£5k ticket holder fined for missing one stop
A COMMUTER who pays £4,500 for a rail season ticket was ‘fined’ after falling asleep on his train home and waking up at the next station, four minutes away.
Graphic designer Neil Armstrong awoke seconds after his stop and was told to pay the full fare despite pleading with an inspector.
He has had an annual season ticket from London Victoria to Barming, Kent, for 25 years, which he believes has cost him more than £80,000. But after waking as the train pulled away towards Maidstone East the inspector told him he had to pay a £19.10 fine. This was despite the married father of three offering to pay the difference in fare between Barming and Maidstone.
Mr Armstrong, 46, eventually paid but lodged an appeal with Southeastern. This was rejected and he was told to pay a further £21.80. He said: ‘I feel totally let down by its pettiness. I thought common sense would prevail but it didn’t. They just said I had to pay the rest of the fine and that if I didn’t, I could be liable for a £1,000 fine or prison – I couldn’t believe it.
It was only after Mr Armstrong re-lodged his appeal and Southeastern was contacted by a local newspaper that it performed a Uturn and accepted the appeal.