Personally I can’t wait for zone 6 to come to Epsom – not just for the benefits of Oyster, but mainly so they have to replace those terrible ticket barriers.

Why in God’s name, after spending all that money on a shiny new entrance, would they then install the slowest, most frustrating ticket barriers in the country? Of course, why would you want those fancy instantaneous ones that allow commuters to stream through seamlessly? Surely it’s much better to make commuters slam to a jarring halt as the barrier expels a third of your ticket, drags it back in for another go and then finally spits it out.

As amusing as it is to watch unwary visitors bump into the barriers and look confused as the barrier temporarily eats their tickets, the stop-start nature of entry to the platforms is building into a major daily annoyance. And my back is starting to hurt.

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