No ticket - criminal record

geordie_taxi · 19 January 2013 at 11:47PM

Stigy wrote: »

lol, says he who can't string a sentence together. Anyway, let's not feed the trolls.

i know. thats why i didn't bother to reply to barbarawrights post

jblack_2 · 20 January 2013 at 6:14PM

Have to say I find it hard to believe they weren't given an Unpaid Fares Notice first:cool:.

As for the comments about lazy guards:rotfl::rotfl:. They're not called Ticket Sellers, some are called Ticket Inspectors though. Others are Train Managers whose primary role is passenger safety.

The best thing anyone could do in this situation is go and find the 'guard' rather than waiting for them to find you.

pc1271 · 20 January 2013 at 7:19PM

Techno wrote: »

Every train I have been on, (Arriva mainly but also Virgin) the guard has trotted down the carriage asking to see tickets after each station and selling to those who haven't got one. I always thought you were allowed to buy a ticket on a train - I didn't realise you had to go and find the guard to do so - is it not their job to make sure you have a valid ticket? (and before I am shouted at, I always buy my tickets in advance but have seen others buying in this way)

I have bought tickets on the train before, and have seen many do the same - surely that's why the inspectors carry the ticket machines with them?! If there are special rules on some trains/routes, how on earth is a passenger to know? Incidentally, the same goes for off-peak tickets - Despite trying quite hard, I've never been able to find out which trains I can travel on with an off-peak ticket - nothing on the ticket, in the station, online...

If she was was planning to buy a ticket on the train, there was no intent to defraud. I am very surprised they went straight for the courts.

pc1271 · 20 January 2013 at 7:20PM

In London Victoria, there are also ticket booths on the platform so you can buy your ticket after getting off the train - something else I've done before when the machine at my station was out of order.

blossomhill_2 · 20 January 2013 at 9:19PM

One of my relatives had this - it went straight to court rather than via an Unpaid Fare Notice - they plead guilty rather than attend court, due to stress.
It shows up on CRB checks as they now wish they had gone to court and contested it, but the court was obviously unimpressed that the train company had gone straight to court and only awarded it £6!

Stigy · 21 January 2013 at 5:23PM

blossomhill wrote: »

One of my relatives had this - it went straight to court rather than via an Unpaid Fare Notice - they plead guilty rather than attend court, due to stress.
It shows up on CRB checks as they now wish they had gone to court and contested it, but the court was obviously unimpressed that the train company had gone straight to court and only awarded it £6!

The award would have been the compensation, which is the cost of the ticket, hence the strange price. That's all they'd be entitled to regardless of the situation as long as it was a revenue matter (there'd be no compensation in other, non-ticket matters unless they can evidence the cost of train delays if relevant etc). They'd still have gained their costs back, and your relative would have had to also pay a fine. In total, the day would have probably cost them around £506 I'd imagine!

cosmojohnson · 21 January 2013 at 7:44PM

Techno wrote: »

I always thought you were allowed to buy a ticket on a train - I didn't realise you had to go and find the guard to do so - is it not their job to make sure you have a valid ticket?

The guard's job is primarily to assist with the safe operation of the train, they will check/issue tickets if they are able.

You are allowed to buy on the train, but only if there are no facilities at the start of your journey to do so (e.g. if only ticket machine was out of order and ticket office shut, totally unstaffed station with no machine etc.) It is the passenger's obligation to buy a ticket before they start a journey - train companies like Northern are cracking down on this now.

geordie_taxi · 22 January 2013 at 12:20AM

blossomhill wrote: »

only awarded it £6!

thats why the train companies like to settle out of court. easy money a lot more than they wud get from a court room

hence why revenue managers put pressure on their staff to issue these penalty fares/reports hoping to extort monies out of unfortunate passengers who for them the risk of a criminal record is to high

easy money = bigger profits = happy shareholders. its one big cash cow scam

rdwarr · 22 January 2013 at 6:53PM

Nobody said there was a guard on the train in the first place.

want2Bdebtfree · 27 January 2013 at 11:09PM

I travelled without a ticket 25 yrs ago as a student. it was the first and only time I did it but was taken to court, admitted that I did not purchase a ticket was fined had my railcard taken away and have a criminal record for it. However, it has not prevented me from travelling abroad or getting a job or promotion. I do declare it on application forms, although I have not been to America. I was stupid and have had to pay the consequences. I still have not told my parents!!!