South West Trains Penalty

geordieracer

sue12345 wrote: »

at least we get a seat and space on the plane

but planes do not oversell their seats.

How long do you want a train to be then? 1 mile - 2 miles - 3 miles long?

Commuters all get to the station at the same time for the same train to get into work at a certain time so you really think your going to get a seat? If your that desparate either leave earlier or later.

elfen

SWT run my local station. There isn't much of a chance that a cloning device could be put on them (considering they are checked regularly by station staff.....saw it being done this morning) Never had a problem with them either.

OP, when you get on a train without a ticket, aren't you meant to try and find the conductor (if there is one, and get one off them?) As that sounds the most logical thing to have done?

geordieracer

elfen wrote: »

OP, when you get on a train without a ticket, aren't you meant to try and find the conductor (if there is one, and get one off them?) As that sounds the most logical thing to have done?

Yes you are.. that way you avoid a fine because your being honest. If revenue protection people get on a train - said earlier - they work to different rules so will fine you if you have made no attempt to fine the guard to buy a ticket from him.

sue12345_2

i'm not suggesting we shouldn't buy a ticket. it's just frustrating that we pay so much for ticket, and don't seem to get much out of that. the inspector suggest that we should wait until there is a seat available (when?). maybe we should get to the station for 6am and leave work at 8pm, so that we can get a seat?
why do they have so many 1st class carriages (almost empty) when the rest of the train is completely packed?

sue12345_2

by the way, airline companies do overbook their seats. it happend to us before, and in fact, it was quite nice- we got free return flight, hotel and food. what do you get from train companies apart from the ever increase train price?
in fact, i work out the cost per mile for train is 0.27p per mile (for my ticket and distance), and my recent flight is 0.03p per mile...i'm sure the train fair is 'worth' it

geordieracer

sue12345 wrote: »

i'm not suggesting we shouldn't buy a ticket. it's just frustrating that we pay so much for ticket, and don't seem to get much out of that. the inspector suggest that we should wait until there is a seat available (when?). maybe we should get to the station for 6am and leave work at 8pm, so that we can get a seat?
why do they have so many 1st class carriages (almost empty) when the rest of the train is completely packed?

It is frustrating, yes, but unless you actually know how a railway works and the constraints on the network - especially in the south then its hard for people to understand why you dont get a seat. The 1st class section on most of the longer trains are there cos people DO want to pay for more leg room but they dont all get the trains as the same time as other commuters because they, in general, dont have to rush to work and can go at other times but because these trains have to have the carriages for the people who pay a 1st class fare this is why they look empty.

Now, the guard in these instances could release the 1st class carrages for standard class passengers, but they rarely do because if there are any 1st class passengers they will kick up a stink because they pay more to sit there then everyone else.

sue12345 wrote:

by the way, airline companies do overbook their seats. it happend to us before, and in fact, it was quite nice- we got free return flight, hotel and food. what do you get from train companies apart from the ever increase train price?
in fact, i work out the cost per mile for train is 0.27p per mile (for my ticket and distance), and my recent flight is 0.03p per mile...i'm sure the train fair is 'worth' it

I was unaware that they do this as i dont like flying. Bu ti bet you bought your ticket before you boarded the flight didnt you

And you will find that train prices will come down slightly in january - though not by much.

A railway is much more intensivley used then all the airports and aircraft in use in britain put together and to keep them running they use an awful amount of staff that work round the clock to make sure it works.. now where you live to london i dont know but i bet its more econmoical then driving

sue12345_2

i don't live far from london, i think it would be definitely be cheaper to drive to london if parking and traffic is not a problem.
i understand your work for a train company- i still remembered the way the inspector spoke to people in the train. he kept apologising to the precious 1st class customer every 2 mins for 'disturbing his journey'. i wonder if he would say the same if he was 'supposingly doing his job' in a standard carriage? sounds like standard class passengers don't even deserve a bit of respect from him
i'm not against 1st class carriage either, but wouldn't it make more sense to reduce the number of 1st class carriages when the train is completely packed? 30% of the trains i get is often allocated to 1st class. someone suggested no 1st class during peak hours, as like you say they don't necessarily need to travel at a specific time.
the inspector said that under 'exceptional circumstances', they release 1st class carriages (eg: train broke down), but when i asked again if that's ok to go to 1st class during 'exceptional circumstance', he said:i'm not suggesting anything. so does it mean again, it's our fault when the train broke down, late or too packed?

geordieracer

sue12345 wrote: »

i don't live far from london, i think it would be definitely be cheaper to drive to london if parking and traffic is not a problem.
i understand your work for a train company- i still remembered the way the inspector spoke to people in the train. he kept apologising to the precious 1st class customer every 2 mins for 'disturbing his journey'. i wonder if he would say the same if he was 'supposingly doing his job' in a standard carriage? sounds like standard class passengers don't even deserve a bit of respect from him
i'm not against 1st class carriage either, but wouldn't it make more sense to reduce the number of 1st class carriages when the train is completely packed? 30% of the trains i get is often allocated to 1st class. someone suggested no 1st class during peak hours, as like you say they don't necessarily need to travel at a specific time.
the inspector said that under 'exceptional circumstances', they release 1st class carriages (eg: train broke down), but when i asked again if that's ok to go to 1st class during 'exceptional circumstance', he said:i'm not suggesting anything. so does it mean again, it's our fault when the train broke down, late or too packed?

Congestion charge too unless you work outside it.

obviously i cant comment on that incident as i wasnt there nor do i work for SWT but does seem a bit daft.. Normally on SWT trains the 1st class is only part of a carriage with 1st class in a 4/5 car formation so i doubt its 30% of the train you get..

even though i work for a TOC i do understand peoples frustrations as i have to use another TOC myself but i will stick up for them because we all get a really rough time from people who expect a train when they want to travel and never look at how difficult the railways are to run smoothly...

And you should see the amount of abuse we get daily. If you think people on here are bad you wait to see the sh**t we get when its not even the station staffs fault... Its not on.

pinkshoes

geordieracer wrote: »

How f**king dare you say that they are SCUM. Your insulting me and all the people who work for them and all the people who pay for their ticket before they travel.

"Them" referred to the company and its ethics, not the people, so your post is a bit of an over-reaction.

Some companies respect their customers/employees more than others. You get very nice people working for companies that have lousy ethics. You shouldn't confuse a company with the (innocent) people who work for it.

geordieracer wrote: »

Pinkshoes - you talk a good game but your just another who thinks they can do what they like cos its the railways. You wouldbnt board a flight without a ticket swo why a train?

Planes make it easy to pay before hand, and you always get a seat! :rolleyes:

I once boarded a train without a ticket (no machine, unmanned), then as no one was checking tickets on the train, I purchased one at my destination station. I am not dishonest, so please don't accuse me of being so.

The OP had 100% intention of paying for their ticket, and offered to do so, so I think the treatment they got was unfair.

It's those who have no intention of paying for a ticket that should receive punishment, not honest folk.

I have very little respect for any train company who can't distinguish between an honest person and a cheat.

geordieracer

pinkshoes wrote: »

I have very little respect for any train company who can't distinguish between an honest person and a cheat.

with so many people evading fares it becomes very difficult to distinguish between these people. Let me inform yuo that my train company have caught lawyers and judges and people who work in the home office evading fares and have got a settlement from them all in the thousands of pounds so just how do you then determine who is genuine and who is not?

We hear the same stories every day from people who do it intentionally and unintentionally so how do then determine who is genuine and who is not? Those that participate in the penalty fare scheme make it clear, plain and simple - If you board a train without a ticket then you will get fined, unless there is no machine available...

soemtimes this goes a bit awry but i gaurantee you that if you worked in this business for a week you would see how difficult it is to separate who is genuine and who isnt..

If you want a seat get an earlier or later train.. they can only be so long and if everyone wants to go at the same time how do you stop that? I would love to hear your ideas on how to ease this congestion becuase its quite obvious that the people who have been dedicating the last 20 years of their life in finding a solution are obviously not as clever as you.