Are train travellers without the right ticket treated fairly?

[whole diary]

[PhilWakely]

Interesting article on the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) today...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-31149024

One paragraph that stands out ....

Doe believes that - although two wrongs do not make a right - the revenue gained from passengers who overpay for tickets ill-suited to their travel needs probably exceeds that lost from fraud.

 

[Brucey]

This part of the article worries me (my bold and originally sourced from the Citizens Advice Bureau):

You didn't get a chance to buy a ticket or permit to travel - this could be because there was a long queue and no ticket machine available, or you couldn't use the machine because of a disability

I do not believe the penalty fare regulations offer this a valid reason for cancellation, nor do they offer a definition of "long queue".

As an aside, I would often take advice given by CAB with a pinch of salt.  A local branch told someone they had a very good case against my father after a ^100 second hand goods sale.  She took him to the county court and left in tears (and with a purse ^50 lighter due to court fees) as the judge (correctly) said the relevant sections of law she was claiming under did not apply in this case.

[JayMac]

The CAB are probably referring to the following in the 'Penalty Fares Policy' document, which contains guidelines that TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) should adhere to when setting up and running a Penalty Fares scheme:

Where penalty fares apply, passengers must allow enough time to buy a ticket, including time to queue, if necessary. Under normal circumstances, passengers may still be charged a penalty fare if they join a train without a ticket, even if there was a queue at the ticket office or ticket machine. However, we expect operators to provide enough ticket windows, ticket machines and staff at staffed stations to meet the queuing standards set out in the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement and their Passenger^s Charter under normal circumstances. This standard is normally five minutes at peak times and three minutes at other times. If queues at a particular station regularly fail to meet these standards at certain times or days of the week, the operator must either take action to sort out the problem before a penalty fares scheme is introduced or make sure that passengers are not charged penalty fares when these queuing standards are not met. This might include providing extra staff or ticket machines. A penalty fares scheme must include arrangements for telling authorised collectors when long queues build up at ticket offices.

(Strategic Rail Authority - about)%20-%20Penalty%20Fare%20Policy%202002.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.ircas.co.uk/docs/SRA%20-%20Penalty%20Fare%20Policy%202002.pdf

[Chris from Nailsea]

Indeed - and those guidelines contain unquantified terms such as 'under normal circumstances', 'may', 'normally' and 'might' ... 

[JayMac]

Just the sort of language that should must be addressed by the review.