Bensonby has kindly done a video of what happens when a lightly loaded (18.21 from LB to West Croydon) train arrives on platform 2. I have put it on our frontpage here: http://www.sydenham.org.uk/.
If I can get more shots - at peak time - please let me know and I will edit them into a montage ready for Friday.
PS if you are uploading videos - the best free service is http://blip.tv although I can get them from YouTube too.
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Oystergate: Showdown Time
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Peak Hillbilly
- Posts: 23
- Joined: 20 May 2005 20:57
- Location: sydenham
Did you ever get a reply to your letter of complaint, Bensonby?
No one at Southern or TFL has bothered to reply to mine. I suppose I'm not really surprised though, seeing as they couldn't even be bothered to answer the intercom on Saturday (at 1655) and there was no sign of a gate-guard on platform 2 even though the gates were all locked and the barriers operational.
No one at Southern or TFL has bothered to reply to mine. I suppose I'm not really surprised though, seeing as they couldn't even be bothered to answer the intercom on Saturday (at 1655) and there was no sign of a gate-guard on platform 2 even though the gates were all locked and the barriers operational.
Gaz wrote:Did you ever get a reply to your letter of complaint, Bensonby?
No one at Southern or TFL has bothered to reply to mine. I suppose I'm not really surprised though, seeing as they couldn't even be bothered to answer the intercom on Saturday (at 1655) and there was no sign of a gate-guard on platform 2 even though the gates were all locked and the barriers operational.
No I havn't, except for a "thank you for your letter, we will give you a full answer in due course" - which they havn't.
I basically gave them a month to reply in teh original letter. This comes up on saturday. So If I havn't heard by the start of next week then I'm going to forward my complain here: http://www.londontravelwatch.org.uk/index
If they don't help then I'm seriously going to look into getting a soliciter involved as I do genuinely believe Southern's actions to be unlawful.
I suppose I could arrest the head of Southern if he turns up on Friday for willfully inconveniencing passengers under byelaw 6
Delighted to see article about gating problems in The Newsshopper plus a letter from an SE26 resident on the letter page.
http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/lewgr ... uption.php
http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/lewgr ... uption.php
Bensonby - mention of locomotive classes (steam) is permitted here. Diesel/Electric locomotives - only in Town Asylum. Whereas spotting multiples should be only be done from between the rails ...:
Seriously where are we with the Mayor's gauntlet? Are the two guys going to turn up? If not, what do we do. Who is in charge?
Admin
Seriously where are we with the Mayor's gauntlet? Are the two guys going to turn up? If not, what do we do. Who is in charge?
Admin
I have just talked to the Mayor's office.
They have just received confirmation that Peter Field, Director of Strategy, TfL and John Oliver, Acting Commercial Director, Southern Rail will attend the meeting at Sydenham station with the mayor.
These are two senior officers who will be able to address the gating problems at the station. It is essential you are there to put your point of view.
They have just received confirmation that Peter Field, Director of Strategy, TfL and John Oliver, Acting Commercial Director, Southern Rail will attend the meeting at Sydenham station with the mayor.
These are two senior officers who will be able to address the gating problems at the station. It is essential you are there to put your point of view.
i agree that the barriers are completely stupid being in such a small station, altough as some other people will point out, it stops the freeloaders and most of the freeloaders are the ones who have attitude and cause problems for people who just want a stress free journey home.
i have seen what was said about the gate on platform 1 and in my opinion people are just too lazy to walk round to come through the barriers and as for parents with prams and people with mobility problems, they are still allow out of that gate on platform 1.
i have seen for myself people going through the barriers during the rush hour period and what i have noticed is that people wait until they are right on top of the barriers to get their tickets out which has an impact on holding up the people behind.
i believe this hole situation to be another thing for people to moan about, i am confident in betting that even if they had a second ticket office over on platform 1 as well, with the barriers, that people would still be moaning about something or another.
i have seen what was said about the gate on platform 1 and in my opinion people are just too lazy to walk round to come through the barriers and as for parents with prams and people with mobility problems, they are still allow out of that gate on platform 1.
i have seen for myself people going through the barriers during the rush hour period and what i have noticed is that people wait until they are right on top of the barriers to get their tickets out which has an impact on holding up the people behind.
i believe this hole situation to be another thing for people to moan about, i am confident in betting that even if they had a second ticket office over on platform 1 as well, with the barriers, that people would still be moaning about something or another.
my bolds. You hit the nail on teh head. They barriers are stupid. The number of barriers are woefully inadequate. And therfore create huge congestion at the station.Patch wrote:i agree that the barriers are completely stupid being in such a small station, altough as some other people will point out, it stops the freeloaders and most of the freeloaders are the ones who have attitude and cause problems for people who just want a stress free journey home.
i have seen what was said about the gate on platform 1 and in my opinion people are just too lazy to walk round to come through the barriers and as for parents with prams and people with mobility problems, they are still allow out of that gate on platform 1.
i have seen for myself people going through the barriers during the rush hour period and what i have noticed is that people wait until they are right on top of the barriers to get their tickets out which has an impact on holding up the people behind.
i believe this hole situation to be another thing for people to moan about, i am confident in betting that even if they had a second ticket office over on platform 1 as well, with the barriers, that people would still be moaning about something or another.
By creating such congestion the railway are delaying passengers and denying them a stress-fre journey home. there are other ways to catch "freeloaders" and most of them have to travel through barriers at the hub stations anyway. The gates are, IMHO, unlawful as they inconvenience passengers (cf. byelaw 6).
I have no objection to going through barriers per se but the inconvenience is wqholly disproptionate to the benefit.
In the meantime I have uploaded a new video: http://blip.tv/file/1085343/
the bold point i made, was that say for example a freeloader got on at sydenham because there were no barriers and cause trouble on the train straight away, then people would start moaning because they managed to get on the train in the first place...bensonby wrote:my bolds. You hit the nail on teh head. They barriers are stupid. The number of barriers are woefully inadequate. And therfore create huge congestion at the station.Patch wrote:i agree that the barriers are completely stupid being in such a small station, altough as some other people will point out, it stops the freeloaders and most of the freeloaders are the ones who have attitude and cause problems for people who just want a stress free journey home.
i have seen what was said about the gate on platform 1 and in my opinion people are just too lazy to walk round to come through the barriers and as for parents with prams and people with mobility problems, they are still allow out of that gate on platform 1.
i have seen for myself people going through the barriers during the rush hour period and what i have noticed is that people wait until they are right on top of the barriers to get their tickets out which has an impact on holding up the people behind.
i believe this hole situation to be another thing for people to moan about, i am confident in betting that even if they had a second ticket office over on platform 1 as well, with the barriers, that people would still be moaning about something or another.
By creating such congestion the railway are delaying passengers and denying them a stress-fre journey home. there are other ways to catch "freeloaders" and most of them have to travel through barriers at the hub stations anyway. The gates are, IMHO, unlawful as they inconvenience passengers (cf. byelaw 6).
I have no objection to going through barriers per se but the inconvenience is wqholly disproptionate to the benefit.
In the meantime I have uploaded a new video: http://blip.tv/file/1085343/
my point being, is that it is a NO/WIN situation...
PEOPLE MOAN that people ride the trains for free and in some cases will cause trouble and PEOPLE MOAN that there is a method to stop the majority of freeloaders.
there is no humanly way possible to create a stress-free enviroment involving the barriers situation... even if there was a different method to stop freeloaders people would be moaning.
but they can catch "freeloaders" at the hub stations and can employ the people that man the gates to roam the line getting on and off trains checking tickets and doling out fines.
the only reason lots of people fare evaded before was because there was no real chance of getting caught. If they had mobile patrols then there would be a chance of getting caught.
the only reason lots of people fare evaded before was because there was no real chance of getting caught. If they had mobile patrols then there would be a chance of getting caught.
Patch - Freeloaders aren't acceptable and barriers are inevitable.
But there is a way to create a much more stress-free environment for passengers using barriers and that's to provide extra set of barriers on the up platform and to build a wider set of barriers on the down platform (perhaps to the side of the ticket office).
Sydenham station will have more and more passengers in the next few years. We have to cater for the extra numbers using the station and not expect every passenger to enter/leave the station through three narrow barriers.
It's obvious that the existing barriers are causing frustration. Patch - you complain that passengers aren't getting their tickets out fast enough at the barriers for your liking. There will always be passengers who are slow to operate barriers. Surely the solution is to build more barriers!
But there is a way to create a much more stress-free environment for passengers using barriers and that's to provide extra set of barriers on the up platform and to build a wider set of barriers on the down platform (perhaps to the side of the ticket office).
Sydenham station will have more and more passengers in the next few years. We have to cater for the extra numbers using the station and not expect every passenger to enter/leave the station through three narrow barriers.
It's obvious that the existing barriers are causing frustration. Patch - you complain that passengers aren't getting their tickets out fast enough at the barriers for your liking. There will always be passengers who are slow to operate barriers. Surely the solution is to build more barriers!
Patch
I find your opinion that people are "just too lazy" to go through the gates on platform 2 rather than use the previously accessible platform 1 sidegate quite strange. Perhaps you should take it to the natural conclusion and deny entry to the whole of Sydenham station as surely it is just lazy to use a train when one could walk? In fact, by closing the platform 1 sidegate, it is now easier and quicker for me to use Forest Hill station to get to London Bridge so this is effectively what is happening already. Other posters have also started to use other train stations due to the congestion now being suffered at platform 2 as everyone shuffles through the gates and over the footbridge.
Unfortunately, parents with prams and people with mobility problems are being denied access/egress from platform 1 (despite reassurances to the contrary) due to ignorant staff and the intercom not always being answered. Do you think it is acceptable that people who can show a valid train ticket should have to prove a disability to be let through, or that they should be kept waiting on the street watching their train go past because the intercom is not being answered?
I'm glad you agree that the current situation of using barriers at Sydenham is completely stupid. I myself have no objections to barriers providing there are enough of them - and on both platforms. As pointed out elsewhere though, perhaps ticket inspector spot-checks would be a better way of enforcing things.
Which leads me onto the point about freeloaders (and these being problem-makers). As said above, I'm all for stopping freeloaders etc but the current situation at Sydenham is ludicrous as come 1930, the staff go home and the gates are opened...
I find your opinion that people are "just too lazy" to go through the gates on platform 2 rather than use the previously accessible platform 1 sidegate quite strange. Perhaps you should take it to the natural conclusion and deny entry to the whole of Sydenham station as surely it is just lazy to use a train when one could walk? In fact, by closing the platform 1 sidegate, it is now easier and quicker for me to use Forest Hill station to get to London Bridge so this is effectively what is happening already. Other posters have also started to use other train stations due to the congestion now being suffered at platform 2 as everyone shuffles through the gates and over the footbridge.
Unfortunately, parents with prams and people with mobility problems are being denied access/egress from platform 1 (despite reassurances to the contrary) due to ignorant staff and the intercom not always being answered. Do you think it is acceptable that people who can show a valid train ticket should have to prove a disability to be let through, or that they should be kept waiting on the street watching their train go past because the intercom is not being answered?
I'm glad you agree that the current situation of using barriers at Sydenham is completely stupid. I myself have no objections to barriers providing there are enough of them - and on both platforms. As pointed out elsewhere though, perhaps ticket inspector spot-checks would be a better way of enforcing things.
Which leads me onto the point about freeloaders (and these being problem-makers). As said above, I'm all for stopping freeloaders etc but the current situation at Sydenham is ludicrous as come 1930, the staff go home and the gates are opened...
Something occured to me this morning when I was walking over the footbridge to platform 1... if you have pushchair (for example), you are travelling to London via Forest Hill, and you don't have a ticket, you have to walk all the way around to the office to buy your ticket and then walk all the way back again, which must take what, 10 mins all up? Surely there should be some obligation for Southern/TFL to supply ticket purchasing facilities on both sides? Or install a lift?
I know this is a side-issue but the thought was sparked by me thinking about this whole debate, and was curious to know if it had been discussed before?
I know this is a side-issue but the thought was sparked by me thinking about this whole debate, and was curious to know if it had been discussed before?
It seems someone has updated the Sydenham Station wikipedia article... 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydenham_r ... %29#Future
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydenham_r ... %29#Future