No ticket? Have a 'yellow card.'

[High Dyke]

BBC News - Train firms urged to give 'yellow cards' to passengers without tickets - BBC News

Train firms urged to give 'yellow cards' to passengers without tickets

A rail watchdog wants passengers who make genuine mistakes to be treated more fairly.

www.bbc.co.uk

Rail watchdog Transport Focus wants passengers to be issued a warning and have their names taken and recorded on a digital system, with fines only issued for repeat offences.

It comes as the rail regulator is looking at how prosecutions and enforcement for fare evasion are dealt with, after it came to light that some passengers were being prosecuted for minor offences.

 

[ANDREW_D_WEBB]

IMHO fare evaders can be split into two broad categories:

1. Those who make a genuine error in the ridiculously complicated ticketing system we have for example they misread the time on their ticket or have let their railcard lapse by a day or so. The 'yellow card' is probably a good idea for these.
2. Those who have no intention of paying ever. This yellow card will only serve to reinforce their sense of entitlement.

 

[Bertie the bus]

Those who make a genuine error in the ridiculously complicated ticketing system we have for example they misread the time on their ticket or have let their railcard lapse by a day or so.

Only using a railcard within its validity period isn't a ridiculously complex concept.

Those who have no intention of paying ever. This yellow card will only serve to reinforce their sense of entitlement.

I agree. It would probably mirror shoplifting where they lifted the prosecution limit to a minimum of £200 and all that has done is increase the amount of small value shoplifting.

 

[Mag_seven]

Already being discussed here:

Could new report from Transport Focus Help 1st time offences *which were unintentional*

I've just seen that Transport Focus has just released a series of recommendations around the current approach to prosecutions for minor, first-time offences. I wonder if these recommendations would be useful for those currently facing these kind of issues to attatch to their response, when...

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