Hypothetical - Misuse of barrier

[soil]

I held a ticket to Elephant & Castle, and wished to break my journey at Wimbledon. The barriers are not programmed to accept my valid ticket.

On the way out, I was about to call for assistance when a member of public touched out his Oyster and then went back to the platform (presumably to continue by other ticket). I therefore walked through the open gate.

On the way back, one of the barriers was open, but it had a red X on it. I walked through it.

I wasn't challenged, so this is purely hypothetical - might any of these three actions (the passenger not exiting and re-entering with a valid ticket, me going through his exit, and entering an X marked barrier) constitute the byelaw offence of misuse of a barrier?

 

[Fawkes Cat]

I wasn't challenged, so this is purely hypothetical - might any of these three actions (the passenger not exiting and re-entering with a valid ticket, me going through his exit, and entering an X marked barrier) constitute the byelaw offence of misuse of a barrier?

I'm not quite clear what the three scenarios are, but I'll have a stab at this: the first one might be meant to be the setup, but in that case I can only see two 'actions'...

I held a ticket to Elephant & Castle, and wished to break my journey at Wimbledon. The barriers are not programmed to accept my valid ticket.

For this one, would this be on National Rail or TfL? My understanding is that TfL doesn't have a concept of breaking your journey so the answers might be different depending on whose barriers you were using.

On the way out, I was about to call for assistance when a member of public touched out his Oyster and then went back to the platform (presumably to continue by other ticket). I therefore walked through the open gate.

Leaving aside the plausibility of another member of the public conveniently deciding not to exit having opened the barriers, I think this would be misusing a barrier: the byelaw is (to my mind) deliberately loosely worded to capture all possible sources of abuse - and going through a gate when you have not opened it is (again, to my mind) obvious abuse, just as much as following someone else through

On the way back, one of the barriers was open, but it had a red X on it. I walked through it.

And this one as well - the requirement is to show/tap/otherwise validate your ticket (again, with a query on the plausibility: are stations in London in the habit of leaving gates open but with the red X to show them as not for use?)

 

[soil]

I'm not quite clear what the three scenarios are, but I'll have a stab at this: the first one might be meant to be the setup, but in that case I can only see two 'actions'...

.

There were three 'uses':
* The unknown passenger used the barrier to end his Oyster 'journey' before presumably continuing with another valid ticket. Not really sure why you are questioning the plausibility of this. Wimbledon is on SWR's mainline and Oyster isn't valid beyond Zone 6 on SWR, so it's necessary to switch from Oyster to another means if arriving e.g. by Underground. (You can perform the same exercise at Surbiton, but passengers are more likely to be changing trains at Wimbledon)
* I used the same barrier by walking through it
* I used the barrier to re-enter the station

Wimbledon station is managed by SWR. I had a return ticket from Elephant & Castle to a station on SWR's network. It is certainly valid for break of journey.

Not sure if you are suggesting that if one has a valid ticket then one must attempt to validate it, even when the gates are left open.

 

[Bletchleyite]

are stations in London in the habit of leaving gates open but with the red X to show them as not for use?)

Yes. If the gateline is set to open, the individual gates just show the direction they would be used in if they weren't set to open, red X or green arrow accordingly. Happens all the time at any station where they are left open.

 

[swt_passenger]

Wimbledon station is managed by SWR. I had a return ticket from Elephant & Castle to a station on SWR's network. It is certainly valid for break of journey.

That never guarantees the barriers will allow the break though, as I’m sure you’ll already know..