What happens if you don't buy a ticket and aren't offered one by a guard?

kashkarena

depends on his conscience i guess.

Naf

geordie_taxi wrote: »

from the conditions of carriages



oh dear im sorry to correct u but it seems that u can travel by train without a ticket and its not illegal.

The excerpt you quote clearly states that you do need to purchase a ticket. But if your departure station has no facilities then you are still entitled to discounts like railcards.

LexyBoy

geordie_taxi wrote: »

from the conditions of carriages



oh dear im sorry to correct u but it seems that u can travel by train without a ticket and its not illegal.

Boarding a train without a valid ticket, or failing to show a valid ticket when asked by an inspector, is most definitely illegal. This is in Railway Byelaw 18. The only exception is when there was no way of buying a ticket at the station you started your journey.

The Conditions of Carriage are not the law, they lay out the terms of the contract you enter into when you buy a ticket. No ticket means they are not applicable- that said the policy of most companies is to sell a full price ticket as described, unless they suspect fare evasion. There are two exceptions who have got a taste for court and are taking anyone without a ticket to court: FCC and Northern.

I would very strongly advise against boarding one of these company's trains without a ticket, unless you can't buy one (queues are no excuse in the eyes of the Revenue Protection Department). Other companies will sell you a ticket or a PF as long as you don't try and avoid paying (by jumping the barriers or walking out the station past a ticket office).

geordie_taxi

Naf wrote: »

The excerpt you quote clearly states that you do need to purchase a ticket. But if your departure station has no facilities then you are still entitled to discounts like railcards.

u didnt say that in ur post. u stated

Naf wrote: »

It's pretty black and white that its illegal to travel without a ticket, so go figure.

so following the national rail conditions of carriage and verified by stigy below in his post. i will go figure that it is perfectly legal to board a train travel to ur destination and pay for a ticket there. in theory ur journey was done without a ticket but was legal it only becomes illegal if u have the intent thereafter to avoid paying

Stigy wrote: »

You're only allowed to buy on the train depending on the TOC's policy (eg if they operate Penalty Fares etc), if there's no facilities to buy a ticket, be it due to the area (Some companies let you buy on board as the majority of their stations don't have ticket offices or machines)

geordie_taxi

LexyBoy wrote: »

Boarding a train without a valid ticket, or failing to show a valid ticket when asked by an inspector, is most definitely illegal. This is in Railway Byelaw 18. The only exception is when there was no way of buying a ticket at the station you started your journey.

strange on the trains i traveled on quite recently the conductor was quite happy to sell tickets (off peak tickets) to passengers some who had boarded at stations with ticket offices but no barriers instead of prosecuting via a byelaw perhaps its good customer services or a commission thing

LexyBoy wrote: »

The Conditions of Carriage are not the law, they lay out the terms of the contract you enter into when you buy a ticket.

but they do spell it out when and where u buy tickets and when it is legal to board a train without a ticket im sure a court of law wud uphold it as evidence

Naf

geordie_taxi wrote: »

but they do spell it out when and where u buy tickets and when it is legal to board a train without a ticket im sure a court of law wud uphold it as evidence

Think of a restaurant. The law says its illegal to avoid paying for the food you eat - that would be theft. But it's down to the terms of the specific restaurant whether you pay for it before eating or after.
The law says you must pay for the journey you make, when & where you can purchase that ticket is dependant on the railways CoC. It is your responsibility to ensure you have a vaild ticket for each part of your journey - that means it is not the conductor's responsibility to find you, but your responsibility to find him if you have not purchased a ticket before boarding.

martindow

This thread

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4516359

is about someone who jumped on a train without a ticket because of the booking office queue, offered to pay at the destination and then had problems. They probably wish they had jumped over a fence.

StuC75

Most of that post & problems are what other posters are guessing at.. They bought a ticket at the destination point for exit via the barriers (something many stations have - so must be a legal thing to do! or why else would they have that facility).

This post is different in that they avoided the barrier system rather than presenting themselves to make a payment.

martindow wrote: »

This thread

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4516359

is about someone who jumped on a train without a ticket because of the booking office queue, offered to pay at the destination and then had problems. They probably wish they had jumped over a fence.

rdwarr

If there was CCTV of him jumping the fence he could be in trouble for that, regardless of evading the fare. Hopefully it's not a station he frequents.

Fishingtime

First he should have been put up against a wall and shot.
Then British rail police should have come around and arrested you, until you paid for the ticket