yes he was an idiot for falling asleep, but why on earth did the guard not check?
Just seems totally stupid. Especially when you consider that the train would have been 4 carriages at most, likely less (so would only take a couple of minutes - if that).

Really?
So take the south wales valley lines, where a large number of the stops do not have any means of buying a ticket.
Are you really suggesting that a train full of passengers should all approach the guard at the same time in an attempt to buy a ticket?
Or, is it more sensible to do what ATW^▸ (Arriva Trains Wales (former TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company))) actually do, and just have the guard walking through the train selling tickets, and also have an excess fares window at Cardiff Central (and staff with ticket machines at Pontypridd and a couple of other barriered stations).
The same can be said for stations across Devon and Cornwall, where a large number of them do not offer ticket buying facilities.

(now, I know the above is not the case for the actual event that happened, but I am simply questioning your logic there).

Is there a booking fee for buying tickets with the app then? (As IIRC^▸ (if I recall/remember/read correctly) the trainline charge a booking fee don't they?).

Staff are not always correct (as this very thread shows), and the websites are not always correct either (or the staff do not believe the website is correct - theres a thread on another rail forum about someone who bought a ticket online but was told when travelling that it is not valid for his journey, even though they bought it from that ToCs website).

Out of curiosity, someone mentioned earlier that it is the customers responsibility to make sure they have the correct tickets. Maybe I am being naive, but how are the general public supposed to know? Most people don't even know what the routeing guide is (or that one exists), let alone able to work out if the ticket they have been sold (by someone who should know what is correct and what is not correct) is right or not.

So pretty similar then (although I think the actual distance is different in Wales, and last I heard people were starting to get rail passes to get to the school). I bet the services around the time school starts / finishes are a nightmare for staff!


Cheers. Been nosing around for a while .

Is that true in both England and Wales now?
Certainly wasn't the case in Wales when I was in school (only a few years ago).
Those who lived further than a certain distancea away (I think it was about 2 miles) had the option of the free school bus, but for those of us who lived just within the limit it was either walk (45/50 minutes in the belting down rain? No thanks) or get the train (^1 return if the guard came around - the stations are unmanned and have no ticket buying facilities).