Train fine.. help 🙏

andrewash316_2

Afternoon, 

I commute regularly for work via the lovely train operator Northern and Transpenine express.. (aside from their company called constantly delays and cancellations. )

Today I've been issued with a £112 fine.
I've booked a train ticket via train line for a return,  I let Trainline work it's magic and thought it has booked me a split ticket anytime return. So I've jumped on my train and my ticket has been rejected because it was for a specific train.. so I 100% take ownership of this it was a mistake on my part all but one part of my ticket says anytime which I hadn't noticed.
I was very polite and a little embarrassed, offered to rebuy the ticket and they refused, I offered to get off the train and wait for the one which the ticket was valid on.. they again refused and would not allow me to leave at the next stop. They just jumped straight to your getting a fine with no consideration! 
I get people do chance not buying tickets but I had everything and frankly the outcome is harsh! And £112 is far more than I can afford at the moment in time. 

Has any one else been in this situation and appealed their fines or even had it reduced. I get it's an honest mistake on my part but not to consider other options before just issuing a fine is just ridiculous.

GingerTim

You may want to visit https://www.railforums.co.uk/forums/disputes-prosecutions.152/ for some expert advice on your situation.

giraffe69

Have you really been issued with a fine? Only a court can issue one. Are Northern saying they will settle this for £112 without having to go to court? I appreciate the setback to your wallet is unchanged though! If this is correct it is likely a visit will prove more expensive if you are found guilty.

daveyjp

It will be a £100 penalty plus the cost of a valid ticket.

Trainline is generally a poor option to buy tickets (use a train operating comlany website or app) and their split ticket system is terrible.

It is an unfortunate fact of life that making it so easy to buy split tickets will result in these errors as the UK railway ticketing is complicated.  Buyers generally will have no idea why the tickets are the price they are, they only see the cheaper price so click "buy" and assume they have purchsed what they wanted,

Its similar to the airline ticket sites that offer cheap long haul tickets using 'self transit' and failing to tell buyers what that actually means and the potential consequences if things go wrong.