Short Fairing Problem

[wokspotter]

As a regular reader of this forum,I am astounded at the number of people who are asking for advice when caught for short faring,which seems in the majority of cases to be via Trainline.
I can only imagine that this is only a tiny percentage of the people actually doing this on a daily basis.
Do people think that the train operators foresaw what a problem this has turned out to be when they first authorised this method of ticket purchasing?

 

[Cuthbert]

As a regular reader of this forum,I am astounded at the number of people who are asking for advice when caught for short faring,which seems in the majority of cases to be via Trainline.
I can only imagine that this is only a tiny percentage of the people actually doing this on a daily basis.
Do people think that the train operators foresaw what a problem this has turned out to be when they first authorised this method of ticket purchasing?

It was just as bad with paper. Just now we can trace all the purchases through the retailers.
Same no railcards.

 

[wokspotter]

I wonder what the reaction would have been if you had asked the ticket office ,at say , Banbury for a single from Wembley Stadium to Marylebone?

 

[John R]

It was just as bad with paper. Just now we can trace all the purchases through the retailers.
Same no railcards.

I think it’s worse now, as the opportunity to buy a short fare is easier. And people think they can quickly buy a ticket on board if they see a revenue check approaching.

In the past in my area to short fare you would have to turn up at Temple Meads and ask for a ticket from (say) Bedminster (which is unmanned). That takes more nerve than just buying a ticket online imo.

 

[Cuthbert]

I think it’s worse now, as the opportunity to buy a short fare is easier. And people think they can quickly buy a ticket on board if they see a revenue check approaching.

In the past in my area to short fare you would have to turn up at Temple Meads and ask for a ticket from (say) Bedminster (which is unmanned). That takes more nerve than just buying a ticket online imo.

When I started New Street had so many exits getting past the barriers it was embarrassing.
You could use the lifts to the concourse and be past the gate line.

And I take back it was easier for short faring. I didn't read correct and thought just fare evasion I apologies.
Only thing that helped them were the Pertis Machines paying 20p and with the correct amount ready when we checked trains or at stations. As long as it was within the time frame. But ofc this would not help with short faring either.
I shouldn't forum when I am tired.

 

[zero]

It was just as bad with paper. Just now we can trace all the purchases through the retailers.

When paper tickets were the norm I occasionally observed people collecting prebooked tickets for doughnut journeys. It may be easier to trace now, but before e-tickets existed any fare evaders doing this would have still left a digital trail.

The ticket machine on the platforms at Stratford station seemed to be very popular for collecting Brentwood to Shenfield tickets.

I think it’s worse now, as the opportunity to buy a short fare is easier. And people think they can quickly buy a ticket on board if they see a revenue check approaching.

In the past in my area to short fare you would have to turn up at Temple Meads and ask for a ticket from (say) Bedminster (which is unmanned). That takes more nerve than just buying a ticket online imo.

I believe I've been able to buy a ticket from another origin using the machines at Temple Meads in the past.

But also noticed that this function was disabled at various stations across the UK, presumably in an effort to combat this sort of evasion.

 

[Hadders]

As a regular reader of this forum,I am astounded at the number of people who are asking for advice when caught for short faring,which seems in the majority of cases to be via Trainline.
I can only imagine that this is only a tiny percentage of the people actually doing this on a daily basis.
Do people think that the train operators foresaw what a problem this has turned out to be when they first authorised this method of ticket purchasing?

A few comments:

• Billions of journeys are made every year on the rail network. The overwhelming majority pay the correct fare but a small minority do not
• Inevitably, an online forum that provides advice to people who have been caught is going to be popular with people who get into trouble. Only a tiny minoroty of people who are caught come here to seek our advice
• It's never been easier to buy a ticket to travel on the railway but equally fare evasion is more visible than ever thanks to social media and the internet
• There's been an increase in 'petty' crime in recent years. Lack of police response and a failing criminal justice system (due to funding cuts) does not help and the railway cannot be responsible for societal problem
• Trainline is mentioned frequently on this forum because they sell more tickets than any other retailer - by a long, long way. In fact many people believe that Trainline is the only place you can buy tickets online, such is the power of their advertising
• Trainline do share data with train operating companies for the detection and prevention of crime which might also help to explain why we see their name mentioned frequently. I don't know what data sharing arrangements are in place with other ticket retailer

People will evade their fares if they think they can get away with it. Good revenue protection needs to be a combination of:

• Making it easy to buy tickets
• A decent fares structure
• Ticket barriers
• Onboard checks
• Penalty Fares policy
• Investigation in the 'back office'
• Prosecution of those who do not co-operate

Not all of the above are appropriate to every route but train companies need to create an environment where it is accepted that people pay. Equally, what is not needed is a hostile environment - that was seen not so long ago on Chiltern with a number of awfully written notices on trains and toilets which gave totally the wrong impression to travellers.

 

[Kite159]

Before e-Tickets those short farers would purchase beforehand tickets to bypass barriers at the destination station. Either online to collect from their home station (leaving a digital fingerprint) or when TVMs started offering the ability to buy from another station, using the TVM to change the origin to be the closest station (for example Finsbury Park - Kings Cross for a journey from Knebworth). I seem to recall at one point Southern disabling that function on their TVMs due to "misuse".

Those paper tickets would be hidden from view in the event revenue came round (unless the person was dumb enough to have it close by so the revenue inspector sees it)