Haywain
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Booking engines have to abide by the route and fulfilment methods specified by the flow owner. They do not have any option to do otherwise (unless they happen to be called Trainline).
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SWR cracking down on Vauxhall - Waterloo doughnuts/short fares - Also GTR
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Swedenorer
Member
A good question. I suppose there's a real danger of ending up with a repeat of Edmondson on the Southern all sorts elesewhere of 50 odd years ago!
gembercannelle
Member
I mean would you find it justified?
We have fraud prevention training at my workplace. One thing highlighted there is that you cannot commit fraud accidentally, it ought to be intentional. The railway does not need to prove the intend.
Yesterday, I was travelling Shalford - Gatwick airport - Guildford to meet a friend. I bought a return e-ticket Guildford - Gatwick Airport while waiting on a platform at Shalford. It then occurred to be that the purchase was finalised after the train left Guildford. Was I trying to evade fare? Absolutely not. Did I have a valid ticket? Yes, always. However, if there was a ticket check, the officer could easily spot that the ticket was bought after departure...
It does if they want to bring a fraud case. But we are not talking about criminal fraud.
Which would (potentially) be a ticketing offence (just like finding you’ve lost your paper ticket), but - crucially - not fraud.I mean would you find it justified?
We have fraud prevention training at my workplace. One thing highlighted there is that you cannot commit fraud accidentally, it ought to be intentional. The railway does not need to prove the intend.
Yesterday, I was travelling Shalford - Gatwick airport - Guildford to meet a friend. I bought a return e-ticket Guildford - Gatwick Airport while waiting on a platform at Shalford. It then occurred to be that the purchase was finalised after the train left Guildford. Was I trying to evade fare? Absolutely not. Did I have a valid ticket? Yes, always. However, if there was a ticket check, the officer could easily spot that the ticket was bought after departure...
Is it an offence? Surely not if the ticket was bought before departure? Proving it might be more difficult though. I would take a picture of myself at the platform at the time the ticket was purchased as evidence in that situation.
The OP says the purchase did not complete until they got on board, and hence they did not have a ticket when they boarded.
Fawkes Cat
Established Member
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And to give chapter and verse from the byelaws as they currently stand from November 2025 (https://assets.publishing.service.g...8a54f8/dft-railway-byelaws-amendment-2025.pdf):
gembercannelle
Member
I boarded at Shalford, it is the next stop after Guildford. The ticket was bought before the train arrived to Shalford, but after it left Guildford. So I absolutely had a valid ticket at the time I boarded.
Ah yes - had overlooked that - as you say, definitely not an offence but hard to prove. However, as the onus of proof is on the railway, they would have to prove that you boarded tat Guildford (which you didn’t) rather than you having to prove you boarded at Shalford.