Station Manager Corner

[SMBJones]

ruffers Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Morning Barry.

> Not sure if you're aware but the lights were out

> at East Dulwich station last night by the steps.

> all a bit crowded and dark.

Hi

Just picked this up so was not aware if they are okay tonight. I have faulted with our facilities department

Regards

Barry

[SMBJones]

legalalien Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Hi Barry,

>

> Just wanted to say how helpful one of your staff

> at Peckham Rye was last week when my

> desperate-to-go-to-the-loo 4 year old son and I

> got off the train and asked whether there was a

> toilet we could use urgently! She walked us to

> the ones on the opposite platforms quick smart and

> without any rolling of eyes / I really don't want

> to do this attitude. which was nice.

>

> Didn't get her name but she had blonde hair in a

> ponytail and was quite pretty!

Hi

Thank you for this, really appreciate the time posting the nice comments about my staff. I know who she is and I will send a letter to her praising her customer service

Thanks again

Barry

[Michael Palaeologus]

Legalaline said - "Didn't get her name but she had blonde hair in a ponytail and was quite pretty!"

Can she be transferred to East Dulwich please?

[urbanfox]

SMBJones Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> ruffers Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > Morning Barry.

> > Not sure if you're aware but the lights were

> out

> > at East Dulwich station last night by the

> steps.

> > all a bit crowded and dark.

>

> Hi

>

> Just picked this up so was not aware if they are

> okay tonight. I have faulted with our facilities

> department

>

> Regards

>

> Barry

Hi Barry

Nope - 2 sets of lights still out. Was very dark tonight and a serious safety hazard given the steps. The no win no fee claim chasers may start handing out business cards soon ;0) . Could any type of temporary lighting be set up until they are fixed?

cheers.

[Nelson]

Please can you look into getting some lights in the east dulwich station as you cant see the steps coming out of the station at night time and its only a matter of time before someone has an accident. Thanks.

[LibraCarr]

Hi,

Yet again I have travelled up from the south coast and changed at East Croydon in the hope of getting a straight through train to East Dulwich. I was again disapointed to note that I had to get to Streatham Common to make a connection (waiting 18 minutes for a train) and then after five trains (About 45 minutes of waiting) at Streatham Common my train finally came in.

Quite clearly, East Croydon is a large area with shopping and businesses as well, why are there trains to and from West Croydon and no direct trains to and from the East Station.

Quite clearly, Southern has the inability to identify customer flow and should note the amount of passengers on the London Bridge to East Croydon route.

If they are not capable of providing a service should we not campaign to get another company that can provide a service - or is it only me that wants to get a connection to and from East Croydon?

Over to you.

Kind regards,

Libra Carr.

[Eileen]

Hi LibraCarr

It would be a good thing if you and anyone else who wants to use the East Croydon service email Tessa Jowell MP about it. [email protected]. When it was cut a year ago she said she would continue to press for it. We need to keep it on the agenda to try to get it back in some future revision of services. And PS when you email an elected rep like that it is always useful to send a copy to the local press/letters page. It doubles the effect:

[email protected], [email protected]

[email protected], [email protected]

Eileen

LibraCarr Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Yet again I have travelled up from the south coast

> and changed at East Croydon in the hope of getting

> a straight through train to East Dulwich. I was

> again disapointed to note that I had to get to

> Streatham Common to make a connection (waiting 18

> minutes for a train) and then after five trains

> (About 45 minutes of waiting) at Streatham Common

> my train finally came in.

> Quite clearly, East Croydon is a large area with

> shopping and businesses as well, why are there

> trains to and from West Croydon and no direct

> trains to and from the East Station.

> Quite clearly, Southern has the inability to

> identify customer flow and should note the amount

> of passengers on the London Bridge to East Croydon

> route.

> If they are not capable of providing a service

> should we not campaign to get another company that

> can provide a service - or is it only me that

> wants to get a connection to and from East

> Croydon?

> Libra Carr.

[SMBJones]

morning

Not sure how many will see this.... There is major disruption between Tulse Hill and London Bridge. This has been caused by an incident in the tunnel close to Tulse Hill station

Would advise using alternative modes of transportation, London Buses accepting Southern tickets

Apologies for the inconvenience this may cause

Barry

[Ladygooner]

Thanks for the update Barry. Two buses and a tube later and I got into work on time. Has the incident been cleared now?

[SplendidLikePeckham]

Hello Barry - thanks for agreeing to address various issues via this thread....

There seems to be a problem with the ticket barriers at Peckham Rye when using a 3 day paper travelcard. If the ticket has been bought from the station itself then they work fine, however if (as often happens in my case) it's been bought from another station they don't work and a member of staff has to open them.

During busy times this is a real pain for myself, other passengers and the staff. Trains have been missed as a result!

I wonder if it could be looked into, from a technical perspective I can't think why this would happen......

[SMBJones]

Hi

Apologies for the inconvenience, I have sent through an email to the project manager regarding this issue (Peckham gates a headache of late) I will see what he has to say before despatching the engineers from "Cubic"

Regards

Barry

SplendidLikePeckham Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Hello Barry - thanks for agreeing to address

> various issues via this thread....

>

> There seems to be a problem with the ticket

> barriers at Peckham Rye when using a 3 day paper

> travelcard. If the ticket has been bought from the

> station itself then they work fine, however if (as

> often happens in my case) it's been bought from

> another station they don't work and a member of

> staff has to open them.

>

> During busy times this is a real pain for myself,

> other passengers and the staff. Trains have been

> missed as a result!

>

> I wonder if it could be looked into, from a

> technical perspective I can't think why this would

> happen......

[Izodia]

I've seen a similar thing with tickets from East Dulwich. My other half got a return to London Bridge from the ED ticket machine. Neither the out or the return let him through the barriers at London Bridge.

It's obviously a regular occurrence in rush hour as the staff at London Bridge hold a big wedge of tickets to hand out to people whose tickets don't work.

Otherwise, Barry, thank you for all your improvements at East Dulwich.

[SMBJones]

Hi

This has now been rectified, apologies to all for this issue.

Barry

Nelson Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Please can you look into getting some lights in

> the east dulwich station as you cant see the steps

> coming out of the station at night time and its

> only a matter of time before someone has an

> accident. Thanks.

[SMBJones]

Hi

This is beyond my remit as the Station Manager, I have howver forwarded your comments to a senior manager at Southern Railway

If you send me a PM with your email address, I will ensure they write to you direct with a response

Regards

Barry

LibraCarr Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Hi,

>

> Yet again I have travelled up from the south coast

> and changed at East Croydon in the hope of getting

> a straight through train to East Dulwich. I was

> again disapointed to note that I had to get to

> Streatham Common to make a connection (waiting 18

> minutes for a train) and then after five trains

> (About 45 minutes of waiting) at Streatham Common

> my train finally came in.

>

> Quite clearly, East Croydon is a large area with

> shopping and businesses as well, why are there

> trains to and from West Croydon and no direct

> trains to and from the East Station.

> Quite clearly, Southern has the inability to

> identify customer flow and should note the amount

> of passengers on the London Bridge to East Croydon

> route.

>

> If they are not capable of providing a service

> should we not campaign to get another company that

> can provide a service - or is it only me that

> wants to get a connection to and from East

> Croydon?

>

> Over to you.

>

> Kind regards,

> Libra Carr.

[SMBJones]

Hi

The incident this morning involved a service that split in two whilst entering the tunnel after Tulse Hill, as you can appreciate this was something that could not be dealt with quickly. No injuires or damage to trains and we was able to get another driver to the site to take the other portion of the train forward to London Bridge. This is a very very rare occurence and in the ten years I have been on the railway I have only ever heard of this happening once before

regards

Barry

Ladygooner Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Thanks for the update Barry. Two buses and a tube

> later and I got into work on time. Has the

> incident been cleared now?

[sophiesofa]

Hello Barry, I know (well I think you said) you don't cover Forest Hill station but could you pass on a message please. My colleagues girlfriend travelled to forest hill with baby twins in a buggy and a 5 year old and she asked if there was step free access for when she came back and was told it was fine. When she went to go home again she discovered steps and said to a member of staff that she had been told she wouldn't have a problem to be told " it's not my problem love and you're here now". I know my description is very vague and I don't completely understand because I've only been to Forest Hill station once and can't remember where there are and aren't steps but it's clear that she was treated really badly and she was really upset afterwards. Thank you

[SMBJones]

Hi Sophie, not very good! I have passed this onto the route manager at LOROL

Regards

Barry

sophiesofa Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Hello Barry, I know (well I think you said) you

> don't cover Forest Hill station but could you pass

> on a message please. My colleagues girlfriend

> travelled to forest hill with baby twins in a

> buggy and a 5 year old and she asked if there was

> step free access for when she came back and was

> told it was fine. When she went to go home again

> she discovered steps and said to a member of staff

> that she had been told she wouldn't have a problem

> to be told " it's not my problem love and you're

> here now". I know my description is very vague

> and I don't completely understand because I've

> only been to Forest Hill station once and can't

> remember where there are and aren't steps but it's

> clear that she was treated really badly and she

> was really upset afterwards. Thank you

[SMBJones]

Hi

I have now spoken with the "Retail Systems Manager" Please see his comments to me below. As you can apprecaite this will take a couple of weeks but we are on the case. As you can see the software will be available tomorrow so he can start working on the issues raised.

Regards

Barry

Barry

I am supposed to have the software available tomorrow. After testing and UAT to ensure it is actually doing what it is supposed to be doing correctly, I can then take a look at rectifying this issue. I have located the errant piece of information required. Once I make a change, I have to document everything as a separate change so if I have someone a week later say they forgot to add that such and such needs fixing too it will take longer as I have to rewrite the gate data.

SplendidLikePeckham Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Hello Barry - thanks for agreeing to address

> various issues via this thread....

>

> There seems to be a problem with the ticket

> barriers at Peckham Rye when using a 3 day paper

> travelcard. If the ticket has been bought from the

> station itself then they work fine, however if (as

> often happens in my case) it's been bought from

> another station they don't work and a member of

> staff has to open them.

>

> During busy times this is a real pain for myself,

> other passengers and the staff. Trains have been

> missed as a result!

>

> I wonder if it could be looked into, from a

> technical perspective I can't think why this would

> happen......

[Weegee]

Hi Barry

Do you know when the Oyster machines will be up and running at East Dulwich

The other night I saw some chaps on the left hand machine...the 'hood' was up.

Also would it be possible to give updates over the PA when trains have been cancelled?

Yesterday morning, the 841, 856 and 916 trains from ED to London Bridge were all cancelled , there was no

advice as to when trains would be runing again...or a rough idea....

thanks

[SMBJones]

Hi

First of all apologies for the inconvenience caused by the disruption on Wednesday morning.

Oyster Pay As You Go will go live in January 2010, we are expecting to make a formal announcement in conjunction with the DFT/TFL at the end of this month. We will be trialling PAYG between Balham and London Victoria from Sunday 8th November, Oyster will be vaild at Balham, Wandsworth Common, Clapham Junction, Battersea Park and London Victoria.

Knights Hill Tunnel Incident. In relation to your other point, I have spoken with the Customer Information Manager at our HQ and she states that announcements were made at East Dulwich. I can only assume that because of the nature of the incident on Wednesday morning (see previous post on this page)they were unable to give a clear indication when services would be running normally.

Hope this helps

Barry

Weegee Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Hi Barry

>

> Do you know when the Oyster machines will be up

> and running at East Dulwich

>

> The other night I saw some chaps on the left hand

> machine...the 'hood' was up.

>

>

> Also would it be possible to give updates over the

> PA when trains have been cancelled?

>

> Yesterday morning, the 841, 856 and 916 trains

> from ED to London Bridge were all cancelled ,

> there was no

> advice as to when trains would be runing

> again...or a rough idea....

>

> thanks

[Weegee]

Hi Barry

Thanks for the info on live date for Oyster PAYG. I didnt hear the announcements at East Dulwich on Wednesday morning but not to worry. It was the first time in the past 4 months of myself traveling to work on this route, that this service has been severely disrupted so not to worry.

[EmmaG]

I think Barry and this thread is the best bit of customer communication and customer service I've ever seen. It's a model of excellence. If anyone knows of any customer service award of any kind, do please post it as I would be more than happy to make nominations.

[SMBJones]

Ralph

First of all sincerest apologies this has taken so long to respond too. This is my fault due to an error with my lap top and missed the original reply from my original source. In relation to your points raised I have now managed to find the following. In addition I have some more info which may have be of interest to you. When I get back to my office tomorrow morning I will respond by PM as they have quoted some more info relating to you and your points raised. For now see below

Again sorry for delay

Barry

A Fair Assessment

To make sure there is consistency in the way appeals are decided, the DFT has approved a set of specific scenario criteria against which IPFAS will assess each appeal.

These must remain confidential to avoid a passenger deliberately claiming a particular circumstance where they would know that their appeal would be upheld.

Service levels

Train companies have agreed to provide IPFAS with relevant and necessary information and/or evidence within five working days of being asked.

IPFAS will respond to rail users within ten working days of receiving an appeal. If more information or evidence is needed, or if the decision is going to take longer than ten working days, we will tell the rail user within ten working days.

IPFAS will provide a copy of this Code of Practice to any member of the public who asks for it.

Staff training

A comprehensive staff training course has been developed to ensure that assessment officers have received all necessary and appropriate training.

The programme includes on-going staff assessments to ensure continued application of the agreed assessment criteria.

Each appeal has it?s own auditable record to show if the DFT process has been properly followed by the assessor.

Need further advice?

If an appellant has reason to believe that IPFAS has not followed the agreed appeals procedure then they may contact the Rail Passengers Committee for their area:

Passenger Focus

Freepost RRRE-ETTC-LEET

PO Box 4257

Manchester, M60 3AR

Tel: 08453 022022; fax: 08458 501392

Web: www.passengerfocus.org.uk

or

London TravelWatch

6 Middle Street

London

EC1A 7JA

Tel: 020 7505 9000; fax 020 7505 9003

Web: www.londontravelwatch.org.uk

ralphation Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> On the topic of fares, penalty fares and stuff, I

> have a question.

>

> I recently incurred a penalty fare (incorrectly)

> and appealed it. The Indepnedent Penalty Fare

> Appeals Service , to whom I appealed, completely

> ignored my reasoning saying that because I had

> signed a bit of paper at the station "procedures

> had been followed" and that I was liable for the

> penalty fare. That is to say, paperwork had been

> done regardless of the actual events that took

> place. I then complained again about this to IPFAS

> but to no avail.

>

> They have decided their decision is final and have

> now added a ?20 "admin fee" to the initial penalty

> fare and passed it on to a debt collection agency.

> This does not seem the behaviour I would expect

> form a truly independent body (they would offer

> further ways to appeal, would not add arbitrary

> "admin fees" and would not pass debts on to

> agencies - not least because the debt is to the

> train company not to IPFAS) so I did some

> investigation.

>

> I found out that IPFAS has its offices in

> Southeastern Trains HQ and is staffed by

> Southeastern Trains staff. On the Dept. of

> Transport website, it says an indenpendent appeals

> service must be and be seen to be independent. If

> what I read about IPFAS is true then it doesn't

> seem that it is and makes me wonder whether or not

> I should bother paying any of the penalty fare

> beyond the single fare I had tried to pay in the

> first place when making my joutney.

>

> Barry, I don't want to have a go at you directly

> about my penalty fare problems - I realise that is

> not what this thread is for but is this true about

> IPFAS? That they are based in an SE Trains office

> and employ SE Trains staff?

[SingingWilks]

Hi Barry

I've mentioned this before on this thread and you have kindly responded but at East Dulwich the station announcements still aren't audible on platform 1 (I think - the one going to London Bridge), at the front end of the platform past the shelter where the front of the train stops. Is there anything that can be done about it? Quite often recently the trains have been delayed in the morning and it is frustrating not being able to hear the announcements which I assume say how long and why they have been delayed.

Many thanks for all your good work so far.

SW

[ralphation]

Hi Barry,

No problem, thank you for finding out what you have so far and I look forward to reading your PM tomorrow.