Didn't pay train fare!!!!

toffee'n'tom

arcon5 wrote: »

Oh my god... this thread is out of control!!! :O

For what it's worth op, i'd have done the same as you and don't think you have anything to feel bad about.
Whenever i've used a train with a ticket system at the station I have always taken a seat and waited for the conductor to come around - in fact most people i've seen do this.

I'm betting had you walked around the train looking for the conductor and fell or something when the train was moving you'd be met with responses along the lines of 'you should have been seated whilst the train was moving'.

It's made me laugh though

Stigy

Joe_Horner wrote: »

In which case the companies should ensure that there's a way for people to pay without having to go searching a moving train for someone who may, or may not, be there.

A passenger's job is to pay the fare and sit on the train. A train company's job is to collect the fare and drive it. If the companies cut their costs by skimping on the collection side then that really isn't the passnegers' problem any more than it's my customers' problem if I save money by not raising invoices.

As I said in my previous post, most times there ARE ample ticket purchasing facilities, and it's only more rural areas and/or those that are well documented that buying on board is permitted that have limited or no facilities.

Most rural areas and/or small branch lines (usually in the north of England and Scotland/Wales etc.) only consist of 1, 2 or 3 coach trains, and 'halt' style stations whereby it wouldn't be cost effective to have barriers or even ticket machines or ticket offices. I understand that some trains get very busy, but most of the time, is it really that difficult to locate a Guard on a 2 coach train which is more like a bus than a train?

photome

Stigy wrote: »

True in a lot of cases, but in general, there's ample ticket issuing facilities for it not to be an issue in an ideal world. I appreciate that it's different in the OP's part of the country, but that's not the same everywhere.

But we arent talking in general, the OP relates to one specific journey, so as said if the operating company wants all the 90p they should ensure they can collect

there should be no need to "locate" a guard, the guard should be locating the passenger

If it was like a bus the passengers would be paying the driver, train companies cant have it all ways

pinkteapot

TrickyWicky wrote: »

Next time go and find the conductor instead. They're always on the train so you've no excuse not to pay your fare.

I commute two hours a day by train and plenty of times there's no guard in my section of the train (they're split into four carriage blocks and you can't walk through from one set of four carriages to the next).

On my trains it's the driver that makes all the announcements so for all I know there isn't a guard in any of the 2-3 sets of carriages.

Stigy

photome wrote: »

But we arent talking in general, the OP relates to one specific journey, so as said if the operating company wants all the 90p they should ensure they can collect

there should be no need to "locate" a guard, the guard should be locating the passenger

If it was like a bus the passengers would be paying the driver, train companies cant have it all ways

My response was to Andygb and Joe Horner, both of whom were tarring the whole industry with the same brush so to speak, and weren't being specific to this case, hence my replies.

I'd be willing to bet that if Guards walked through EVERY train after EVERY stop, the punters would soon be whinging when asked more than once for their ticket because the Guard, like most of us, hasn't got a photographic memory and forgets who he's checked already!

Joe_Horner

Stigy wrote: »

My response was to Andygb and Joe Horner, both of whom were tarring the whole industry with the same brush so to speak

No I wasn't, I was commenting about the (specific) cases where the companies have chosen to reduce costs in this way. That only "tars the whole industry" insofar as it's the same companies cutting costs in these isolated cases as are running the rest of the industry.

photome

Stigy wrote: »

My response was to Andygb and Joe Horner, both of whom were tarring the whole industry with the same brush so to speak, and weren't being specific to this case, hence my replies.

I'd be willing to bet that if Guards walked through EVERY train after EVERY stop, the punters would soon be whinging when asked more than once for their ticket because the Guard, like most of us, hasn't got a photographic memory and forgets who he's checked already!

your replies are getting worse. Its now the "punters" (not passengers or customers) fault that there are no guards to collect fares

Livingthedream

arcon5 wrote: »

Oh my god... this thread is out of control!!! :O

Yes, the outrage bus is getting good mileage with this thread.

photome wrote: »

your replies are getting worse. Its now the "punters" (not passengers or customers) fault that there are no guards to collect fares

Revenue collection is only a small/minor part of a guard's job, their main responsibility is train safety. A lot of Train Companies now employ ticket examiners who are only concerned with revenue collection, but unfortunately most only work around Peak train hours.

Stigy

photome wrote: »

your replies are getting worse. Its now the "punters" (not passengers or customers) fault that there are no guards to collect fares

Please don't twist my words. I have not once blamed the customers, I'm stating that they would get the hump if the Guard asked them more than once for a ticket, which, from experience, they do. I am also not saying that there aren't Guards, because there are usually. I don't see that referring to them as punters is at all derogatory either. I have heard people mutter about such staff being jobsworths before.

As Livingthedream has said, ticketing is also only a small part of they Guard's role, as their main duty is for the safe operation of the train, and safe carriage of the passengers.

Zanzibar

Joe_Horner wrote: »

I think you'll find that Zanzibar's post was a p*sstake of Tricky's equally preachy post to the OP

Stop it! giving it away like that.... - I did love the indignant comments though..