GRIPE! GRIPE!!!

I’ve had a gripe with STA Transport officers for a while. This has been eased a little bit in recent times, but on the whole I still think there needs to be a bit of refinement of their role. Here are my concerns:
- Workload: Overall, I’ve probably been asked to show my ticket half a dozen times. Of the dozens of times I’ve seen these Officers, 9 out of 10 times they’ve been either outside the station, or talking amongst themselves, and not really providing any real value. Their goal is to ‘make sure you have a safe journey’, so maybe they want to make sure you leave the station safely. Certainly no value add there!
- Intimidation: They seem to like stand over tactics. I have no problem with groups of officers travelling together, in fact it’s important for their safety, but 27 guards standing over an International Student or an elderly person at the station is not really an effective way of supporting safety on the rail network is it?
- Appearance: This is a bit superficial of me – but I don’t think they present themselves that well. I’ve seen the uniform worn in various ways, and I’ve seen lots taking calls on mobiles, it’s not the sort of appearance you’d expect from Government officers. That’s really what they are – they should be held at the same level of scrutiny as Police, Firemen, National Parks and Wildlife Staff. I don’t think they’re at that level.

GRIPE! ARMCHAIR CRITIC! Yeah but what else can I write about?