Help- Intention to Prosecute

[Royston Vasey]

I'm sorry, but these sort of statements make my blood boil.

If the OP thought that they had a valid ticket then an additional £10 may well be all they might need for small unexpected expenditure. Obviously with hindsight they might have had more, but they weren't expecting to encounter any problems.

If I've bought an advance ticket from London to Edinburgh, am I supposed to have £152 on me in case I should fall foul of some regulation and be charged an anytime single? Whilst I often will have the means to pay any amount on a credit card, there are occasions when I deliberately take no more than absolutely necessary, usually when travelling to a football match.

I don't agree, whilst it is not reasonable to expect to have to carry large amounts of cash, in the modern world there are so many reasons it is foolish not to carry at least a debit card (with an overdraft facility if necessary) or credit card able to cover any reasonable unpredicted expenditure. The OP is clearly an adult - I would class carrying a debit card to be "absolutely necessary" and a personal responsibility when leaving the house at all, let alone travelling somewhere. Not doing so is at the very least, a risk.

A PF is designed to penalise honest mistakes - ordinarily, you pay up, it's done with and you move on. Southern have believed the OP's story and given her (?) this option. Being sensible enough to carry the means to pay a small penalty fare, or any other small out of pocket expense outside the railway, would have meant this never getting this far.

The point about having no money and living abroad jars a little - flights aren't free.

 

[6Gman]

The last three posts have explained my point with more clarity than I could myself.

Thanks!