Penalty fares

[whole diary]

[chrisoates]

Got a penalty fare announcement at Truro today - very severe it was too - wondering if it has anything to do with Truro being 'barriered' ?

Four frightfully well spoken 'gells' and a Cello then got an earful (and a leaflet) for boarding without a ticket - initially I was a bit sympathetic as it's an engineering weekend CIS^▸ (Customer Information System) is down and timetables don't apply.

However they later discussed how they share railcards, use ungripped returns and any other method of travelling free !

 

[vacman]

The penalty fare announcements are a legal requirement for the introduction of Penalty fares between Truro and Exeter on april 5th, along with the verbal waring that all non-Penalty fares staff are supposed to give to anyone boarding at penalty fares stations without tickets.

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

cant wait for this to come in exeter st thomas is a great example of where people will walk there to avoid barriers

[JayMac]

cant wait for this to come in exeter st thomas is a great example of where people will walk there to avoid barriers

So lets hope they get caught by regular RPI^▸ (Revenue Protection Inspector (or Retail Price Index, depending on the context)) stings then. And lets also hope that there are no further examples of ways to fare dodge on a public forum.

[Tim]

This is all good news.  Sounds like there is a problem and the PF^▸ (Penalty Fare) will help to solve it.  But PF are only part of the story.  Hopefully FGW^▸ (First Great Western) (with support of BTP^▸ (British Transport Police)) will come up with enough staff to have a sustained blitz, because that is what is needed in order to change attitudes to ticketless travel.

Bignosemac.  It is hardly a state secret that certain stations do not have barriers and hardly rocket science to figure out that it may be easier to dodge a fare if there are no barriers (in fact this is only the flip side of the message that barriers make dodging harder which the TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) have been telling us for years)

[JayMac]

It may not be rocket surgery or brain science that certain locations are easier to fare dodge than others, but highlighting such locations is still out of order IMHO^▸ (in my humble opinion).

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

not really.... st thomas is a stupidly obv one which needs something done about it

[old original]

More staff have been trained to do PFs^▸ (Penalty Fare) recently and barriers should be in Truro by the end of the year

[John R]

It may not be rocket surgery or brain science that certain locations are easier to fare dodge than others, but highlighting such locations is still out of order IMHO^▸ (in my humble opinion).

It's an interesting point. If the author had written it along the lines of "Hey, I've got a good tip for passengers from Exeter to avoid paying for their journey on 9 days out of 10.... etc, etc" then I would agree.

But written as it was it appeared to add a useful point to the discussion on boarding trains without having paid for a ticket, and as such I think the merit outweighs the disadvantage. After all, I hope none of our community would read it and act on the information in the way you suggest. And even if they did, I suspect anyone of such an intent would do it anyway.

Sorry, I'm probably sounding like a moderator now.  

[grahame]

This one is a finely balanced call for those of us who moderate ... and you'll note that none of us has previously jumped in on this thread.

Where there's a post that points out a new way of travelling that's outside what the rules allow, or which advocates breaking the rules, you'll see a fairly rapid response. That's the easy bit.  Where someone points out some locations which are more 'tender' than others, it's more tricky and if these things are well know / published elsewhere / obvious, we'll tend to let them be ... actually, we have a reputation in some quarters as moderating rather more than on other forums.

[chrisoates]

More staff have been trained to do PFs^▸ (Penalty Fare) recently and barriers should be in Truro by the end of the year

XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) and before them Virgin are far more efficient at revenue protection than FGW^▸ (First Great Western) - I've often seen people asked to leave trains/pay up for rail card misuse, reservation infringements, throwing away the wrong half of a return and plain not having a ticket.
If I catch the 8:35 XC from St Erth I can be pretty sure I'll get gripped by Hayle or at worst Camborne.

I've just been from St Ives to Exeter Central no checks on the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) but was asked to produce exiting EXC. Returning the only check was on the St Ives branch.

Checks on DMUs^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) in Cornwall seem pretty good but HSTs are a joke - there are a few TMs^‡(resolve) that do an excellent job but a lot seem to forget why they are employed.
Would you open a petrol station with an option of not paying - fitting HSTs with an 'honesty' box might generate some revenue.

Regarding training - that's obviously working on the DMUs - not a word on the HSTs where the potential for evasion is much greater.

[inspector_blakey]

The excuse for lax ticket checks that I have often heard is that "guard's can't work SDO^▸ (Selective Door Opening) and look after revenue at the same time". Now, on the face of it, that sounds pretty reasonable until you remember that there are some guards who quite happily manage both (and with a smile on their faces!) which does make you wonder why the rest can't.

Then again ticket checks on HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) in south Wales are in my experience even worse - there isn't the excuse of SDO, stations are reasonably well spaced out and yet a significant number of guards just don't bother. It's not at all unusual to go from Reading to Swansea (or even Carmarthen) with no ticket check! Again though, sometimes you will get a guard who makes you realize that it's quite possible - I remember a tiny-but-formidable female guard taking no prisoners when she did a ticket check immediately on departure from Swansea (and every subsequent station), in the days before barriers. That really caught the Neath/Port Talbot/Bridgent Free Travel Society on the hop!

[devonian]

I often get on and off at St Thomas (not for fare evasion reason!) and I have to say, I always get checked for tickets - well, approached instantly and sold a ticket.

[Tim]

there are a few TMs^‡(resolve) that do an excellent job but a lot seem to forget why they are employed.

I have to agree with both of those statements.  I'd also observe that the TMs who are busiest and most efficient are always the ones who are happiest and most polite.

[super tm]

More staff have been trained to do PFs^▸ (Penalty Fare) recently and barriers should be in Truro by the end of the year

XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) and before them Virgin are far more efficient at revenue protection than FGW^▸ (First Great Western) - I've often seen people asked to leave trains/pay up for rail card misuse, reservation infringements, throwing away the wrong half of a return and plain not having a ticket.
If I catch the 8:35 XC from St Erth I can be pretty sure I'll get gripped by Hayle or at worst Camborne.

I've just been from St Ives to Exeter Central no checks on the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) but was asked to produce exiting EXC. Returning the only check was on the St Ives branch.

Checks on DMUs^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) in Cornwall seem pretty good but HSTs are a joke - there are a few TMs^‡(resolve) that do an excellent job but a lot seem to forget why they are employed.
Would you open a petrol station with an option of not paying - fitting HSTs with an 'honesty' box might generate some revenue.

Regarding training - that's obviously working on the DMUs - not a word on the HSTs where the potential for evasion is much greater.

I wonder if it has anyhing to do with the fact that XC and ex Wessex guards are on personal commission for ticket sales but TM's are not