Station Manager Corner

[edanna]

Barry, you may not be able to do anything about this, but the ticket machine (when it's working) isn't very easy to use, especially for people who aren't used to it. I give regular tutorials to confused passengers, to avoid missing my own train!

[SMBJones]

Hi Matthew, Very difficult to answer, like all computers and software they are prone to crashing. If for some reason passengers are unable to buy a ticket, then a message is sent from our control centre informing our revenue protection staff to use discretion for passengers unable to purchase tickets.

Hope this helps

Barry

[SMBJones]

Hi Eileen, long time no hear, thought it was you! Your the only dedicated member of SRUG that will send emails at 215am

Thanks for setting up the link although be aware Nunhead and Denmark Hill do not come under my area they belong to Southeastern

We must catch up soon and thank you for kind comments

Best wishes

Barry

[SMBJones]

RosieH, PeckhamgateCrshr, Bob, Intexasatthe..., Kirstymac1, Ratty, Honaloochieb and Citezen D

Thank you all for your kind comments

Lady Muck, I have no regrets and relish the challenge, and lastly RosieH I will last, it is my goal to improve all aspects of passengers travel, which includes, Environment, Ticket Buying Facilities, Safety, Staff Availabilty/attitude and service performance where I have control, ie timely train dispatch

Regards

Barry

[Andystar]

Hi there Barry.

Can I nominate you for employee of the decade or something, its so rare to find people with this level of professionalism, if only everyone was like this..

I do have a few points abt Denmark Hiii staion, some of the handrails on the stairs have seen better days & the trains to Victoria station are always way too packed in the mornings.

Thanks v much for taking the time out of your day to sort out everyones problems

Andy

[SMBJones]

Edanna

Thanks for raising this, I will instruct my Ticket Office Manager and Area Team Leader to spend a few mornings over the next couple of weeks to assit passengers with tutorials at East and North Dulwich

Hope this helps

Barry

[SMBJones]

Andystar, thank you fo your kind comments. Unfortunately Denmark Hill is Southeastern, I will forward your comments to our Customer Service Dept as they are part of the same group (Go Ahead)

If there is no action within a couple weeks (hand rails/stairs), email me a message and I will take it up for you personally

Regards

Barry

[pearl1]

And also, the machine at East Dulwich does not sell a weekly travelcard for zones 2 and 3 only. I always have to queue at the office which means I sometimes miss my train to work.

[SMBJones]

Thanks Buggie your absolutely right I cant help with train times and overcrowding, although saying that passengers can help. For some strange reason customers like to board their services on the same part of the platform daily, this ensures they have a quick exit ie at Clapham Junction and Balham for example but this means the front and rear of services are less overcrowded, also some passengers dont like to move inside the carriages, they prefer to remain near the doors causing overcrowding. Now I know some of you reading this wont be happy but as they say every little helps and this is very hard to manage..... moving on before my popularity shrinks!Although in my defence I have proved this point at one of my other stations.

WillDex, LibraCarr, JRThomas........ I wish I had the power to introduce more services and extra carriages, this does not come within my remit. The time table changes have proved to be difficult and Southern is looking into this, there will some changes in May. I can make two suggestions, please refer to the Southern Website or alternatively Southern facilitates Meet the Manager sessions at London Victoria and London Bridge, this would be an ideal opportunity to speak with senior managers and directors of the company

Some of you will not be happy with this response and some of you will hopefully understand. Please feel free to email me personally and I will ensure your comments reach the right people who will respond accordingly

Hope this helps

Barry

[SMBJones]

Belle/Ronniemama

I will look into these issues Monday morning and come back to you, apologies for inconvenience

Regards

Barry

[Siduhe]

As others have said, I think it's great for someone in Barry's position to come on here and engage/seek feedback in this way. To add my 0.02, I use Peckham Rye station regularly. There have been a lot of improvements recently in terms of smartening up the station (painting, redoing the stairs, fixing the broken announcement speakers).

I also find the ticket office opening hours a bit random - one thing that happens regularly and drives me nuts is in the early rush house (8am ish) when both windows are open in the ticket office with queues at both, but then one window is closed by a member of staff for no apparent reason and despite the queues. Presumably this is for staff breaks (?) but the timing seems insane to me. To balance this out, I should say that I think the attitude of the staff in the ticket office at Peckham Rye is great - I always get a cheerful and friendly "good morning madam", they look you in the eye, listen to what you want and you never see them on the phone or chatting amongst themselves whilst serving customers (a sharp contrast with Blackfriars which is the other ticket office I use).

One thing I would like to know is how/where the ticket barriers are going to be installed in the station - the staircase up to the platforms is pretty steep and gets jammed up easily, so I'm hoping it's going to be well after the staircase, as you go up to the actual platforms. I was coming home a couple of weeks ago and they were doing a ticket check at the top of the main stairs (having closed off one side). The press of people was so much that I basically got pushed down the first few stairs. No harm done but I wouldn't fancy that every day.

[Sue]

SMBJones Wrote:

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

> Hi Michael, I am quite concerened with your

> comments relating to Ticket Sales, I will instruct

> my Ticket Office manager to have a word with the

> staff to see if there are any training issues.

> Hopefully by Tuesday you will be able to buy the

> tickets you require

>

> Apologies for this, Customer Service is important

> to me and it seems to be amiss here.

>

> Regards

>

> Barry

xxxxxxx

I have had various problems in the past with the person in ED ticket office.

I once had to go to Denmark Hill station to buy a ticket which he insisted didn't exist, which was absolutely ridiculous (had absolutely no problem buying it at Denmark Hill, but I shouldn't have had to do so!).

[trinity]

On the subject of the staff at Peckham Rye recently my 15y old son was stuck at Preston station and discovered he had lost his ticket to London. The staff at Preston were extremely unhelpful and dismissive even though my son was very upset. The staff at Peckham Rye however, where my husband had to rush to to buy my son another ticket, were fantastic and made sure that every thing was sorted as quickly as possible. Well done and we were very grateful for your help.

[hellosailor]

Thanks for this very useful thread Barry, it's really appreciated, great news to hear that oyster is going live in September.

[Dodo1]

Can you give us the name of the person that is responsible for Forest Hill Station please.

[dbboy]

Honor Oak Park station: Southern have just invested and installed new entry and exit turnstils whilst also doing up the booking hall area a bit but the rest of the station including the stairs to both platforms are a disgrace, when are southern going to upgrade the station so it becomes a pleasant environment to travel through? Currently it looks like a run down hovell.

[SMBJones]

Hi Sidhuhe, Thank your for your comments, once I have the installation date I will place a couple of posters outlining the position of the new gates

As for the ticket office closure, the windows should remain open during the peaks, breaks are normally taken after that period. It maybe the ticket office was experiencing a computer failure or something of that nature. I will ask my ticket office manager to keep an eye on unexpected closures

Regards

Barry

[SMBJones]

Hi Sue, apologies for the incovenience at East Dulwich, I have noted quite a few issues regarding the ticket offices etc and I have a meeting with my Ticket Office Manager and Area Team Leader to go through the points rasied on this forum tomorrow morning

Hopefully there will be a considerable change in the way my ticket offices are managed and customer service improved

Regards

Barry

[SMBJones]

Trinity, sorry to hear about your son at Preston, I have personally emailed you on this subject.

Hellosailor, thank you for comments

Dodo1, I have personally emailed you.

Barry

[SMBJones]

DDboy

I will look into this for you and reply accordingly

Regards

Barry

[nymom]

Thanks Barry for taking so much time to do this. I have emailed Southern regarding step free access as you suggested. I live between ED and Forest Hill Station and southern trains emailed me back withing 4 hours and said that Forest Hill was having lifts installed winter 2010.

[northlondoner]

Well done SMB, yes good stuff getting involved here. Is there any chance of getting the ticket office at EDulwich staying open for longer. And forgive me if I am off-target,but are there plans to bring the tube to the station?

[SMBJones]

Dear all, I have now put in place an action plan that will solve and help with the points raised on this forum over the last few days. A couple of them cannot be implemented straight away for business reasons

* Zone 2 & 3 Travel Cards are available and now forms one the Top 21 Tickets and easy to find.

* For those having trouble with navagating around Ticket Machines, leaflets will be available from the clerks by the end of the week.

* Improved Ticket Availability, this will incorporate for example tickets to Leeds or Sussex, I am waiting for a programme to be activated called "Rail Journey Information System" which is needed, Hopefully this will in place by the end of this week

* My Ticket Office Managers will be available from 0715Hours to 1000Hrs on the 5th and 6th May at East Dulwich to answer questions and help with Ticket Machines

* They will also be at North Dulwich on the 7th and 8th May, same times as above. These sessions will also be advertised by close of play tomorrow

* 2 Benches will be installed on Platform 1 and 2 on Platform 2 at East Dulwich, these will be painted and ready within 7 days.

* 2 extra Bins have been installed this morning at East Dulwich, I have also ordered cigarette bins to help with cleanliness Placed outside the confines of the station of course.

* From Tuesday 5th May, both North and East Dulwich will be open from 1600hrs to 1900hrs Monday to Friday, the staff will be arriving at 1500hrs to clean the station also. I will gage ticket sales after a period of 4 weeks. Hopefully this will reduce the queues in the morning peaks.

* Queens Road will also have cigarette bin and bin rims to help with cleanliness

* My duty mananagers will be carrying out spot checks on a regular basis to ensure that your stations are clean and well presented, cleaning plans will be in place by the end of this week, which will include daily, weekly and monthly cleaning tasks

Kind regards

Barry Jones

Area Station Manager

Streatham Hill Area

[Michael Palaeologus]

Barry Jones you are a hero.

[Jah Lush]

Good work Barry.