At Last - a Real Rail Rant !!!

..since it all went pear-shaped at work, I've taken to catching the "first train outta town" viz 0654 - and with holidays etc over the last couple of weeks, it's been five days a week. Today - train a couple of minutes late when it pulled into Mossley - another minute or so before the doors opened. On arrival in Stalybridge - same - the doors did not open immediately - and someone grumbled .....

Why didn't the doors open immediately ?? Because the conductor was checking tickets - or rather selling tickets to people who were on the train without tickets. I explained same to the "grumbler" - probably because on many days the conductor doesn't bother to check - maybe until the 15 minutes twixt Ashton and Manchester... point being people are on trains without tickets - I'm sure some of them arrived too late at the station to buy one - but I'll guarantee that a good percentage are actually FARE DODGERS - so if the doors don't open in time .. I don't care - and of course the conductor gets his 2.5% commission on every ticket he/she sells (used to be 5% - but strangely cut in half ...).

Have also noticed some of the well-known fare dodgers from Stalybridge/Mossley who go into Manchester Piccadilly have discovered that - if you catch the earlier trains - you can arrive at Manchester Picc before 0730 - i.e. before the semi-useless Group 4 Security ticket checkers come on shift (viz 0730). I've plenty of other tips for the fare dodgers of this world - because I've seen 'em all. My option would be .. not throwing them off the train - more throwing under a train coming in the opposite direction. When you see some of these cocky b*st*rds actually getting "caught" (when the guard starts at the front of the train for example), they attempt to look as though they're in the right / hard done by ????? I live for the day when GMPTE attempt to do something like London Transport - barriers/cctv on every station - in fact NO-ONE should even be able to get on a platform without a valid ticket .... bring on the Manc Oyster Card ....

.... and then I can stop having to subsidise these crooks - on Stalybridge Station recently, they had a "splurge" - and the poster went up saying that 23 people were taken to court - unfortunately it just said "23 people", rather than naming and shaming - photos would have been good as well.

Whoever came up with the "open station" policy should be shot - let's save money on staff ? let's lose money on tickets ? let's waste money on outsourcing ticket checking to people who don't give a monkeys (that's you G4) ? Privatisation ? total joke ... anyone wanna buy the East Coast franchise .. formally run by a bloody bus company ..

Oh and while in rail rant mode - to all those cocky cockneys who want to take away the "right to strike" from the London Underground staff - maybe you should all move up here where we have Fascist MEPs - maybe you'd feel more at home ... unfortunately - unlike Ferroviaria Mussolini - our trains tend not to run on time - unlike London Underground - be thankful for your system - we'd kill for something like that up here - and we'd probably support the workers, because if you're considered "essential" - it's nice to get the financial recompense as well (and that goes for nurses, police, firefighters to name but a few - unlike financial consultants, bankers, and other similarly overpaid/semi-useless members of society - they're probably the southern equivalent of fare dodgers as well, if they can find a way around the Oyster Card - either that or they claim it all on expenses !!).

Made it through today at "work alone" anyway - but could still do with some ideas behind one weird problem with a Lotus Notes database (custom-built by some bugger else !)

But hey ...... football tomorrow !!!
.