side gate at station open?

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bensonby
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Joined: 18 Jun 2008 12:28
Location: Kent

Post by bensonby »

Barty wrote:If you have a ticket, you will be able to get through the gate.

If you do not, you will have to walk round to the ticket office and buy one, like any law abiding citizen :wink: :lol: :twisted: :wink:
None of the ticket machines in London at any station (LU or NR) accept my pass to let me onto the platforms....I always have to get a guard to let me in.
Barty
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Location: With Mrs Barty, or at work texting Mrs Barty

Post by Barty »

Unusual. My pass will let me through ticket gates at any station served by Southern trains.

I would have thought your employer could procure similar passes with the magnetic strips on that can open them.
Barty
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Location: With Mrs Barty, or at work texting Mrs Barty

Post by Barty »

noangel wrote:2 men dressed in orange dayglo outfits, mmm nice, were standing looking baffled at the Help Point (and the fence) by the P2 gate this morning.
By yesterday afternoon, the help point was dismantled, and an announcement was being played every 8 minutes regarding the closure, supplementing the notices which are now located in the booking hall, on the sign outside the main entrance, and outside the entrance on platform one.

There should be no reason now why anyone who uses either entrance of the station doesn't know that the plat 1 gate is gonna be closed from next Tues for eight weeks!!!!!!!
jackieboo
Posts: 113
Joined: 6 Feb 2008 21:42
Location: croydon uk

Why they had to change the old platform & entrance

Post by jackieboo »

in the first place.

There was the entrance on the other side of the road (well before some penpusher decided to install a lethal zebra crossing on a blind summit), with ticket office etc and platform further along to where it is now. I remember the lovely big clock and chocolate dispenser machine.

Why create more stairs for people to walk across and take the entrance away from the main road????
bensonby
Posts: 1656
Joined: 18 Jun 2008 12:28
Location: Kent

Re: Why they had to change the old platform & entrance

Post by bensonby »

jackieboo wrote:in the first place.

There was the entrance on the other side of the road (well before some penpusher decided to install a lethal zebra crossing on a blind summit), with ticket office etc and platform further along to where it is now. I remember the lovely big clock and chocolate dispenser machine.

Why create more stairs for people to walk across and take the entrance away from the main road????
has someone been killed on that zebra?!
Gaz
Posts: 366
Joined: 17 Sep 2007 23:22
Location: Sydenham

Post by Gaz »

This reminds me. Over at FH station it seems that Southern have reneged on their commitment to keep their sidegate open past 8pm now that they have barriers fitted. It appears that the original design spec included a remote-operated gate which was then dropped during the build. As such, Southern are reasoning that they need to lock the gate at 8pm (when the ticket office closes?). Apparently this shouldn't be a problem once London Overground takes over the station in Oct (due to longer staffing hours, I guess).

So... has anyone heard whether Southern are planning a similarly insidious operation with our own step-free access to Platform 2 as I think these plans also had remote-operated gate? Is there a separate lockable sidegate incorporated into the plans in case Southern also decide to lock up our new gates 'enclosure' after it has been built?
lambchops
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Joined: 11 Jan 2008 10:57
Location: Your mum's

Post by lambchops »

so....is the gate on platform 1 now open? i havn't been there for weeks.
Gaz
Posts: 366
Joined: 17 Sep 2007 23:22
Location: Sydenham

Post by Gaz »

lambchops wrote:so....is the gate on platform 1 now open? i havn't been there for weeks.
It's still a sealed off building site where the side-gate used to be. They reckoned it would take 8 weeks which takes us to the end of June for completion.

However, see my post above though - I think there's a danger that this gate will be closed at 8pm (like the one at Forest Hill) until tfl take over.
lambchops
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Location: Your mum's

Post by lambchops »

cheers gaz.
Suzee
Posts: 196
Joined: 7 Jul 2006 12:42
Location: Sydenham

Post by Suzee »

Just wanted to check if the side gate is still closed? Will need to travel into town with pram and baby this week. Should I go to Forest Hill instead (bit of a pain) or do you think i should chance it and hope I'll get a helping hand over the bridge?
:wink:
MiniFox
Posts: 191
Joined: 8 Oct 2007 20:32
Location: Lawrie Park Road

Post by MiniFox »

Hi Suzee
Side gate wont be open for a good few weeks yet - It's been shut for a month and the posters say the works will take 8 weeks
I used the station yesterday and the works are well afoot
Barty
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Joined: 14 Dec 2008 09:25
Location: With Mrs Barty, or at work texting Mrs Barty

Post by Barty »

An 8wk estimate from Tuesday 5th May takes us to Tuesday 30th June, 2wks today. We shall see!
MiniFox
Posts: 191
Joined: 8 Oct 2007 20:32
Location: Lawrie Park Road

Post by MiniFox »

Actually Barty, you may be right and they may well make it - work seems to suddenly be pushing on...
Gaz
Posts: 366
Joined: 17 Sep 2007 23:22
Location: Sydenham

Post by Gaz »

Barty wrote:An 8wk estimate from Tuesday 5th May takes us to Tuesday 30th June, 2wks today. We shall see!
Barty - do you have any info on the below (i.e will the sidegate be locked after 8pm as it is at FH)?
This reminds me. Over at FH station it seems that Southern have reneged on their commitment to keep their sidegate open past 8pm now that they have barriers fitted. It appears that the original design spec included a remote-operated gate which was then dropped during the build. As such, Southern are reasoning that they need to lock the gate at 8pm (when the ticket office closes?). Apparently this shouldn't be a problem once London Overground takes over the station in Oct (due to longer staffing hours, I guess).

So... has anyone heard whether Southern are planning a similarly insidious operation with our own step-free access to Platform 2 as I think these plans also had remote-operated gate? Is there a separate lockable sidegate incorporated into the plans in case Southern also decide to lock up our new gates 'enclosure' after it has been built?
Weeble
Posts: 358
Joined: 1 Nov 2004 17:56
Location: Sydenham

Post by Weeble »

How is the new side gate progressing? I've been taking advantage of the good weather and using my bike lately so I haven't seen how they're getting on.

By my reckoning they've had their 8 weeks....
Chazza
Posts: 290
Joined: 28 Mar 2008 12:51
Location: Sydenham end of Venner Road

Post by Chazza »

I walked past it last night - a framework for the building has been erected, but it still looks to be at least two weeks from completion.
Barty
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Post by Barty »

Gaz,

I've only just seen your post of 18/6.

I'm afraid I have very little knowledge of this kind of side of Southern's operation. In the job I do, I get told when things happen after the event, I'm not in any way part of a process where I can have some input into shaping what will go on in the future.

I see my role here on the forum as an extension of the PA announcements and notices you will find at the station, another source of information about what is happening when things go wrong, and a source of information about why things happen the way they do on the railways.

Matters of policy about staffing levels and station access are things I don't come across day-to-day, can't influence, and would get in trouble for speculating about!

We did assume in the office that the new side entrance at Forest Hill would have a shutter that we would open and close remotely (like the one at Crystal Palace), but when it was completed, we weren't party to the decision as to why there wasn't, so I honestly don't know enough to comment!
Barty
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Location: With Mrs Barty, or at work texting Mrs Barty

Post by Barty »

As to the side gate - try Southern's Customer Services for an estimate of opening.....and in the meantime, if anyone needs assistance with crossing the footbridge, contact Southern's Assisted Travel unit, before you travel.
bensonby
Posts: 1656
Joined: 18 Jun 2008 12:28
Location: Kent

Post by bensonby »

Barty wrote:As to the side gate - try Southern's Customer Services for an estimate of opening.....and in the meantime, if anyone needs assistance with crossing the footbridge, contact Southern's Assisted Travel unit, before you travel.
Why? Surely their obligations under the DDA apply regardless and they have a duty to provide as equal a service as possible to disbaled passengers.......which would include not having to book help in advance.

The easiest way they could have adhered to their legal obligations would have been to leave the gate as it was.
Barty
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Joined: 14 Dec 2008 09:25
Location: With Mrs Barty, or at work texting Mrs Barty

Post by Barty »

The vast majority of stations were built in a time when disabled people were treated as social outcasts.

That we now have a DDA is commendable, but a law can be devised much more quickly than the nation's Victorian railway station buildings can be upgraded.

Work is underway at many Southern stations to provide step-free access. Newer stations (Mitcham Eastfields, for example) had lifts installed when they were built.

Arrangements can be made for disabled travellers when they advise us of their plans.
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