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All that phrase says is that when you buy a ticket you enter into an agreement. It does not say that the only way for any contractual obligation to exist is by buying a ticket, else, why are there Conditions there that specifically bind passengers who, uh, haven't bought one?
All that phrase says is that when you buy a ticket you enter into an agreement. It does not say that the only way for any contractual obligation to exist is by buying a ticket, else, why are there Conditions there that specifically bind passengers who, uh, haven't bought one?
But if that's the intended meaning, then I go back to my original statement that it's a bit of a mess.
In my view a contract should not start "This contract is formed when X happens" with an implicit "plus at other times that we couldn't be bothered mentioning here and you'll have to read the entire thing to see if they are any."
It's not just that there is a line saying that you enter into an agreement by buying a ticket. I'd agree that this in itself wouldn't exclude other circumstances.
It says - right at the start - that the entire NRCoT is a "binding contract that comes into effect ... when you purchase a Ticket".
Why say that when you could just as easily say something like "....use railway services"?
They have chosen to link the entire contract to the purchase of a ticket. They didn't have to.
In my view a contract should not start "This contract is formed when X happens" with an implicit "plus at other times that we couldn't be bothered mentioning here and you'll have to read the entire thing to see if they are any."
That's just tilting at windmills. That's how contract law works. There are many times thay contracts are implicit and for good reason; this works mostly to the customer's advantage in this case.
It's not just that there is a line saying that you enter into an agreement by buying a ticket. I'd agree that this in itself wouldn't exclude other circumstances.
It says - right at the start - that the entire NRCoT is a "binding contract that comes into effect ... when you purchase a Ticket".
That's right! But you notice that doesn't exclude other unwritten contractual obligations on the part of either the passenger or the train company that are implied. It doesn't say it "ONLY comes into effect when you purchase a ticket" and it is quite obvious that it does not, given the contract explicitly has provisions that tell you how and when you need to buy a ticket. The train company is bound also to lots of people who do not yet have a ticket or who do not need to buy a ticket at all.
This is like an English comprehension exercise - if I say "I am obliged to bake you a cake when you give me £10" this does not equate to "Paul is *only ever* obliged to bake Adam a cake in exchange for £10"
Because this doesn't exclude me being obliged to give you a cake if I have made a promise and you have given it consideration in some other way. For example if I tell you I will bake you a cake if you run a 10K every day for a week, and you do that, that's also a way one can be obliged to another outwith the usual written contract.
In the train company's example, if they state in the contract that under X circumstances you can pay on board (if you turn up at Anytown Central for the 2300 service), they are obliged to a passenger who gives consideration to that by turning up and being present for the train.
Because that would not be exhaustive and not everyone who "uses a railway service" has made a contract or given consideration. It's not possible to use a form of words that would exhaustively cover all the ways contractual obligations can be formed and consideration given between a user or prospective user and a train company. That's why we have areas of contract law which govern unwritten contracts and implicit contracts and forms of consideration which are not monetary.
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
To circle the recent meta discussion back a bit on topic, it's probably when you arrive at the station. Because at this point you have taken an action and given consideration upon the promise of payment to settle the monies later. It's less clear to me if you need to actually tap your card - this seems unfair given there are disadvantages to doing so long before your train.
If you take no action and sit at home, or in the pub, you aren't giving considerstion to the company's promise. But IANAL.
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