Travelling without a ticket

[NotafanofGA]

Just a bit of a query really as I got nowhere when I asked greater anglia.

I had a few days break and decided to spend a few days in and around Cambridge.

Decided to spend a day in cambridge itself and bough a return ticket from the station close to the hotel I was staying in.

Bought it from the station as TBH, it’s a damn sight easier than the plethora of cheap ticket site that all cost more than the lady in the booking office!

No problems on the way outbound. Nice train, on time etc. (Northwest trains, take note!!!)

On the return journey from Cambridge the ticket needs to be presented at the station barrier for the barrier to open. Problem now is that the barrier decided to retain the ticket despite opening the barrier.

GA say this is OK but having read their terms of carriage and the terms of national rail. It would seem that, as I didn’t have a ticket, I could have been fined, issued a penalty fare etc.

Now I will say that despite my hatred of an inefficient rail service that cans train due to lack of staff, lack of rolling stock etc, I have always purchased a ticket. So I am not trying to get out of anything. I got off the train at my destination without hinderance. But the number of programmes showing fare dodging - how the heck could I have proved i did have a ticket? The odds are stacked against the paying traveller in this instance.

Has anyone else experienced this? I can’t be the only passenger that used Cambridge can I?

 

[speedy1]

Strange that the barrier ate the ticket. That's not normal. It normally only does that at the destination when it knows the ticket is spent.

Which exact ticket did you insert into the machine?

In the future, you should resolve the matter immediately with the staff on/near the gate. It is possible to retrieve the ticket from the machine. You would be traveling without a valid ticket, and subject to the penalties of doing so if caught

 

[Hadders]

I'm a little bit confused by your post. I think you're saying that your return journey started at Cambridge and the ticket barrier retained your ticket when you entered the station.

Have I got this right? If so that shouldn't have happened (sounds like the barrier misfunctioned) and you should've asked the staff at the barrier to extract the ticket from the barrier.

 

[saismee]

If so that shouldn't have happened (sounds like the barrier misfunctioned)

There is nowhere for the ticket to go after being inserted on the entry side (it's a keypad below the ticket transporter mechanism), so the ticket certainly should've come back out. The barriers usually don't open if a ticket gets jammed inside, so it's possible you may have just forgotten to pick it back up (this happens more than you'd expect). The barriers are programmed not to open until the passenger collects their ticket or a certain amount of time passes.

As for the email, I'm sure that the GA customer service person must have misunderstood your email as the barrier retaining the ticket when exiting the station, which is supposed to happen.

 

[NotafanofGA]

A bit of clarification.

it was using the return ticket where the concern began. To open the barrier the ticket was inserted. The barrier opened and the ticket was retained. Happened to both Me and the wife.

didnt query it at the time as I thought that was normal. However, seeing such programmes and news articles re fare evasion, I thought id delve a little further.

this was part of the reply from GA when I queried the retention of the ticket.

”You refer to the wording on our website and that of National Rail, which advises that passengers must retain their ticket while travelling and on railway premises. This requirement remains correct and is intended to ensure that passengers are able to present proof of their travel when requested and that their tickets should be kept safe.

However, the retention of tickets by automatic barriers does not place Greater Anglia in breach of these conditions. Automatic ticket barriers are programmed to retain certain tickets when the system determines that a specific portion of the journey has been completed or that the ticket has reached the end of its validity for that direction of travel”

So I take it that it’s normal to have the barrier retain the ticket and place the passenger in a situation that is actually quite precarious in terms of exposure to prosecution.

Still seems at odds to me.

 

[saismee]

However, the retention of tickets by automatic barriers does not place Greater Anglia in breach of these conditions. Automatic ticket barriers are programmed to retain certain tickets when the system determines that a specific portion of the journey has been completed or that the ticket has reached the end of its validity for that direction of travel”

So I take it that it’s normal to have the barrier retain the ticket and place the passenger in a situation that is actually quite precarious in terms of exposure to prosecution.

They have definitely misinterpreted your email. The ticket barriers are not able to retain a ticket when entering the station (to the platforms) when operating correctly.

 

[Hadders]

I suspect Greater Anglia have misinterpreted what you've said. Tickets should not be retained by barriers upon entry.

 

[Haywain]

Of course, buying at the station means you are more likely to get a piece of card as a ticket, which can then be retained by a barrier. If you bought online you'd likely get an eTicket, and most sites won't charge you any more than the station booking office.

 

[AlterEgo]

It might help if we are told the ticket type and origin and destination of the ticket, to see if it was valid. But it does seem unusual.

 

[WesternLancer]

It’s clear that a ticket should be retained until the journey is completed.
For inspection en route and to exit a barrier at the final destination should there happen to be one.

So either the barrier was malfunctioning or there was some sort of user error.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: Today at 00:25 ==

Of course, buying at the station means you are more likely to get a piece of card as a ticket, which can then be retained by a barrier. If you bought online you'd likely get an eTicket, and most sites won't charge you any more than the station booking office.

Tho increasingly ticket offices are now issuing paper tickets with bar / QR codes on them which don’t have to be inserted into ticket gates as of course I’m sure you know.

Not sure of the extent of the roll out of these tickets at booking offices across the country myself however.

 

[Haywain]

Tho increasingly ticket offices are now issuing paper tickets with bar / QR codes on them which don’t have to be inserted into ticket gates as of course I’m sure you know.

If course I know this but my comments are addressing the OP's circumstances on this occasion, and their apparent belief that all websites charge a premium for tickets