Fare Evasion

[whole diary]

[Mookiemoo]

2. I cannot and will not accept that getting on the train with the means to pay and the intention to pay - especially when you have a track record of shopping yourself when you could have NOT paid (yesterday, the day I pointed out the ticket the TM^‡(resolve) had checked was actually NOT valid!) - would ever be an offence.  Let the RPI^▸ (Revenue Protection Inspector (or Retail Price Index, depending on the context))'s try to take me to court - I can produce a valid ticket for every journey I have taken (I think with one or two exceptions when it proved impossible to buy one!)

.  In fact in the statement you are actually admitting to fare dodging as by your own admission you have travelled on t.

1. I got on at an unmanned station with no TVM^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) - they do exist in the sticks
2. I could not get the TM even after knocking on he rear cab/guards van
3. I got off at (1) and unmanned station with not TVM on two occasions and (2) a station with a broken TVM

That is NOT fare dodging

[grahame]

My understanding is that if you make a train (or bustituted) journey where you are unable, in spite of efforts made, to pay on the journey ... then you are supposed to get in touch with the service provider and pay later.  But I would be very surprised indeed if more than a small proportion of people actually get in touch with the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) when they get home and ask "how shall I pay for the journey I just made?" ...

[super tm]

Yes but you have to be very careful.  A number of years ago there was a barrier block at Didcot Parkway.  They were checking tickets in the car park.  Anybody who came from a staffed station and found without a ticket was prosecuted for fare evasion and they were ALL convicted.

There was one wealthy individual who decided to appeal.  On the day the judge spent a little while looking at the papers and then said to the defence barrister "Why are we here?"   A little while later the passenger concerned left the court several thousand pounds worse off having lost.

The reason was all the passengers had left the station and made no effort to purchase a ticket from the open ticket office on the station.  That in itself was enough to convict. So beware.  This offence is known as pay when challenged.  ie you only pay when asked to.

[Mookiemoo]

Yes but you have to be very careful.  A number of years ago there was a barrier block at Didcot Parkway.  They were checking tickets in the car park.  Anybody who came from a staffed station and found without a ticket was prosecuted for fare evasion and they were ALL convicted.

There was one wealthy individual who decided to appeal.  On the day the judge spent a little while looking at the papers and then said to the defence barrister "Why are we here?"   A little while later the passenger concerned left the court several thousand pounds worse off having lost.

The reason was all the passengers had left the station and made no effort to purchase a ticket from the open ticket office on the station.  That in itself was enough to convict. So beware.  This offence is known as pay when challenged.  ie you only pay when asked to.

But thats the point - I would have bought a ticket at the ticket office if it were open!

Of course, that does leave you if you were so inclined to be less than truthful about where you got on!

[Zoe]

Last week I used a Ride Cornwall ticket, I boarded a train at Camborne at about 18:00.  I had a valid ticket so it wasn't an issue for me but the train manager was nowhere to be seen and at Redruth the ticket office had closed early due to staff shortages so if I had been wanting to just travel from Camborne to Redruth and didn't have the Ride Cornwall ranger or another ticket purchased previously how would I have been expected to pay for the journey?

[Tim]

  But I would be very surprised indeed if more than a small proportion of people actually get in touch with the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) when they get home and ask "how shall I pay for the journey I just made?" ...

I have tried to do this occassion in the past.  This was perhaps about 5 years ago before the TVMs^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) were installed but I did Filton AW to Oldfield park fairly regularly and occassionally I didn't get a ticket on the train (because I was unable to find the TM^‡(resolve) reasonably easily).  I called Wessex trains Customer services and asked to pay, they told me I ought to send them a cheque or go to a staffed station - which I freely admit I did not do.

   

[inspector_blakey]

I have to say my experiences in the past when I've sought out train managers have not been good. On all occasions the train was delayed and the TM^‡(resolve) was hiding (sometimes in Coach F along with the huge number of off-duty staff who always seem to travel between CDF^» (Cardiff - next trains) and SWA^» (Swansea - next trains), sometimes in coach A). Every time they made it abundantly clear to me that I was causing them a serious inconvenience, so god only knows how awkward they'd have been if I'd been asking them to issue me a ticket.

So from my experience, if you have to seek out the train manager because they're hiding, they're unlikely to be that helpful, because the helpful ones tend to be out there walking through the train dealing with stuff!

[Zoe]

So from my experience, if you have to seek out the train manager because they're hiding, they're unlikely to be that helpful, because the helpful ones tend to be out there walking through the train dealing with stuff!

Last week as I said I boarded at Camborne and the train manager didn't make an appearance until after Liskeard.  A new train manager joined at Plymouth and by the time I got off at Newton Abbot the tickets from Plymouth had not been checked.

[Tim]

I seem to be detecting a marked improvement in HST^▸ (High Speed Train) ticket checking between Bath and London in recent weeks (from "appaling" to "not too bad").  Maybe I am being mislead by random flucuations pater-seeking mammal that I am, but hopefully this issue is finally being got to grips with.

[inspector_blakey]

hopefully this issue is finally being got to grips with.

Ba-doom, ting! 

[Mookiemoo]

And then we have this mornings 0735 from WOS^» (Worcester Shrub Hill - next trains)

not a single ticket check all the way to Reading.  No ticket seller person boarding at Charlbury.  therefore I cannot believe that (1) there was a ticket check before WOS or that (2) the TM^‡(resolve) would bother doing one after Reading.  (was not a voice I recognised so may be a newbie on the service)

now bearing in mind that on that train, there are a large number of tickets sold on board due to the unmanned stations, I feel sorry for the poor sods having to queue at the Paddington ticket office to get through the barriers. 

I got my WOS - wokingham from a very bemused SWT^▸ (South West Trains) guard

[devon_metro]

I got my WOS^» (Worcester Shrub Hill - next trains) - wokingham from a very bemused SWT^▸ (South West Trains) guard

Bet he loved you for that!!