabled one at the bottom of the northbound platforms. As she put it in the girl said something about it "taking those tickets". You could be right in that it's a recent implementation but if that's the case I can't understand why.

Strange. I havn't used a One Day Travel Card recently, but when I did I think it wasn't the disabled gate but it did give the ticket back!

The rest of the times, even when the destination of a ticket was PB, the ticket was returned.

It always throws me a bit when they take the ticket because I always expect them to come back and when they don't I stand there cluelessly for a bit staring at the machine until I realise I should go (before the gates close)!

It's ironic those who always had tickets are now being delayed because of those who never bothered I get trains coming back after 8pm and there's a hell of a bottleneck and wait to get out of the station, hate to think what it's like during the earlier busy rush period! I think the staff should leave the disabled gate open and do manual ticket inspectoins through it.

The gates are not up to the number of people trying to get out of them and are too slow in operation.

They are upgrading the rules all the time on the gates. This week they were programmed to only accept off peak tickets after 9:30am, therefore people who had bought an off peak ticket but planning to use the 9:30 fast train were out off luck.

Some people were also caught by one day travel cards and it was explained to them that although they could travel between Zones 1-6, they could only travel from/to PB once.

In a way it's good as it's cutting down on fare dodgin', but the gates are too slow, and too few

I think it's as good as it's going to get. Without an air supply (as the fast tube gates are) they're never going to be that rapid. I'd loved to have seen some of the area between the two ramps opened out to provide a circulating area so people don't bunch at the bottom. But then again, that would hit profits, and that's all they're interested in. Harsh but true. More gates won't help unless you increase the room so people can pass by the three existing ones to use them. If I'm half way up the ramp and want to go out the bus stop exit, I can't pass by those queueing to exit to the car park.

If I can find the right person in FCC to email, I'll suggest they keep the disabled gate open and do manual ticket inspections, which would help (as it'd be faster!). But I expect the yobs would just push past the person there, so they'll probably not want to do that.

> This week they were programmed to only accept off peak tickets
> after 9:30am, therefore people who had bought an off peak ticket but
> planning to use the 9:30 fast train were out off luck.

That used to nark me a bit - I had an annual and often used to travel on the 9.29 into work only to see people on ODTC's paying a fraction of my cost and just getting a warning when caught.

Tonight again the gate retained the ODTC, I'm not sure it's totally above board unless it's considered spent and thus "given up". Like I say though if you walked to the station and intended to use the bus back, or need to claim on the charter it's a bit of a pain.

I spoke to the man running the coffee shop on platforms 1 & 2, and he said that the business "was dead".
The last time I went on the platform just after 0930 it was shut.
Regarding leaving the station,when my ticket was swallowed, I asked for it back, but was told it was shredded! How true this is I couldn't say.
gbh

Unless they're different to the LU ones, they keep the last inserted card in a slot and the previous one is spat into a bag. Why would they shred them at such a stage? If it knows to keep it, it knows it has no further validity - in reality it could just give you the ticket back but not allow you to re-enter with it, like the tube ones used to.

Tell me about I live in potters bar but work in hatfield went to a friends birthday drink in hatfield after work

Went home to change I had to buy a return and a single because the machine took my ticket

gbh Wrote:I spoke to the man running the coffee shop on platforms 1 & 2, and he said that the business "was dead".
The last time I went on the platform just after 0930 it was shut.

I'm not surprised...most people are going into London and his prices are (in my opinion) more expensive than London coffee shops - so why bother ?

I expect he gets a bit of competition from the newsagents who sell a larger selection of sarnies as well as cheaper tea/coffee.

Personally whenever I'm at the station I just had a tea anyway, next one is on the way to work, don't need one midpoint!