Completely agree any station staff should be doing their job and not yacking with mates outside.

There is presumably CCTV on the barriers.

If you're not happy with the response then you can go to Passenger Focus.

Yes , absolute disgrace. These fare dodgers cost all of us money.

London has most expensive commuter travel in the world
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/a...-routes.do

Why do you think that is?
Because people jump barriers?
Or is this why people jump barriers?

If more people were honest and paid then fares would not have to rise at all.

Now I am not suggesting that just because fares are high then that is justification in itself for jumping a barrier - however, I suspect it is a logical leap too far to claim that if no one did so then our fares would not rise. Have no backup for this though, it is just a gut feel - do you have a source for this?

Customer service operatives! Stations should really be run centrally by TFL and not outsourced to other organisations. Then there would be an incentive to stop fair dodging... If they are working alone it is really difficult for them to confront the trash that do this..
A sorry state of affairs on all counts.

Evening Standard article points out that although London fares were going up they are lower than those in the rest of the UK. In my experience, not only is this true, but services are far more frequent. Since public transport has to be paid for by somebody, is it better that it is paid for by those that use the services, or by all tax payers including the majority that don't?

Whilst some will argue that high fares discourage use, I would suggest that most London transport services are pretty well used most of the time - certainly in the peak hours, they are full to capacity.

If higher fares encourage people to live closer to where they work, shop and school, is that a bad thing?

I dont know whether its appropriate to compare London travel with other places as surely in a city like London the use of what is expensive transport is more commonplace by necessity.

In addition I dont know if higher fares do encourage living and working closer to home- I dont think people have a choice. They may eventually move closer to where they work but thats a difficult one these days when the turnover of jobs is greater. Some people choose to live further away and pay higher travel costs if it means they can buy a cheaper property.