Fare dodging.

[whole diary]

[TerminalJunkie]

There is an easier solution:

Season Tickets left at home

If you do not have your Season Ticket with you when you travel you must buy a ticket for your journey. You will be able to get a refund on the fare paid on the first two occasions this happens in any 12 month period. On the second such occasion an administration charge will be made (see below). No more than two of these types of refund will be made in any 12 month period. You will need to hand in the tickets you have bought. You should make refund claims of this type within 28 days of travel.

[TerminalJunkie]

whats your point. hes tried to pay.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sarcasm

And, while we're at it:
http://www.eng-lang.co.uk/apostrophe_rules.htm
http://www.grammar-monster.com/lessons/capital_letters_start_sentences.htm

[ChrisB]

I think the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) ought to settle out of court if you were sufficiently contrite.

You are entitled to a refund on a ticket bought to cover a forgotten season. Twice ib a year, I believe. So if you were to do as abive, you could then spply for a refund assuming you haven't claimed too often.

I can't see a TOC wanting to bother with the red tape, as long as you were sufficiently contrite.

[Ollie]

However I do not see why I should inconvenience myself and purchase a ticket whilt waiting for a connection

How does it inconvenience you? Surely it just gives you something to do whilst waiting for another train..

[Phil]

However I do not see why I should inconvenience myself and purchase a ticket whilt waiting for a connection

How does it inconvenience you? Surely it just gives you something to do whilst waiting for another train..

Fair point Ollie, although I confess I would smile wryly if Matt743 were to respond that he's a wheelchair-bound passenger making a connection at Chippenham Station...

[Tim]

Theft is NOT a minor offence.

It's a commercial product, not a right - to travel.

I never said it wasn't a crime.  I never said it wasn't morally wrong.  I never said that it ought not to happen.  I didn't offer an excuse to those who do it.

I do repeat however, that in the great scheme of things it is a relatively minor matter and we do need to keep a sense of perspective.  There are plenty of railway crime that I can get very worked up about and which I think should be punished very harshly.  Abusing staff or nicking live cable for example are far far worse things to do, "forgetting" to pay a fare just isn't one of them. 

[Tim]

To my mind this http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=8995.0 is an example of a sense of prespective being lost.

[FarWestJohn]

What amazes me about this topic is the variation in the train crew's attitude. Last Sunday on the Falmouth branch in the down direction the Conductor was correctly issuing tickets to the intermediate travellers by even holding up the train and issuing tickets on the platform as some got off at Penryn and Penmere.

On the return the Conductor only got out of the rear cab to open and shut the doors. Four passengers alighted at Perranwell and were amazed they travelled for free. Possibly the Conductor had a failed ticket machine. But it is very noticeable that it is Sunday for some reason that it is often difficult to get a ticket. It just goes to show how inaccurate the passenger statistics must be especially from intermediate stations now Truro has barriers. I once counted eight passengers who got on at Penryn and got off at Falmouth Town and the Conductor never left the rear cab to collect fares.

[Tim]

I agree FarWestJohn.

I'd go so far to say that ticket revenue could be improved just as much by better ticket checks on trains as all the punative measures taken against fare dodgers.

there is a variation in train crew attotude to be sure, but I wouldn't want crew to get all the blame for that.  It suggests to be that they are all too often improperly managed.

[Brucey]

Must confess I have often wondered, and even wondered aloud on here long ago I do believe, whether the millions lost through ticketless travel isn't actually a lot more than the money that could have been spent on having properly manned stations or at least ticket halls and barriers throughout the network.

This is a very good point.  But perhaps if the lost revenue is less than the cost of enforcement, the penalties should be increased.

London Underground have a ^50 minimum penalty fare.  Something in this region with regular enforcement would also act as a better deterrent.

More regular revenue protection checks wouldn't go amiss.  All you need is to see another passenger being given a "fine" (and I don't think ^20 is high enough to call it a fine), then it is unlikely you'll chance it on that route again.

[ChrisB]

I think ATOC^» (Association of Train Operating Companies See - here) is hassling the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) for an increase to the same as TfL^» (Transport for London - about)....

[bambam]

whats your point. hes tried to pay.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sarcasm

And, while we're at it:
http://www.eng-lang.co.uk/apostrophe_rules.htm
http://www.grammar-monster.com/lessons/capital_letters_start_sentences.htm

Belittling me isn't an argument. And you seem to have still understood it, so it worked as communication.

London Underground have a ^50 minimum penalty fare.  Something in this region with regular enforcement would also act as a better deterrent.

More regular revenue protection checks wouldn't go amiss.  All you need is to see another passenger being given a "fine" (and I don't think ^20 is high enough to call it a fine), then it is unlikely you'll chance it on that route again.

I think ^50 pounds isn't actually that much either, I accept it is if the distance is fairly short, like from Clifton to Temple Meeds, but if your traveling to London that's probably cheaper than the actual fare in most case, whereas ^50 in Greater London is way more expensive than ticket you can get.

[Tim]

Must confess I have often wondered, and even wondered aloud on here long ago I do believe, whether the millions lost through ticketless travel isn't actually a lot more than the money that could have been spent on having properly manned stations or at least ticket halls and barriers throughout the network.

Good point, what annoys me most is when the capital investment has been made in TVM^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) and barriers etc and then they are not staffed.

[ChrisB]

I think ^50 pounds isn't actually that much either, I accept it is if the distance is fairly short, like from Clifton to Temple Meeds, but if your traveling to London that's probably cheaper than the actual fare in most case, whereas ^50 in Greater London is way more expensive than ticket you can get.

That's a penalty fare only (so, that would be a *minimum* - twice the full single fare would soon be the penalty on the way to London!) - and on top you have to pay to complete your journey!

[Brucey]

As an example, someone travelling from Bristol Temple Meads to London at super off-peak times, who gets "caught" before Reading would be charged as follows:
Penalty Fare from BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains) to RDG^‡(resolve): ^118.00
Fare from RDG to PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains): ^19.50
Total ^137.50, compared to ^28.00

This is probably already enough of a penalty.  However, I wouldn't expect there is a huge amount of intercity fare evasion.  My point about increasing the ^20 to ^50 is to deal with local journeys where fare evasion is rife and fares typically quite low.