UK: Penalised train passengers fight ticketing rules

[John Ashworth]

Penalised train passengers fight ticketing rules

Rail fines and prosecutions handed out in spite of passengers buying a ticket are being questioned following consumer anger

Miles Brignall
guardian.co.uk, Friday 18 May 2012 23.01 BST

Rail passengers threatened with fines and even prosecution by train guards – despite buying a ticket – have called on the rail passenger watchdog to challenge their legality amid growing consumer anger.

Guardian Money has been contacted by rail passengers who boarded the "wrong" train on the advice of platform staff, only for the guard to insist that, rather than upgrading their fare, they must buy a new ticket costing in some cases hundreds of pounds.

Next week consumer watchdog Passenger Focus will publish a report calling for a change in the way train companies treat passengers, following a spate of incidents reported in Guardian Money. Passenger Focus will argue that the way passengers buy tickets has changed dramatically in recent years and the rules need to be updated. It is also expected to say train staff have to start taking a more common-sense approach to people who have bought tickets and have simply made a mistake. So far it has ruled out a legal challenge.

Currently if you have an advance ticket to, say, Newcastle and are booked on a certain train, the ticket is only valid for that service. If, say, your baby was sick all over you as you were due to leave, forcing you to get a later train, the guard can make you buy a new ticket – even if the train is empty.

In other cases, passengers on the right train but who were unable to show a ticket or a railcard left at home – but have proof of purchase – complained they were treated as though they were fare evaders, and in some cases threatened with prosecution.

Regular train users have questioned the legality of these "penalties" and asked whether their validity should be challenged in the courts.

Guardian Money was recently contacted by GC from London. Wanting to travel from Gloucester to Manchester last December, he'd bought a ticket using thetrainline.com. When he arrived at the station he found he had mistakenly clicked the "print at home" box and couldn't pick up the tickets. A call to thetrainline was useless, but as he had a copy of the ticket (as a PDF) on his iPhone, ticket staff advised him to talk to the ticket inspector when the Cross Country train arrived.

"The ticket inspector told me to simply get on the train and he would sort it on board. I said I didn't want to travel if this would get me in trouble and would rather buy a new ticket but he insisted it would be fine," he says.

The guard issued him a new ticket and said he had to write a report as a matter of course but it was unlikely anything would happen. But in February he received a letter from Transport Investigations (which acts on Cross Country's behalf) accusing him of travelling without a valid ticket and threatening prosecution.

"I wrote back explaining what happened, and sent a copy of my ticket and booking reference emails etc. The company replied suggesting it was the passenger's responsibility to pay the fare due and show a valid ticket when asked. A few weeks later it sent me a court summons to appear at Gloucester magistrates court."

Ironically, had he bought the ticket from Cross Country Train's website he could have elected to have had it sent directly to his phone. Money intervened on his behalf, and the case was dropped his week, but he says the matter was hugely stressful and time consuming. "I could understand it if I hadn't bought a ticket, but I had – and could show I had," he said.

Lucy Horitz, who works for the Cricket Foundation in London, wrote about two contrasting experiences. She and a colleague recently travelled on East Coast Trains from Newark to London. They bought advance singles for the lunchtime train for £29.50 and £19.45 with a young person's railcard.

"At Newark station, we found ourselves 20 minutes early and discovered that there was another East Coast train departing at 11.54am. The guard on the station said that it would be fine for us to get on this train," she says.

On board, however, another guard took a different view and insisted the pair buy two anytime single tickets at £74.50 each. She refused to let them pay the difference of an off-peak day single (£46.40) and wouldn't take into account the railcard, or that they had been advised it would be OK at the station.

"We are not cheats – we are regular ticket-buyers who had been ill-advised. The train we got on was 80% empty, so we weren't taking a seat from another paying customer. Throughout, the behaviour of the guard was appalling. In the course of discussions with us she became rude and raised her voice unnecessarily, leaning over my colleague threateningly. I think she was just using it as an excuse to get a commission on the new fare," she says.

Horitz, however, recorded a much happier experience using Chiltern Railways. She missed a pre-booked train to Birmingham by two minutes. She was delighted when a staff member stamped her tickets and allowed her to catch the following train – proof she says it can be done.

Then there was KC of London. She arrived at King's Cross to take an East Coast train to Dundee. The ticket printing machine wasn't working. Platform staff advised her to board the train, but the guard gave her an unpaid fares notice of £162.50. When she appealed, East Coast apologised but incredibly refused a refund, until Money intervened.

Following that case we were contacted by other readers questioning the legality of the train company's stance. They point to banks, which for years argued that overdraft and late payment penalties were sacrosanct, but which were then legally challenged. Train penalties could and should face the same scrutiny, they argued.

Anthony Smith, Passenger Focus's chief executive, says his report next Tuesday will back up these cases with others, and call for a change in the rules governing ticketing – some of which stem as far back as 1889.

"Too many passengers who bought tickets but made an innocent mistake are being treated as though they had no intention to buy a ticket. We believe this is wrong and we will be pressing the train companies to take a more common-sense approach. The way people buy and use tickets has changed radically and rules governing their use are badly in need of an overhaul."

He said he opposed a legal challenge but didn't rule out an appeal to the rail regulator adding: "This is a battle we will win."

A spokeswoman for the Association of Train Operating Companies said: "Train companies do their best to take a firm but fair approach to fare dodging. However, we understand that people make innocent mistakes and we are reviewing our approach so that, wherever possible, passengers aren't unfairly penalised."

[John Ashworth]

Fare dodging net snares innocent passengers, warns rail watchdog

Train companies accused of criminalising people who make an innocent mistake and issuing disproportionate penalties

Gwyn Topham, transport correspondent
The Guardian, Tuesday 22 May 2012

Train companies are making passengers pay disproportionate penalties for having the wrong ticket and criminalising people who have no intention of dodging fares, a government watchdog has warned.

According to Passenger Focus, draconian enforcement by revenue collectors is putting people who make an innocent mistake into the same group as those who deliberately avoid paying.

Mike Hewitson, head of policy at the government-funded consumer body for the railways, said: "If you set out to not pay deliberately you deserve what you get; we all pay for people who fare dodge. But too many innocent people are being scooped up into the net. And the powers are totally out of proportion to the offence."

The watchdog says it has received 400 complaints this year from passengers who say they have been unjustly fined or even pursued through the courts for forgetting railcards, losing tickets they could prove they had purchased or travelling on the wrong train. Hewitson said: "Coupled with the fact we have a fares structure that doesn't make it easy to get it right, you ought to have a procedure in place that allows a little discretion."

It believes there is a greater, more willing use of the powers train operators have to impose penalties, which used to be employed only in cases of deliberate or repeated attempts to defraud.Examples collected by Passenger Focus include a man who forgot to print his tickets but was advised to board by the train conductor on showing his email confirmation, yet subsequently received a court summons for not having a valid ticket. A femalea passenger who forgot to bring the railcard she used to reduce a £14 advance fare to under £10 and was issued a penalty fare for £260 (twice the most expensive peak fare for that journey), despite being able to prove she did have a railcard.

Two elderly, disabled passengers who travelled home on an earlier train than booked after an accident, believing the train operator would understand their circumstances, were issued with a notice for £239 unpaid fares.

Passenger Focus said a growing proportion of correspondence, 13% last year, was from people protesting about penalties. It is calling on train operating companies to publish transparent accounts of how many people they fine.

Hewitson questioned whether current practice was purely a deterrent or partly revenue-raising. He said: "This is 400 people who've been unfairly treated, who have been found guilty in court of a criminal offence, or been asked for hundreds of pounds. The cost of getting it wrong is huge now."

The watchdog wants the train operators to introduce a code of practice with clear and consistent guidelines on how passengers who board without a valid ticket should be dealt with. It believes passengers should not face a criminal prosecution without proof of intent to defraud, and is asking for greater flexibility where a passenger can prove they bought a valid ticket but cannot produce the ticket when required.

Anthony Smith, chief executive of Passenger Focus, said: "They should be given a second chance. Passengers, when boarding a train, are entering a minefield of rules and regulations, some dating back to Victorian times."

The Association of Train Operating Companies said: "We recognise the concerns raised by the report and are already working on an industry-wide code of practice that will set out how operators deal with fare dodgers and where discretion can be shown for passengers who have made an honest mistake.

"Train companies need to take a firm but fair approach to fare dodging because unfortunately there will always be people who try to get away without paying."

The minister for railways, Norman Baker, said the report was worrying and added: "It is in the interests of train operating companies that passengers are confident in what they are buying."

Case study

Hamid Kennedy, economic consultant, 38, St Albans: "This week as normal I bought a weekly travel ticket from St Albans to Farringdon, London. On return to St Albans I went through showing my ticket accompanied by my photo ID card. The attendant stopped me; I obligingly showed my ticket and photo ID thinking there must have been a mistake, knowing that my ticket was in date and valid. The attendant informed me that I had failed to manually write in my photo ID card number and I would be issued a penalty fare of £20. If I refused to pay I would have to go to court and could be banned from travelling on First Capital Connect. I was sorely tempted but in the end I simply paid the fine. A large number of my fellow commuters with fully paid up tickets were also issued with a penalty fare for the same transgression. I have had an identical ticket checked on the train in the last month (also without photo ID written on the ticket) and there was no problem."


Train passengers getting unfair treatment, report says

22 May 2012 Last updated at 02:55 GMT BBC

Rail passengers are receiving unfair treatment for making innocent mistakes with their tickets, according to a watchdog.

A report by Passenger Focus said passengers were getting caught up in a "minefield of rules and regulations".

Two elderly passengers had to pay £239 for boarding an earlier train after one fell over and was in pain, it said.

But the Association of Train Operating Companies said the majority of passengers had no problems.

'Not fair'

Passenger Focus chief executive Anthony Smith said: "Passengers deserve a fair hearing. If they have forgotten their railcard, lost one of their tickets but have proof of purchase or have been unable to pick up booked tickets, they should be given a second chance.

"Train companies cannot continue to treat some of their customers like this - 'one strike and you are out' is simply not fair."

The report said some passengers faced fines for forgetting tickets even though they could provide proof of purchase, while others faced criminal prosecution for mistakes because of strict regulations.

Other cases mentioned in the report included:

- A man who received a court summons for not having a valid ticket despite having an email confirmation of his purchase. He had forgotten to print the ticket after choosing the print-at-home option.

- A woman who was threatened with prosecution when she could not produce her full ticket despite having proof of purchase and the return half of the ticket. She was forced to pay £92 to "settle".

- A woman who bought an advance ticket for a long-distance journey using a railcard and was issued a penalty fare for £260 after she forgot her railcard. She had only been given a £4 reduction with the railcard and was willing to prove that she owned one after the event, she still incurred the fine.

- A woman who was unable to pick up her booked tickets from a ticket machine and was given a UFN (Unpaid fares notice) of £239 for boarding the train without a valid ticket. Her appeal was rejected even though she was advised to board the train using her email confirmation and was able to collect the tickets at the end of her journey.

- A woman who left her £2 ticket behind on board a train and could not produce it at the ticket check and was offered an "out-of-court" settlement if she paid £85. She had previously had it checked on board the train and had no previous record of ticketless travel.

A spokesman for the Association of Train Operating Companies said: "We recognise the concerns raised by the report and are already working on an industry-wide code of practice that will set out how operators deal with fare dodgers and where discretion can be shown for passengers who have made an honest mistake.

"The overwhelming majority of the three million people who travel by train every day get the right ticket for their journey with no problems whatsoever."

Rail Minister Norman Baker said passengers had the right for rules to be "consistently applied across all operators", and it was "worrying" if this was not the case.

"It is in the interests of train operating companies that passengers are confident in what they are buying", he added.