Fare Striker Threatened With Prosecution

[whole diary]

[Lee]

Quote from the MTLS^▸ (More Train Less Strain) forum :

A fare striker travelling from Bristol to Oxford had her name taken when she reached Oxford and has now received a letter asking her to pay above the odds for her ticket plus an admin fee or  face prosecution.
Have any of the other hundreds of people who had their names taken receievd one of these letters?

[Shazz]

About time.

[Jim]

As Mr. 12hours sunday pointed out, someone will end up with egg on there face, and it won't be first!

[vacman]

There is some justice then! Hope they take that individual to the cleaners and set the standard for a future fare strike, they can't say that they weren't warned before hand, it was doing the rounds on the forums for months before!!

[Graz]

Hopefully FGW^▸ (First Great Western) will be lambasted on the media or even taken to court, as it's very unfair to critisise an individual and let others get away with it.

[vacman]

Hopefully FGW^▸ (First Great Western) will be lambasted on the media or even taken to court, as it's very unfair to critisise an individual and let others get away with it.

How can FGW be taken to court? THEY'RE^▸ (Religious Education) THE ONES ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE LAW!!

[Graz]

If they were on the 'right side' of the law, everyone who 'broke the law' should have been prosecuted, not just an individual. It's not right or ethical to pick and choose someone at random where thousands followed suit.

[dog box]

thousands followed suit??.thought it was a hundred or so

[Jim]

If they were on the 'right side' of the law, everyone who 'broke the law' should have been prosecuted, not just an individual. It's not right or ethical to pick and choose someone at random where thousands followed suit.

Same said for most things though, some just get caught by the wrong people at a guess. It is fair though, they have the right to do it to anyone they want!

[mada]

I wonder whether she was counted as a fare dodger rather than striker as Ox-Rail agreed not to participate in the protest. I haven't received anything yet and I think if I do I'll probably pay it. It was really about making a point rather than breaking the law.

[Chris from Nailsea]

I think I'm probably going to regret posting this, but here goes, anyway ...

I agree with mada - this lady travelled from Bristol to Oxford: against the flow, so to speak, of the well-publicised 'fare strikers' travelling into Bristol.  Therefore, she may indeed be being treated as a 'fare dodger', rather than a 'fare striker'.  However, it's interesting that FGW^▸ (First Great Western) have apparently only asked her to pay a penalty fare and an admin fee, to avoid any further action being taken.  Not unreasonable treatment, I'd say, for a normal 'fare dodger' - irrespective of what FGW may have decided to do about the 'fare strikers'.  The lady now has the option, having made her point, of paying the price (clearly, rather higher than her normal ticket cost) and having the matter closed.

For the record: I do not agree with fare dodging, I made a point of buying a valid ticket on Monday 28 January (which I have kept, in case vacman wants to check it! )  However, I also want to express my support for FGW in their apparently measured response to the strikers - 'yes, we know you are unhappy, but there are still rules to be followed, please!'

On this particular point, I think FGW are indeed 'transforming travel' - in a positive way.

[Graz]

Yes, if I were her I would pay up and close the matter too...though I just wish FGW^▸ (First Great Western) chose an 'All or none' view. I felt the way they treated the other 'strikers' by posting a friendly letter detailing the service improvements seemed highly professional and avoiding confrontation (and perhaps helping to stop further strikes).

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't 'strike' myself, and I feel I took a very wise decision by avoiding the trains altogether that day. But it just seemed strange to me that one was singled out and everyone else got away with it...

[Ollie]

I believe the official response was that details taken would just get an information letter.
But if people refused to give details then discretion would be used on would happen to them.
Without full details it's hard to speculate on it.

[mada]

I received an "informative" letter today explaining the reasons for the issues and apologising for the poor performance. No penalty fare, no demand for payment, no anthrax!

Fair play really.

[John R]

I think that's sensible. There must have something about the lady that made her stand out (was a rather long journey - not a typical daily commute) as trying to take advantage rather than a genuine protestor.

So, let's hope that some of the speculation on the forum proves correct and some additional stock is heading our way. Anyone know how long before anything is confirmed?