mid-month theme: subway day
The subway network was extended to Bergshamra (Solna municipality) in 1978. This is the entrance towards Bergshamra Square. The general idea is that you pay before you enter the station and most people do but we have a large number of free riders and as you can imagine this kind of construction (see more?) isn't terribly difficult to pass with or without a ticket. Most people use conventional magnetic stripe cards, some pilot users are testing a new system for smart cards (the blue devices) and if you ask nicely you can purchase a ticket in the kiosk in the background.subway day is a mid-month theme shared by the following blogs:
New York City Daily Photo - PHO (Paris) - stockholm by pixels
others on stockholm subway
andra om stockholm tunnelbana
T-Bergshamra (map) 23 Feb 2008
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9 comments:
The manned kiosks will be gone in Paris within two or three years. Smart cards are already in use and even for a single ticket you must use a machine. Some of the metro trains have no driver... Less personnel around may of course mean less strike consequences, but...
...or get a SMS/text ticket in your phone, oh my what progress.
Nice picture angle.
Those machines in Paris are pretty straight-forward, Peter. As a matter of fact I've had the opportunity to try them on a few occasions and - contrary to my expectations - it was simple and well documented for English-speaking visitors... ;) Trains without drivers is another interesting development, I've encountered those in Copenhagen. I'm old enough to remember the days when rush hour (longer) subway trains in Stockholm had not only a driver but a second person in the middle of the train responsible for the doors. That practice was abandoned in the eighties.
Pia: Yep, those SMS tickets are a novel (and in my opinion not very clever) development. I fail to see how staff is supposed to be able to verify the validity of the ticket when they don't even touch the cell phones...
What's interesting to me is that:
1. There are so many entries/turnstile per gate. In NYC, most gates have 2-3 entries only but there are multiple gates all over the station.
2. I noticed that you have that blue button thingy on the turnstile that accepts electronic scanning. We are trying to do that in NYC too and they are found only in a few stations.
Per: I believe it's not enough to "ask nicely to purchase a ticket in the kiosk in the background". I think you have to go to the kiosk behind the kiosk (not seen here) or to, as Pia said, purchase a SMS ticket. There are also vending machines in some stations.
Ming: The blue thingies for new electronic tickets are not in use. The - I think Australian - company could not deliver, and after - again - a year or something delay they have been thrown out. A new company are on their way in.
I like the way you and Ming have synchronised your photos.
Actually, these turnstiles look easy to get a free ride. ;-)
Paz
With the exception of some larger intersections in the inner city most stations have two gates or entrances, sometimes just one in which case there is an additional emergency exit at the other end of the station. What about your remote suburb stations, Ming?
Peter F: You're right in pointing out that the smart card system "SL Access" is not in full scale production, the project has been a mess for years and years. There is a substantial set of pilot users though so some of the devices have been very much operational for months but I wouldn't know about this particular station.
Paz: You're entirely right. There is an "improved" model on some city stations but that hasn't been much of a success either, it's still easy to sneak in behind someone with a valid ticket. Roughly half of the costs of our public transportation system is covered by taxes but for that other half the transport authority is dependent on selling tickets so this is a huge problem.
Is it the same system as in Paris called "Navigo" or Pass without contact ?
Some years ago I was a IAESTE trainee in ASEA Graham in Solna Bergshamra.
It was a fine place.
I'm not among the pilot users, Deslilas, so I wouldn't know any details but the smart card we're aiming for is one of those cards you just wave near an electronic reader. Quite a few cities have adopted this kind of system by now and the technology has been around for a while. Which of course hasn't prevented us from screwing up the implementation project anyhow... ;)
I agree about Bergshamra being a nice place, we'll show more of it in the weeks to come.
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