Boarding a train without a ticket - but with fair reason

[Solent&Wessex]

Thanks.

Here they are.

As far as I am concerned, as one that studies these things and is known at my depot as a rigorous enforcer of the rules, these responses are totally misleading and quite frankly a load of rubbish.

The important condition here is NRCoC condition 2 - as stated before - i.e. what happens if there is NO ticket office, NO ticket machine and NO permit to travel machine. There is NO mention about "the earliest opportunity" in this clause and as such you should be able to buy the correct discounted ticket at any point throughout your journey.

The exceptions would of course be (as our revenue guys do occasionally) if you ignored the Guard when he came down and then asked to buy later. Example : Guard comes down and says "Tickets and fares from X please" and you didn't say anything but just sat there like a lemon. If RPOs then did a full inspection and you asked for a ticket from Y, your unmanned station, they would want to know (correctly) why you didn't buy your ticket from the Guard when he previously came down and asked. In this situation I suspect they would probably report you!

 

[jon0844]

And I also disagree that you should hunt down a guard/TM/RPI or whatever.

 

[Bill Badger]

And I also disagree that you should hunt down a guard/TM/RPI or whatever.

Absolutely - it is part of their duties to check/sell tickets.

However, as it's only part of their duties if they are not doing so then I assume they are doing something else that they consider more important, and it isn't for me to distract them from that.

 

[Greenback]

Quite right too. In my area, guards are normally very diligent in coming through the train. If one doesn't appear, it's normally because they are dealing with a complicated customer enquiry, or an anti social passenger. In either instance, I'm sure my arrival would not be welcomed!

I've npw t up with all the threads that I have missed over the past week through illness. and I have to say that the replies from FGW and AXC are very poor. I would escalate this immediately.

 

[yorkie]

Looking at the journey time from Bedminster to Bristol, there isn't much time for the customer to hunt down the guard even if such a rule existed, and if they found the guard he/she may be in the process of cashing up as Bedminster is very close to Bristol Temple Meads where they will probably be either ending their shift or operating a different train from that point. It's an absurd thing for FGW to suggest, and it is quite simply made up. The worrying thing is that quite a number of people make this rule up. It's a myth that keeps getting repeated for some reason.

 

[jon0844]

Well, having seen an internal memo from FCC regarding the current driver shortages, it seems even staff aren't being told the whole story.

I am sure most know, but they're not being told (if you see what I mean).

 

[John @ home]

Well, having seen an internal memo from FCC regarding the current driver shortages, it seems even staff aren't being told the whole story.

I am sure most know, but they're not being told (if you see what I mean).

Sorry, I don't understand this. What do driver shortages have to do with Boarding a train without a ticket?

John

 

[jon0844]

Nothing because I missed a sentence out to explain why I wrote it! - but it just shows how a TOC can say things that aren't true - yet if enough people say it, it 'becomes' true.

 

[Bristol Rover]

Thanks again for the replies, I'm glad there seems to be a consensus that these operators are out of order. I am in the process of composing replies to the pathetic letters I received and will keep you up to date.