They need to do what FGW▸ did at Cam & Dursley after the ticket machine got ram raided. Were they put in a "permit to travel" machine, were you simply push a button and you can get on a train, and even if you dont manage to get a ticket on the train, you can get one the other end, no questions asked.
What the hell is the point of one of them!
Sorry - dont understand why pushing a button and getting on a train makes it ok but getting on without is seemingly not ok
The idea of this type of machine is to show "intent" to buy a ticket, for e.g. if you pick up a permit and you are travelling from Cam & Dursley to Cardiff for example, the guard might not get to you before Bristol Parkway, so you change trains and you don't have time to go to the ticket office then you get on the Cardiff train, give your permit to the guard and then he/she knows that you have travelled from an unmanned station, and can sell you the cheapest availiable fare, if you hadn't picked up a permit then when you get on at Bristol Parkway the
TM‡ could say "well you boarded at a manned station" (Bristol Parkway) and charge the full fare, OK you could probably explain to him/her where you had come from but the permit instantly prevents any mis understanding. Hope this explains it clearer