Introduction of Passenger Gates at Winchester Station
| Published: 29th July 2008 22:13 |
Liberal Democrat campaigner Martin Tod has expressed concern at plans to introduce passenger gates at Winchester Station towards the end of this year.
Small wooden boxes installed on the platform (illustrated below) are the first signs of the proposed gate system which was announced in a press release on June 30th (http://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/SWTrains/News/_NewTicketGates.htm)
Martin Tod commented:
"If South West Trains was concentrating on passengers rather than short-term profit, they'd be sorting out the queues in the ticket office and making it easier for disabled and elderly people to get from one platform to another without going through the carpark.
I'd like reassurance that the new gates will be able to handle the rush of commuters getting on the train early in the morning.
I'm told the manufacturers have said that the gates will only get to 95% capacity - but everyone's recent experience in Winchester is that promises made about queues, whether by the Post Office, Smith's or South West Trains, don't count for much in reality.
At least to start with, there needs to be enough staffing to make sure that they can still handle the morning rush the old fashioned way if the gates don't allow everyone onto the platform fast enough."
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