I agree with the general consensus of the thread here. It is wrong to force a passenger to queue for 20 minutes+ (that is also being generous) when no previous opportunity existed beforehand.
There is a small trick that works, that by buying the ticket on the
FGW▸ App before travel or during travel. I have often found that by showing this to gateline staff and saying I need to collect, they'll let you out. I often do this where
BRI» is my interchange station and Frome's Ticket Machine is down. I would have no problem bringing the ticket back to the gateline for them to dispose of to show I was being honest.
There have sadly been occasions where I have arrived at BRI gateline and requested the purchase of a ticket and been told
NO but then they open the barrier and gesture you toward it to leave
It's a real sorry state of affairs actually, because as a passenger who makes mostly every effort to buy a ticket before travelling. When you come across those occasions where pre-purchasing is near to impossible or impractical and you receive the special
RPI▸ treatment. It really sucks.
For an idea a recent experience I had on ticketless travel. I recently had the pleasure of travelling on Southeastern Trains. I had started the journey from a penalty fares station but no facility existed.
When I arrived at an interchange station I discovered that ticket checks were being made on the platforms as opposed to the generic exit. A queue quickly formed and I was worried about missing my connection. So I decided to walk around it to explain I had no ticket, no oppertunity to buy one and that my connection was "Over there and leaving in 11 mintues" I then get told "Back in line, you've committed an offence!" blood boiled very quickly and I quoted
NRCoC▸ and was rudely interrupted and told I had committed travel fraud. Jokingly and perhaps foolishly I retorted "add it to the charge list then. I spilt coffee on the train, that comes under Soiling the railway in the NRCoC surely? and don't get me started on where the toilet waste goes!" The RPI then said, back of the line or I'll get the
BTP▸ to sort you out. I told them to do so because I wasn't going to tolerate being accused of travel fraud if I couldn't by a ticket in the bloody first place.
The RPI was taken aback by this, and said don't get smart because BTP are over there. Again I told them to carry on and I wasn't getting smart, I was already being smart. BTP were summoned over and I started explaining before the RPI could get a word in. Also quoted the relevant legislation in terms of ticketless travel. The RPI was visibly very angry now to which point she said I was using threatening behavior and was acting in a nervous and suspicious manner. At which point another passenger who boarded at the same station as I had, piped in and said "Excuse me, he has done nothing of the sort. Yes he looks a bit nervous but he's been like that ever since I saw him at the starting station"
BTP decided to take me to one side away from the RPIs. The copper then said, if anyone asks you said you needed to use the toilet and then I was distracted by a colleague and you sneaked onto that train over there. But of course I will deny any knowledge of that being the case and winked at me. I made that connection by 3 minutes. I wonder how many people would just accept it and missed the connection I wonder?
Ticketless travel that is the fault of the operators is a very ugly and difficult topic riddled with grey areas. Many won't argue. I can be extremely argumentative when I am portrayed to have done something wrong when that is simply not the case. In other words, I don't like being told I've done something wrong when I know for a clear fact that, that is not true
