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Title: Nearly 100 fare dodgers fined just under £60,000 in latest blitz Post by: Chris from Nailsea on December 01, 2016, 00:24:32 From the Torquay Herald Express (http://www.torquayheraldexpress.co.uk/nearly-100-fare-dodgers-fined-just-under-60-000-in-latest-blitz/story-29943692-detail/story.html):
Quote Nearly 100 fare dodgers fined just under £60,000 in latest blitz (http://www.torquayheraldexpress.co.uk/images/localworld/ugc-images/276409/Article/images/29943692/15712851-large.jpg) Fare dodging Ninety eight fare dodgers have been fined nearly £60,000 in the latest fare dodging blitz. All of them were convicted in their absence after they failed to appear on either November 21 or 24 at Torquay Magistrates' Court. They were taken to court by First Great Western (now Great Western Railway) for the fare dodging offences which took place around South Devon and had to pay combined fines of £59,181.08. The 98 were convicted under the Regulation of Railways Act 1889. A GWR spokesman said: “Fare evasion costs the rail industry about £240 million a year. To make sure that customers who pay for rail travel are not unfairly subsidising those who choose to avoid paying passengers are required to purchase a ticket prior to boarding a service from station ticket offices or from the available ticket vending machines." Title: Re: Nearly 100 fare dodgers fined just under £60,000 in latest blitz Post by: Surrey 455 on December 01, 2016, 22:09:50 Were these 98 fined because they were fare evaders or because they were fare evaders AND didn't turn up at court? I assume there were many more that were caught and DID go to court.
Title: Re: Nearly 100 fare dodgers fined just under £60,000 in latest blitz Post by: Chris from Nailsea on December 01, 2016, 22:53:31 Maybe those 98 were all stuck on that Class 180, trying to get from "around South Devon" to Torquay Magistrate's Court ... ::)
Title: Re: Nearly 100 fare dodgers fined just under £60,000 in latest blitz Post by: ChrisB on December 02, 2016, 10:20:12 No wonder XC don't want to go there anymore ::)
Title: Re: Nearly 100 fare dodgers fined just under £60,000 in latest blitz Post by: plymothian on December 02, 2016, 20:59:47 It's like shooting a fish in a barrel sometimes.
No matter how many of these articles go to press, there are always more people queuing up for the court. I don't really get how many people claim they don't know that they must buy a ticket with all the publicity about. Title: Re: Nearly 100 fare dodgers fined just under £60,000 in latest blitz Post by: mfpa on December 12, 2016, 21:02:07 I don't really get how many people claim they don't know that they must buy a ticket with all the publicity about. Quite simple. The result of the almost-daily experience of seeing people buy tickets from the guard on the train means the "must" gets downgraded in your mind to a "should". Title: Re: Nearly 100 fare dodgers fined just under £60,000 in latest blitz Post by: grahame on December 12, 2016, 22:17:25 I don't really get how many people claim they don't know that they must buy a ticket with all the publicity about. Quite simple. The result of the almost-daily experience of seeing people buy tickets from the guard on the train means the "must" gets downgraded in your mind to a "should". If it were possible to purchase a full range of tickets at any station in the few minutes before the train arrives, using any payment method, and be sure you're buying the right ticket(s), it would be so much easier for people to understand "must". Title: Re: Nearly 100 fare dodgers fined just under £60,000 in latest blitz Post by: Brucey on December 13, 2016, 07:20:03 I find it surprising that 98 people decided not to show (i.e. plead guilty or not guilty by post). Would 98 people charged with a non-railway offence, facing a similar fine, not show up? Unlikely.
I also wonder how many of that 98 could have explained any mitigating circumstances, had they turned up in person. Especially since the Regulation of Railways Act 1889 (as opposed to the byelaws) requires the prosecution to prove intent. Title: Re: Nearly 100 fare dodgers fined just under £60,000 in latest blitz Post by: ChrisB on December 13, 2016, 07:59:27 Probabky repeat offenders who have been picked up & let off with explanations if the correct procedure before finally being charged. Seems pretty clear of intent once thats happened
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