Northern Rail fair-dodge letter

pb8770

If you board without a ticket make sure you approach the conductor, like you said it was peak time so they can't get through to you so make sure you see them before you board

yorkie2

pb8770 wrote: »

It is being used under the 'conditions of carriage' it states if you board at a station where facilities are available to purchase tickets and if you choose to just board a train without queuing then you are breaking the conditions hence you could end up with a criminal record.

The NRCoC doesn't actually say that. It says if you board without a ticket, where ticket facilities were avialable, you will be asked to pay the full single or return fare.

Northern are not sticking to the NRCoC, but going well beyond it, and using the full force of the law.

arcon5

yorkie2 wrote: »

That's poor advice, as deliberately leaving without paying, when there was the facility to pay, could lead to a criminal record.

Aye and the alternative being treated like a criminal and them attempting to extort money out of you, despite the fact it was her who pro-actively tried to obtain a ticket at the next available opportunity.

greyville

pb8770 wrote: »

As a conductor, the person who is accusing her of fare dodging is in fact issuing a failure to purchase notice. Northern have introduced the 'failure to purchase' because there is obviously a lot of fare evasion through out the network. It is being used under the 'conditions of carriage' it states if you board at a station where facilities are available to purchase tickets and if you choose to just board a train without queuing then you are breaking the conditions hence you could end up with a criminal record.
I understand it must be frustrating when you turn up at a station and the queue is 5 miles long, rather than be put in that position and you know you are travelling Mon-Fri then buy 5 days worth of tickets on a Sunday when its quiet, or if that isn't possible due to not being open on Sundays buy 5 days worth off the conductor, he/she will be quite happy to sell you 5 days worth, it'll be easier and more convenient, however if you are buying 5 days worth it'll be more cost effective buying a weekly.

I appreciate you input, but what you said completely contradicts Northern Rail's own passenger charter.

XR221

She needs to give full details and explanation of exactly what happened. She should explain the time and place of her contact and describe the member of staff at Chorley who gave her permission to travel without a ticket.
She should explain what, if anything, she did to find a conductor whilst on the train. Was there a reason that she didn't or couldn't find the conductor or maybe why the conductor didn't do a 'walk through' ? i.e. if the train was so packed that nobody could move through from carriage to carriage, including the conductor.
She should explain exactly what happened at Preston, why she didn't use the main exit, why she approached a member of staff herself and exactly where this happened, and what was said, etc.
She appears to have made an offer to pay the fare at Preston - how did she make this offer? Did she offer payment without any prompting or request from the member of staff and was this refused/ignored?
If all is exactly as you have been told and the staff member refused to accept payment for a ticket at Preston, she should also offer to make payment for a full single fare in writing.
To support her explanation she should also refer them to their own CCTV records at each station and on the train, from which they should be able to confirm her story if they need to.
Was she alone or with somebody else that may be able to also corroborate her version of events?
If any part of her story at Chorley or Preston is untrue then she should get proper legal advice before responding.
Keep a copy of all correspondence.