Rail Travel Vouchers, closed ticket offices, and the RPO

In a bit of a conundrum here.

So, I have a few Rail Travel Vouchers that I want to use up before they expire (I was an idiot and somehow asked for my delay repay as a voucher instead of my usual bank transfer; I know not how managed that, nor why that's an option in the 2020s). The problem is, my local station's ticket office (and my destination's, for that matter) are helpfully shut whenever I try to use them.

Under these circumstances, am I still permitted to board the train without a ticket in hopes of being able to use the voucher up with the Guard before it expires? Or would I be liable to be given a penalty fare if the RPO came across me first?

RTVs generally state they can be used 'at any station'. The NRCoT state that where your valid method of payment cannot be used to buy a ticket at the station, you may board the train and buy a ticket at the first available opportunity, i.e. onboard or at your destination or interchange station, as applicable.

As such you would not be legally liable to pay for a Penalty Fare. This being said, TOCs are notorious for poorly training their staff on anything that isn't directly safety-critical, and so we cannot guarantee that you definitely won't encounter any difficulties. The likelihood is that you'll be able to board and buy your ticket without issue, but if you want to ask, that's the situation on the ground.

Tetragon213 said:

So, I have a few Rail Travel Vouchers that I want to use up before they expire (I was an idiot and somehow asked for my delay repay as a voucher instead of my usual bank transfer; I know not how managed that, nor why that's an option in the 2020s).

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If you contact whichever train company issued you the vouchers and ask to have a bank transfer instead, they might agree to do so if you send them the vouchers back.

You could perhaps seek out the guard when boarding and ask?

The guards approximate location tends to be shown by the orange light on the side of the carriage (the one around the middle of each carriage that illuminates when the doors are unlocked) flashing, rather than staying lit... The above only shows the carriage the guard is doing the doors from, not the exact door, but still narrows things down...

The main purpose of this (assuming that you are indeed legally allowed to use the vouchers at the first opportunity when the office is closed) would be to avoid/lessen the risk of a poorly trained RPI fining you, since you would have the guards permission before boarding (and the guard would then know to come round to sell the ticket/sell it there and then)...

I have done this during a strike when the ticket office (at origin & destination) was closed and the replacement TM was unable to sell me a ticket on the train.

An RPI did endorse my RTV on request when he let me through the gateline, but I travelled for free as there was genuinely no opportunity to purchase a ticket with my RTV.

Tetragon213 said:

So, I have a few Rail Travel Vouchers that I want to use up before they expire (I was an idiot and somehow asked for my delay repay as a voucher instead of my usual bank transfer; I know not how managed that, nor why that's an option in the 2020s). The problem is, my local station's ticket office (and my destination's, for that matter) are helpfully shut whenever I try to use them.

Click to expand...

On the contrary, there is a reason some people keep an RTV in their wallet

Tetragon213 said:

In a bit of a conundrum here.

So, I have a few Rail Travel Vouchers that I want to use up before they expire (I was an idiot and somehow asked for my delay repay as a voucher instead of my usual bank transfer; I know not how managed that, nor why that's an option in the 2020s). The problem is, my local station's ticket office (and my destination's, for that matter) are helpfully shut whenever I try to use them.

Under these circumstances, am I still permitted to board the train without a ticket in hopes of being able to use the voucher up with the Guard before it expires? Or would I be liable to be given a penalty fare if the RPO came across me first?

Click to expand...

Does the TOC you use issue promise to pay/permit to travel from its machines if you are unable to pay using your preferred method?
If so this should mean not getting a penalty fare

Thank you to everyone for the advice here. I ended up just straight up asking the guard just before departure, and he very kindly exchanged it for a standard ticket.

Next time around, Ill make sure to get my delay repay as a bank transfer!

I was under the impression that the new conditions removed this them as the 'protected' methods of payment?

As in if no method to use cash and no promise to pay ability on the machine then you could get whichever ticket on the train that was required with the guard.