Platform tickets please

Stephen Williams asks if of platform tickets are still available ( Open Access, RAIL 832).

The answer is yes, in many parts of the country. Many operators are still happy to sell them both at open and gated stations, particularly if you say that you are a collector.

But Virgin Trains East Coast does not, Virgin West Coast only sells them in some places (mostly Wolverhampton northwards), and London Midland-operated stations mostly do not. Great Western Railway does not at gated stations in its central area.

At some stations staff rarely sell them (and occasionally wonder if they are still available), and may need to remind themselves how to do so. But they are usually happy to call someone at a nearby station for assistance if necessary.

I have purchased platform tickets this year from stations operated by Anglia, South West Trains, Southern, Southeastern, London Overground, GWR, Chiltern, Arriva Trains Wales, East Midlands Trains, Thameslink, Great Northern and Merseyrail, and now have a nearly complete current collection in the London travelcard area and routes into London from Oxford, along with a selection from stations visited elsewhere.

They are a bargain souvenir at 10p each (20p at EMT-operated stations) Stuart Hicks, Reading