Advice on daughters (unfair?) Penalty Fair Notice

[bb21]

I think we should wait until the OP comes back to tell us whether there was a working TVM at East Worthing which takes her daughter's method of payment before jumping to conclusions.

 

[DarloRich]

Having seen the blocks many a time there I can understand what has happened. There is a particular problem with fare evasion with the schoolchildren travelling West - East - West Worthing and so the RPI's/RPO's do the blocks for that reason and a £20 penalty fare recoups the losses of the £1.25 on the other times they don't buy tickets.

There is no reason for her not to have a ticket which is what a penalty fare is for, boarding a train without a ticket when the opportunity arose.

Maybe she was lucky not to have got an MG11

I dont disagree that there is a very large number of probability that that is exactly what went on.

That said we dont know, for certain, that the machine was or was not working. Therefore there is enough information, on the face of it, to suggest an appeal has legs.

Whether the machine was in working order is the key factor. No machine, no chance to buy a ticket until the other end.

 

[paul1609]

There was definantly a tvm on the westbound platform at East Worthing when I last passed in December,
In my experience all Southern machines take cash and or cards. Ive occasionally had issues with card approval but availabilty along the coastway route is generally very good.

 

[Ivo]

NRE isn't the only site that suggests no facility exists - even Southern's own website states as much (here).

However, it also says nothing about a PERTIS machine

Until the OP returns, there really isn't much we can do. Was there a PERTIS machine before this apparent TVM appeared? If no, it seems unlikely that neither would work. If yes however, in the eyes of Southern, this may be a case of trying to take advantage of the PERTIS and being caught out by the new facilities.

 

[sarahj]

I had a look tonight, there is a pertis on the down platform (heading towards worthing) and a TVM on the up. We do get issues with school children from east worthing going to west worthing and durrington who do not buy tickets. Some will come up and buy one, others will do the helpless schoolgirl routine, others will have just spent the fare on other things.
Other will go crying to daddy when caught, but dad, I tried to buy one, honest, but the big bad man would not believe me.

Been there, seen it.

 

[island]

In that case, the Penalty Fare appears to have been issued correctly as the passenger failed to use the TVM on the other side. The sum should be paid within the prescribed period to avoid any escalation of matters.

 

[Mojo]

2. No. Appeals against penalty fares need to be made in writing.

Both Ircas and Ipfas allow Penalty fare appeals online. For Southern Railway you can appeal online here: https://www.penaltyfares.co.uk/cust_appeal.aspx?stage=1.

The Penalty fare is a civil matter; once it has been paid (or successfully appealed) then that is the end of the matter.

 

[FenMan]

Did they? I wasn't aware of that. I thought only Northern and ScotRail did that.

Some of the FGW TVMs on the North Downs Line are card-only.

A (lawyer) friend of mine who hates queueing behind the ummers and arr-ers that turn the buying process into slow torture* deliberately pays cash on the train for this reason. He's never been challenged.

*Yesterday I had the pleasure of hanging around whilst a woman in front of me took over 5 minutes to buy her ticket - she'd seen a spider and wouldn't touch the machine unless sure it wasn't within range to "attack" her. :roll:

 

[johnnychips]

*Yesterday I had the pleasure of hanging around whilst a woman in front of me took over 5 minutes to buy her ticket - she'd seen a spider and wouldn't touch the machine unless sure it wasn't within range to "attack" her. :roll:

I'm sure when she was at my school, the dog ate her homework. . Wonder if the presence of a 'killer spider' would excuse not taking the opportunity to buy a valid ticket before travelling.

 

[09065]

Did they? I wasn't aware of that. I thought only Northern and ScotRail did that.

First Great Western do that in some areas as well.

*Ignore me I should read Page 3 before adding to a point on Page 2*

 

[edwin_m]

she'd seen a spider and wouldn't touch the machine unless sure it wasn't within range to "attack" her. :roll:

Tricky one that. She wouldn't have wanted to buy her ticket off the Web either.

 

[jon0844]

Boom Boom!