Indeed. Also on occasions where trains have been platformed but passengers can't get on till the last minute, or leave late from starting stations, in many cases it is where staff have a tight turnaround and are performing their safety duties. Guards will be doing preperation duties, checking the hammers, and safety equipment is in place, checking the locomotives, performing brake continuity tests, inspecting the  outside of the train, and physical connections between the carriages are secure. Equally drivers will be testing safety equipment in the cabs, performing brake tests, checking communication equipment is working properly and so on. All this takes time. It might appear the guard and driver are ambling slowly up and down the platform, and wasting time having a chat, indeed without knowing the reasons might be frustrating for the passenger, but it is a requirement that both have the required paperwork and both have briefed each other on any restrictions that might be involved when running the train safely.

Having worked at a number of Train Operating Companies, I can easily say that the safety culture at First Great Western is far far superior than at many others Whether this is a result of tightening standards after Southall and Paddington, I couldn't say, but I can safely say that the traincrew at First Great Western have much more rigourous assessments than at many other companies. Staff who aren't up to scratch are taken off frontline duties and retrained and monitored much more closely than at other places.

I can say without question that I have complete confidence in those in safety critical grades, be they guards, drivers or standards managers at Great Western. I couldn't say the same about other operators where although the vast majority of the staff do their duties competantly, there are some which are quite frankly a worry!

Bear in mind that in the most recent Ufton Nervet incident, the surviving traincrew performed all their duties competantly, and were praised by passengers and managers alike. The guards who were on that train still work for the company as guards, of which at least one of them is a mentor / trainer guard for new entrants.

If a station is unstaffed, then the passenger must be able to buy the CHEAPEST ticket at the first available place. If this means it's their destination because a guard can't check tickets due to knackered machine / overcrowding / frequency of stops, then it still applies. The cheapest ticket would include railcard discounts (if valid at the time of day) and any local offers / groupsave or whatnot tickets.

How can you dodge a fare you cannot buy?

* I'm not overly familiar with the route, but I'm guessing the train goes from Weston through to Bath direct, via Bristol Temple Meads. I'd have to check whether the company can in theory insist you alight the train at Bristol (taking the assumption Bristol Temple Meads is always fully staffed) to buy the ticket. I would consider this to be highly unfair though if it was the case.

The procedure on the train company I work for in this situation would be as follows (assuming passenger is co-operative / coherant).

1. Rules state ticket isn't valid without appropriate railcard. Therefore ticketing staff are entitled to charge for a brand new ticket, which would be the most expensive fare. Some may use discretion and sell a saver ticket, but the standard fare is what the rules state should be sold.

2. If the passenger doesn't have sufficient money to pay (likely given the cost of some of these fares), then the passenger is obliged to give the ticket examiner their name and address, which can be checked against a central computer. Chances are a student would have some form of ID. Assuming this is valid, what we call an Unpaid Fares' Notice is issued, which is like a ticket for that one journey and allows travel, but the fare (and in these cases it is ALWAYS the full Standard Open Single) must be paid in ten days, and becomes a civil debt between you and the railway. If it is not paid in ten days, then an administration fee of ^15 is levied, and if it still remains unpaid, it is treated as evidence in a ticketless travel case and goes to court.

This is standard procedure throughout the railway industry. If guards / ticket examiners request police assistance to deal with fare evasion, one of the first questions asked is 'have you attempted to get the suspect's name and address?'.

A passenger should only be thrown off a train if 1) they are unco-operative  / threatening / violent  (or harassing other passengers, which in this case is unlikely) 2) refuse to give a name and address 3) give a false name and address and you can prove it is false (and yes we do get men giving female names or proof of ID - er it's me sister's bank card and so on)!

Therefore if the student was asked to leave the train, either she is not the poor sobbing wreck she's made out to be, or the member of staff hasn't followed (or has not been correctly instructed(!!) on) the rules. In my experience both are quite possible.

Note: to board a train with no means of payment in the hope you can pay later with one of these notices, is considered fraudulent travel, and would be dealt with via the courts, rather than penalty fares. Hope this clears any confusion up.