Help please: Train fine appeal

kattybunny

Hi, I have just been rejected my appeal for train fine. Just wondering if there is anything else I can do?

I'm a university student and recently just moved into halls in Ormskirk, so i don't know the area very well). I got a train from Ormskirk to Liverpool. I presumed that I could pay for the ticket on the train (as it has a similar set up to the train station back in my home town, which allows you to pay on the train)
When i got to the other end, I obviously had no ticket, I searched for a Merseyside rail employee to tell them that I hadn't paid for a ticket ( ticket price is about £2.20... so it's not like I was trying to get away with anything!)

He gave me a £20 fine, I know it's not much, but as a university student, I'm not the richest at the minute!

In my appeal I wrote that I've recently moved to Ormskirk and didn't know the area well and that I obviously wasn't trying to get away with it as I went to find someone to help.

Should I just pay the fine or is there anything else I could do ??

Thanks a lot,
Katrina.

Quentin

Pay up .

(The only alternative is to let them take you to (county) court, where if they win you will have to pay their costs and the court fees as well as the £20). Then if you don't pay you end up with a ccj on your record - just not worth it!

Livingthedream

Good old Merseyrail, they love their penalty fare policy and unfortunately you have fall foul of it, IIRC there's 2 way to see if your penalty fare can be made invalid.

1. If the ticket office was closed and the ticket vending machine not working, this one's very hard to prove after the event, sorry. But you might have something to prove it.
2. The other is a technicality, was the penalty fare notice filled out correctly; ie It must show the authorised collector’s name and identity, your correct details, the details of the journey you have taken and how much you have paid. Sometimes the inspector makes a mistake, if there is any mistakes then the penalty fare is invalid.

The other point is, that when you got the penalty fare did you pay the £2.20 single fare? the reason I ask is that if you did, this proves that you are not a 'fare dodger' therefore, the train company can't prove 'there was an intent to avoid payment'. Which means the penalty fare will be handled as a civil debt and not as a criminal offence, the train company will have to sue you for their £20 which isn't cost effective.

Quentin

Livingthedream wrote: »

The other point is, that when you got the penalty fare did you pay the £2.20 single fare? the reason I ask is that if you did, this proves that you are not a 'fare dodger' therefore, the train company can't prove 'there was an intent to avoid payment'. Which means the penalty fare will be handled as a civil debt and not as a criminal offence, the train company will have to sue you for their £20 which isn't cost effective.

A penalty fare is either £20 or twice the fare (whichever is the greater).

You don't also have to pay the fare.

And they can't turn it into a criminal "fine", or take you to the criminal court (magistrates) over it. (Unless you lie about your identity to them).

Livingthedream

Quentin wrote: »

A penalty fare is either £20 or twice the fare (whichever is the greater).

You don't also have to pay the fare.

Your right you don't have to pay the fare, but if you do, it makes it impossible for the Train company to prosecute under a railway byelaw for fare dodging.

Quentin wrote: »

And they can't turn it into a criminal "fine", or take you to the criminal court (magistrates) over it. (Unless you lie about your identity to them).

A well known course of action for the Train company, for non payment of a Penalty fare is not to chase it through a small claims court but to cancel the penalty fare and prosecute under a Railway byelaw 18.1 or Railways act 1889 for fare dodging, which is a criminal offence.