The details are that Ive had to look into the 2015 passenger charter and the byelaws - so I know there is a massive disjoint. There is also an operational disjoint because R+p will influence the action of other rail staff towards you; ask them not to sell you a ticket because they believe you have committed a certain offence and you not having any kind of ticket will strengthen their case. They also took away the ticket machine at Oldfield Park blurring the lines of 'opportunity to buy ticket'. In this recent case, I had a bank card fail and wouldnt be read in the ticket guards machine> its a fair cop - give me a UPN that Ill pay within 21 days, while I go and get cash from the high street nearest bank.  As mentioned, I paid in good time but their systems failed : (I couldnt find a paper reciept but Temple Meads Ticket records backed me up in the 11th hour) : The default response is to exact payment over the ods and threaten litigation. Third time for me in 10 years... zero customer focus....

I will speak plain in that I am a commuter and I work in Performance and Auditing and I work in Highways > now under the Office of Rail Regulation, thanks to the current Govt.

The Railway Byelaw 14 'framework' is an anchronism in the way that is treats its customers and allows a 'guilty until proven innocent' approach under its 'older style implementation'.
That framework exists and cant be argued with and can be deployed with great ease to muscle the rail user into submission if he finds through extraneous circumstance/no fault of his own he is without a ticket.
This is a harsh reality that gives the impression of criminalising the user.
Also Revenue Protection dont seem to have the resources/care to look into things and base their outcomes on commercial targets. Put it another way - youre guilty if your documents arent in order & we'll throw the book at you".   At some point, if you commute everyday, you will be in a challenging situation because of these outdated policies. Best assured outcome for you is to cough up and shut up.
>>Having said that, I did this and because of a back office error I was again threatened with prosecution because apparently the data management at Revenue and Protection isnt capable or JUST.
>>If I worked in Rail, as opposed to Highways, I would distance myself from the ugly & politically incorrect practices of R&P as much as possible. ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about) guidelines mention compensation.. so I would like to hear some thoughts..