A rail jobsworth demanded I pay a £20 fine...but what could I do?
RAIL travellers have turned to the internet to air grievances about penalties for not having valid tickets. This follows last week’s complaint by consumer group Passenger Focus that train companies are acting harshly and unfairly.
Passenger Focus received 400 complaints from passengers stung by fines that they felt were undeserved last year.
But it believes it is only the tip of the iceberg and that thousands are affected. It is calling for the system to be overhauled, saying travellers are being wrongly forced to pay large penalties because they fear prosecution.
After the report was published, travellers used consumer websites to highlight cases where they believed they had been wrongly penalised.
It is hoped this will raise pressure on the Association of Train Operating Companies. The association is drawing up a code of conduct for ticket inspectors that may be introduced next year.
Until then travellers need to plan well ahead with a clear understanding of the ticket rules and their appeal rights.
Personal stylist Brittany Green, 24, of Stoke Newington, north London, was hit with a £20 penalty for making a £2.30 journey from Stoke Newington to London Liverpool Street without a ticket on London Overground in March.
She says: ‘The ticket machine was broken and there was no one at the office – all I could do was hop on the train and pay at the other end. I was greeted by a real jobsworth who insisted I pay a £20 penalty. I was really upset, but what could I do?
‘The same thing had happened less than a week before, but a different inspector had accepted my explanation and I just bought a ticket. It is the inconsistency that really makes me angry.’
Passenger Focus believes Brittany is far from alone in her experience. Many passengers say they mislaid tickets but had booking confirmation receipts on them and were allowed on trains by understanding inspectors – but were later stung with a penalty by an officious colleague on board.
Mike Hewitson, head of policy at Passenger Focus, says: ‘No one wants fare dodgers, but passengers deserve a fair hearing.
‘Rail providers are threatening passengers with £1,000 penalties, even if there was no intent to defraud. Innocent passengers are simply intimidated into paying up.’
Under the 1889 Regulation of Railways Act, anyone without a ticket – attempting fare evasion – may be fined up to £1,000. If they are involved in ticket fraud, they can be jailed for up to three months.
Many train companies, such as East Coast Trains and Virgin Trains, demand that passengers must pay the peak fare if they do not have a ticket.
Commuter lines into London such as First Capital Connect, Southern Railways, Southeastern Railway, South West Trains and London Overground usually fine passengers £20.
But they can instead be charged twice the single fare to the next station if that is more than £20. A new ticket for the rest of the journey must be bought.
Passenger Focus says passengers should contact the train company to appeal against fares or penalties they feel are unjustified. Penalty fare appeals must be lodged within 21 days to the train company, but with a peak fare penalty, passengers must pay up within ten days and only then can they make an appeal. If they are not happy with the outcome, they should contact Passenger Focus.
In all cases it is a legal requirement to give your name and address to the ticket inspector when asked.
Train companies estimate that as much as five per cent of the 3.3million journeys made every day on the network are by passengers who have not paid. This costs the industry more than £190million a year.
A spokesman for the Association of Train Operating Companies says: ‘We are drawing up a code of conduct to ensure innocent passengers who are fined are dealt with in a more consistent and transparent manner. But we also want to ensure that fare dodgers are caught.’