Gateline Assistant
Gateline assistants act as the face of a train operating company, meeting passengers and checking their tickets and travel passes at gateline barriers within a rail station.Gateline assistants are responsible for providing high levels of customer service, and as well as checking tickets and passes will respond to customer enquiries and where possible will help to solve problems that have arisen.
It is important that gateline assistants have a good knowledge of the rail journeys that are possible from the station where they work, and also of the tickets that passengers can buy/use. They may also operate automatic barriers and gates, and have to ensure customer safety at all times.
The starting salary for a gateline assistant is approximately £13500, rising to £18000 with experience.
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Working environment
Gateline assistants spend the majority of their working hours on their feet in a rail station. They normally work around 8 hours a day and work in shifts which can cover early mornings, late nights, weekends and bank holidays.Gateline assistants are provided with a uniform so that they are easily identifiable by the public. They may also wear high visibility clothing so that they can be seen.
The working environment for a gateline assistant can be noisy; they may work on the entrances to platforms and so will be near trains, or they may work in the central concourse of a rail station, where there will quite often be a large number of people.
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Skills and interests
Gateline assistants should have an interest in interacting with other people. It is also important that they understand how crucial it is to deliver a high level of customer service at all times.A gateline assistant needs to have:
- excellent communication skills; including being able to speak clearly and confidently
- flexibility in order to deal with challenges and changing situations; a station can change from being very quiet to very busy in a matter of minutes
- assertiveness, as they may have to deal with difficult or unhappy customers
- a good memory, to remember timetables and ticketing systems.
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Entry into the role
Entry requirements for the position can vary between employers, however most will expect applicants to have a good basic education, and be literate and numerate (with, for example, GCSEs or national equivalents in English and maths).Employers may also look for applicants with previous experience of working in any customer service environment.
Jobs are normally advertised by train operating companies, through their own websites. They may also be promoted through job centres, specialist recruitment websites and in the local press.
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Opportunities
Gateline assistants can move into other roles within a rail station, such as rail station assistant, or into station management, looking after the upkeep of the station or taking responsibility for customer service.There are industry related qualifications that are available to gateline assistants. These include:
- City & Guilds level 2 NVQ in rail transport operations (passenger services)
- SQA level 2 SVQ in rail transport operations.
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Useful links
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RAIL - gateline assistant
Gateline Assistant Nick Sobers talks about his work at Southern Rail.