Retrieval of Tickets from Gatelines

[northwichcat]

Some may keep their ticket, but unless you intend to claim for something, why bother?

I find it's useful to keep tickets for journeys you don't do every day/week as it can give a quick indication of how much another journey's likely to cost if you haven't got time to boot up your computer.

If someone like G4S are doing manual barriers at smaller unbarriered stations and someone hasn't got a ticket they should always give them the actual ticket (even if it's a single after they've completed the journey) to prove that it's actually been sold and they've not pocketed the fare.

 

[LE Greys]

Welwyn Hatfield council issue rail warrants, so you don't have to claim anything back in the first place. I'm surprised HCC doesn't do that too.

They did issue warrants, but still demanded the ticket as proof that I had used it. I think they wanted to make sure I wasn't flogging the thing on the side. Talk about paranoid! :roll:

 

[reb0118]

Under BR the railway definately owned the ticket and could retain it subject to issuing a receipt if requested.

Since privatisation I'm not so sure. As a guard I was instructed not to retain tickets (special circumstances excepted eg suspected fraudulent use) as the ticket now belonged to the "customer". Anyway if the railway owns the ticket - which TOC owns it? You can buy a ticket from one TOC but travel on eg three more separate TOCs on your journey before having to pass through barriers operated by a fourth at your terminating station.

A side issue. If you purchase a ticket from an Avantix Mobile machine and forget to ask for a receipt at the same time - you can still get a receipt later as long as the operator is still in shift.

 

[Greenback]

I believe the ticket itself remains the property of the company that issued it.

In 1998 we were instructed to retian all monthly and longer Thames Trains seasons when they were renewed, as there was a 10% discount due to poor perfromance. We were told that TT had requested this in order to have an audit trail to ensure that only renewals were being given the discount. However, I never saw anything in writing! Of course, being in the sales office this was just about the only time we had the opportunity to retain tickets! When the barriers were installed on the station a lot of people were initially caught out and there were a great many requests to open the barriers up and retrieve tickets. It became quite a chore for the barrier staff, although I never heard of any occasion where the passenger was refused!

 

[northwichcat]

You can buy a ticket from one TOC but travel on eg three more separate TOCs on your journey before having to pass through barriers operated by a fourth at your terminating station.

It seems to generally whoever manages the station who gets to take all the tickets e.g. TPE at Huddersfield and Warrington CTL and Northern at Leeds and Blackpool North. However, I don't understand how G4S on behalf of Northern do Manchester Piccadilly as Network Rail manage the station and Virgin run the ticket office.

Slightly related if you suffer two one hour delays on two legs under the same ticket e.g. for example on a Holyhead to Manchester ticket if you are delayed for an hour between Holyhead and Chester by Virgin and by a further hour between Chester and Manchester because of ATW, how do you claim for a 2 hour delay spilt between two operators?

 

[transportphoto]

Slightly related if you suffer two one hour delays on two legs under the same ticket e.g. for example on a Holyhead to Manchester ticket if you are delayed for an hour between Holyhead and Chester by Virgin and by a further hour between Chester and Manchester because of ATW, how do you claim for a 2 hour delay spilt between two operators?

You don't, you only claim to the original TOC who you were travelling on when the initial delay was caused, in this example Virgin, as that service was delayed you have to board a later train which coincidently was a hour late also, claiming to VT for a two hour delay.

 

[jon0844]

They did issue warrants, but still demanded the ticket as proof that I had used it. I think they wanted to make sure I wasn't flogging the thing on the side. Talk about paranoid! :roll:

Ah, well maybe that's the actual reason they wanted you to hand the ticket in. If they're issuing a warrant, then you could abuse it by flogging the warrant and getting a cheap coach ticket or something.

Otherwise, if you pay for a ticket and get a receipt, can't they just check that you went? If it's for work, surely someone would notice that you claim for a ticket but never attended the meeting/training course/seminar etc.

Not that I can think why you'd pay for a ticket and then claim for it, without actually bothering to use it. Unless you sold it on to someone else, in which case your employer has a much bigger problem - the employee is probably doing all sorts of other fiddles.

 

[sheff1]

To be honest, it's probably not that easy to pull out one single ticket if anyone else has used the machine since. They may be stacked up, but they're probably easy to mix up when you extract a clump. It's also fair to say that they all look rather similar!

Shortly after the Thameslink blockade started, the gate at London Bridge kept my South Coast to St Pancras 'not underground' ticket which I needed for the tube connection on which it is valid as an alternative. I asked the attendant who, after waiting for the rest of the passengers to go through, retrieved my ticket without any difficulty even though maybe 20/30 people had gone through after my ticket was swallowed.

Now, of course, I just wave my ticket and say 'St Pancras' and have never had a problem. The tickets have always worked the tube barriers at London Bridge & St Pancras.

 

[LE Greys]

Ah, well maybe that's the actual reason they wanted you to hand the ticket in. If they're issuing a warrant, then you could abuse it by flogging the warrant and getting a cheap coach ticket or something.

Otherwise, if you pay for a ticket and get a receipt, can't they just check that you went? If it's for work, surely someone would notice that you claim for a ticket but never attended the meeting/training course/seminar etc.

Not that I can think why you'd pay for a ticket and then claim for it, without actually bothering to use it. Unless you sold it on to someone else, in which case your employer has a much bigger problem - the employee is probably doing all sorts of other fiddles.

I didn't invent the system, I just had to use it. Mind you, I was attending a school where the Head bought himself a new Audi every year, then fed us on £3:20 a day. At one point, they tried to bill the Council (and probably people's parents) for first class warrants and then issue second class ones (the person who wrote out the actual warrant was the school secretary). Is it any wonder that some people in my year were running a chocolate smuggling ring?