Disabled adult penalty fare.

[Unjustcarer]

Quick update. This matter has been resolved. Thank you for the help everyone.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Quick update. This matter has been resolved. Thank you for the help everyone.

Good stuff. I hope it will be properly dealt with in terms of the errant staff, and not just brushed under the carpet for next time.

 

[gaillark]

With all franchised TOC's on Government revenue support its high time that the rail industry via the RDG and DfT recognised this fact as scrap all TOC specfic fares for franchised operators with so instances such as this will never happen again. It needs to happen now not wait until GBR is established.
Treatment such as this experienced by the Gentleman showed the railway at its best in staff going the extra mile then suddenly trashed to show the railway at its worst by a small minority of rotten apples that need to be dealt with and may expose (senior and middle) mangement failings in supervision and performance of staff.

 

[Western Sunset]

Good stuff. I hope it will be properly dealt with in terms of the errant staff, and not just brushed under the carpet for next time.

Probably along the lines of "lessons will be learned" and "staff will be reminded to....."

 

[Starmill]

Probably along the lines of "lessons will be learned" and "staff will be reminded to....."

This doesn't seem likely. Northern are very unlikely to admit to having been wrong.

 

[Bletchleyite]

This doesn't seem likely. Northern are very unlikely to admit to having been wrong.

I am more inclined to think that Northern have paid the OP a reasonable sum of money in return for the signing of a non disclosure agreement.

 

[SuspectUsual]

I am more inclined to think that Northern have paid the OP a reasonable sum of money in return for the signing of a non disclosure agreement.

I'd be surprised if Northern were able to move that quickly

 

[WesternLancer]

Quick update. This matter has been resolved. Thank you for the help everyone.

Thanks for update - glad to hear this - can you outline a little more detail which may be of help to future readers with similar problems. eg what was the most effective step(s) taken to resolve this promptly?

 

[AlterEgo]

The press office or the top level of customer relations will likely have got involved, and we probably will hear no more from the OP.

 

[MadMarsupial]

On Facebook Northern had a splash on Wednesday committing themselves to the Dept of Transport disability support campaign so it would have been very embarrassing for them when this incident was mentioned - I suspect the press office feared tabloid coverage and belatedly did the decent thing.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Certainly if they hadn't acted or had rejected any appeal I would probably have moved on to suggest that a quick email to the red-tops* plus the MEN and Liverpool Echo would be a good bet...

* Possibly excluding the Sun given the involvement of Liverpool

 

[northwichcat]

My understanding is that TPE do have their own staff on duty at the station in Manchester but not Liverpool.

Sorry I was meaning crews who come off TPE trains at platforms 13 and 14, who are then walking to where ever they are going next. I haven't seen one offering to assist a wheelchair passenger but I have seen them offering customer service to passengers who haven't just come off the same train.

 

[WesternLancer]

On Facebook Northern had a splash on Wednesday committing themselves to the Dept of Transport disability support campaign so it would have been very embarrassing for them when this incident was mentioned - I suspect the press office feared tabloid coverage and belatedly did the decent thing.

Accords a level of speed and efficiency to the press office not present at other levels of the organisation then....

 

[Western Sunset]

When there is damage limitation, things can move quickly...

 

[gray1404]

Wow. What a fast resolution. I wonder what happened to bring this about and so swiftly.

 

[island]

That is another grounds for complaint, then. If a member of staff withdraws a ticket for investigation, a receipt must be issued to the passenger confirming the withdrawal and stating what was withdrawn.

Is this perhaps on the Penalty Fares Notice? Could you perhaps upload a copy of that notice with all personal details redacted?

As I understand it, when a ticket is withdrawn for investigation, the member of staff must issue something that lets the passenger continue the journey they paid for, so that they don't get re-reported or otherwise dealt with again by another staff member down the line or at their destination. In this case, the penalty fare notice would serve this purpose; it would serve as authority to travel to and exit at the relevant stop.

 

[Hadders]

With all franchised TOC's on Government revenue support its high time that the rail industry via the RDG and DfT recognised this fact as scrap all TOC specfic fares for franchised operators with so instances such as this will never happen again. It needs to happen now not wait until GBR is established.
Treatment such as this experienced by the Gentleman showed the railway at its best in staff going the extra mile then suddenly trashed to show the railway at its worst by a small minority of rotten apples that need to be dealt with and may expose (senior and middle) mangement failings in supervision and performance of staff.

I suggest you start a separate thread about this but be very aware that the removal of TOC specific fares would represent a huge increase in fares for many. That would not be a good thing for passengers.

 

[jumble]

Hello everyone.

My disabled autistic wheelchair bound father has received a penalty fare yesterday from Northern rail despite buying a ticket, i was hoping to appeal it but would like some advice.

My father is 86 and wheelchair bound with limited mobility due to various health problems.

He booked passenger assistance to travel from Liverpool Lime Street station to travel to Manchester Piccadily.

His friend helped him into the station where he was meant to get passanger assistance but the staff was late and his friend had to leave due to work commitments.

Eventually a member of TPE ( i think TPE) staff turned up and helped my father buy a TPE only ticket to Manchester which he placed into the back compartment of my fathers wheelchair. He then took my father down to the platform but the train was too full to fit the wheelchair on. The staff member apologised and instead put my father onto a Northern train instead going to Manchester (knowing he held a TPE only ticket).

At Huyton penalty fare officers joined the train and asked to see his ticket. My father explained he could not access his ticket as it was in the back on the wheelchair. The PF officer apparently smirked and went through my fathers wheelchair without his permission before finding the ticket and telling him he was a fare evader and this ticket was not valid as it was TPE only. My father tried to explain what had happened but had no luck and the PF officer proceeded to tell him he was going to prison unless he gave his details. My father is not happy.

I am shocked as to what has happened here and would like to know if there js anyway to appeal this as it seems wrong....

The sad thing is that for every imbecele who behaves in this way there are countless Railway Staff who do their jobs properly
As it happens I was on the Jubilee on the same day
Blind chap gets on with Member of station staff who makes sure he has a seat before getting off
At his destination a member of staff is on platform to meet him and escorts him off
All done very professionally with no fuss, but what a difference it must make to the blind chap's life.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The sad thing is that for every imbecele who behaves in this way there are countless Railway Staff who do their jobs properly
As it happens I was on the Jubilee on the same day
Blind chap gets on with Member of station staff who makes sure he has a seat before getting off
At his destination a member of staff is on platform to meet him and escorts him off
All done very professionally with no fuss, but what a difference it must make to the blind chap's life.

The problem is that the railway (and similar industries) attract two types of person in passenger facing roles. (It doesn't overly matter if say a freight driver hates people, as they don't deal with many of them - it's an even better role for someone who just wants to be on their own than a lorry driver as they're not even sharing the road with anyone in the same way).

One is helpful and gets their kick out of ensuring people have a good day even in poor circumstances like serious disruption, and out of ensuring the right thing is done e.g. with regard to fare evaders. @LowLevel appears to be a perfect example of this type.

The other gets a kick out of putting on a virtual peaked cap and having authority over people, the easiest ones being the most vulnerable, but wouldn't have the skillset to work in a role with "real" power like Police. I've not come across any on here, but they do tend towards roles like RPIs on the railway itself.

Unfortunately the railway is not very good at weeding out the significant minority that makes up the latter, th ough there are plenty of the former.

 

[robbeech]

Unfortunately the railway is not very good at weeding out the significant minority that makes up the latter, th ough there are plenty of the former.

The shortsighted railway has no incentive to weed out the significant minority that make up the latter. They are the ones generating more revenue and frightening more passengers into paying up regardless of whether it is due or not.

The inspector in question in this thread attempted to make money for their employer out of this. And they will have done so in the past, many will have resulted in no complaint, no appeal and no thread on this forum asking if they were right or wrong to do so. Depending on how this is handled it’s entirely possible they’ll continue to do so as it is in the operator’s interest to generate the revenue where it can through whatever means.