A TICKET machine would save hours of queuing for Yate rail commuters, it has been claimed by campaigners who want to see more passengers on board local trains.

The Friends of Yate Train Station said a simple dispenser which sold tickets from Yate to Bristol would save people a lot of time and encourage more people to use the network.

Chairman and town councillor Sue Walker said: “Not having ticket machines means people have to queue in all weathers to buy a ticket at Yate.

“When the train arrives, if they are still in the queue, they have to rush to get on board. They have no chance of paying on board because it is too overcrowded for the ticket collector to get round.

“People then have to queue to buy a ticket at the other end and for those going to work that is just not fair.”

She added: “It is a real disincentive. There must be a way for us, South Gloucestershire Council, and First Great Western to solve this.”

Julian Crow, regional manager for First Great Western, said there was a high risk that vandals would target ticket machines.

He said: “Unfortunately we do have some highly motivated vandals who like taking things apart.

“But we are looking on the Severn Beach line at whether some very simple car park ticket machines would work for train tickets.

“They are relatively inexpensive. They would provide a very limited range of tickets but that may be enough.

“Obviously we are very anxious to ensure that people do buy tickets to travel.”

He said the company would monitor how effective the machines are when they are installed at Severn Beach before they are adopted at Yate station.

A multi-ticket card, such as the Oyster card in London, is being considered for use around Bristol. If the project gets the go ahead it would enable passengers to use one card for rail, bus and coach fares.