lb722
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What is likely to be in the initial letter? Trespassing on the railway seems to carry a £1000 fine. Will they be demanding that I pay this immediately?
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It was originally the BTP officer who claimed that it was invalid, but that is otherwise correct. There wasn't a dispute about whether or not it was valid for travel, only whether or not I was allowed to wait in the station. I couldn't have failed the attitude test with the security guard as when he asked me to leave the retail section I left without saying a word. Perhaps with the btp for saying 'Leave me alone' to the security guard in front of him. Given that this security guard followed me into the toilet, watched me urinate, then proceeded to follow me around without saying anything, I would say that I was quite calm. The security guard never asked me to leave the station. He asked me to leave the retail section, which I did. It wasn't until the BTP were involved that he lied, claiming that he had told me to leave the station.
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Maybe, God forbid, it took me longer than four minutes to write my post. Given that your only purpose in this thread is to try and wind me up, why should I waste time editing my post just to try and please you? I'm fully capable of checking whether or not a ticket is valid myself. It really isn't as difficult as you seem to think it is. I can nip down to the station now and ask if 'X to Y via Z' means that I have to change at Z, or head in the opposite direction to A on the more expensive route if you'd like? I think we both know what the answer will be and I would look very silly for asking! Or, instead of wasting time, we can just assume that my ticket was valid and get on with it.
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Fair enough. I still can't see the doctor making a diagnosis based on how much rent somebody pays a month though. It's the other way round. I know for a fact that the ticket was valid. This isn't a question about the validity of the ticket. If a ticket has a particular route listed on it, then it is valid on that route. I travelled on that route. Check. I used a railcard to acquire a discount. I had the in-date railcard on me, the RPI saw it and at no point did he say that there was an issue with the railcard. Check. I had an off-peak ticket, meaning that I cannot travel on peak trains. I travelled on off-peak trains. There were still trains due which were off-peak. There are no peak trains on that route on a Sunday. Check. At no point have I came in here asking people whether or not I had a valid ticket. I know that I did and I'm fully capable of verifying this myself. My question is about what will happen from this point onwards. I have been told that I will be hearing from them in the post for trespassing on the railway (waiting in the station for a train) and waiting in the station without a ticket permitting me to be there (you don't need an additional platform ticket if you have a ticket for travel). It's actually you and Old-CodJA wanting to focus on the station. I want to focus on the question at hand instead of drifting off into other areas. The only way the station matters is if there is a particular station in which you aren't allowed to wait for a train.
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Actually, if you want to use going to the doctor's as an analogy, the equivalent would be me going to the doctor to complain about a cough, only for the doctor to ask me irrelevant questions such as where I live and how much rent I pay each month, all of which is done in a roomful of people. Pray tell me how naming the station will change anything? Is there a station in the UK where you are not permitted to wait inside for a train? I doubt it very much.
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It's only two people who raised an issue with the ticket. The security guard wasn't involved with the ticket. Two examples, neither of which are the ticket I had. Or maybe one is, who knows? 1. Exeter St. Davids to Salisbury (via Westbury ticket) 2. Reading to High Wycombe (via Banbury ticket) Each of these journeys offer two different possible routes, both of which are priced differently. For the Salisbury one, you can travel through Yeovil on the way instead. A ticket from Exeter to Salisbury via Yeovil wouldn't be valid at Westbury. If I had a ticket from Exeter St. Davids to Salisbury via Westbury, I would have to alight at Westbury to catch a train to Salisbury. So assume that I had a ticket from Exeter to Salisbury via Westbury and this incident took place at Westbury. For the High Wycombe one, you can travel into London instead. A ticket from Reading to High Wycombe via London wouldn't be valid at Banbury. If I had a ticket from Reading to High Wycombe via Banbury, I would have to alight at Banbury to catch a train to High Wycombe. So assume that I had a ticket from Reading to High Wycombe via Banbury and this incident took place at Banbury. Each of these scenarios are identical to mine and it doesn't make any difference whatsoever about which station it happened at now does it? This isn't a question about whether or not my ticket was valid for the route I took as I know for a fact that it was!
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Thanks. It's 100% a valid ticket. The station I had to change at to catch the second train was specified on the ticket as the via station. There is no way that I would have been required to walk 7 miles to avoid the station. Because there are two possible routes. A station on the other route wasn't listed as the via station and I didn't have an any permitted route ticket. My ticket specified that I had to travel via the station where the incident took place. Notes were made but I wasn't asked to read or sign anything. In date, on my person and seen by the RPI. No issues about it. The issue is that my ticket apparently didn't permit me to wait inside the station and that I didn't have a second ticket allowing me to wait there.
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When can I expect to hear about this? It's definitely a valid ticket. I've been making the journey on a weekly basis for years. The only way to avoid waiting for a train at the station where the incident occurred is to travel 3.5 miles via other means to another station to catch a slower train, then alight a stop early to travel 3.5 miles via other means to the first stop on the second train's route. Alternatively I can take another route, which wouldn't be valid I was given a lengthy speech about how I wasn't allowed to wait in the station for so long between trains and that I should always have a valid ticket on my person at all times. I was then told that I would hear from them in the post about how much I would have to pay them for both 'trespassing' on the railway and attempting to travel with an invalid ticket. It was an off-peak ticket at off-peak times. It was Sunday night. I believe that all trains are off-peak on a Sunday, while the same also applies for late night trains. A railcard was used, was seen by the RPI and I still have this. Same TOC.
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My ticket was confiscated. How long will it be until I receive the penalty fare letter?
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The RPI claimed that I was not allowed to wait in the station for 45 minutes for a train. He told me that I was supposed to leave and come back. My ticket was valid for that station. The station name was even on my ticket as it said 'via X' on the ticket. X being the station where the incident took place.
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A bit of a strange experience today. I had to wait about 45 minutes for a train, I thought that I would do that inside the station concourse as I usually do. I decided to wait near some shops inside, all of which were closed. A security guard approached me, told me that he was closing the retail section of the station and asked me to move on. I did as instructed and, headed for one of the waiting rooms. After entering the gents, I noticed that he had followed me in there. He didn't seem to use the toilet. He just stood there watching me. I left and sat down at a seat in the waiting room, planning on getting some work done on my laptop, only to have him stand in front of me staring at me. I asked him what his problem was, but he didn't reply. I left the waiting room, hoping that he wouldn't follow me, but he continued to do so. I asked him to leave me alone, at which point a British Transport Police officer walked by and asked what was going on. The security guard told him that the station was closing and that I was refusing to leave. I explained to the BTP that the station was still open for over two hours as I knew the time of my last train home. BTP then asked the security guard if I had been asked to leave the station, to which the reply was 'Yes'. I explained that I had been asked to leave the retail section, not the station, and that I had done as instructed. At this point the BTP asked to see my rail ticket. I showed it to him and he claimed that it was invalid. I claimed that it wasn't. The dispute was then taken to a revenue protection officer, who decided to issue me with a penalty fare as, despite the station I was at being the station I had to change at to get home, the ticket didn't permit me to wait inside the concourse for 45 minutes. Apparently I should have left and stood outside the station before returning to catch my train. My ticket was confiscated and I was left with a long walk home. I'm not really sure what to make of this as three members of rail staff appear to have got it all horribly wrong. What can I do from here though?
