Lampshade
Established Member
Evenin' all
A few weeks ago I was travelling from an unstaffed station in south Manchester to Preston. There are no TVMs there so I boarded the train (1630) with the intention of catching the 1654 Northern service onwards.
On the way into Piccadilly, the Guard didn't make an appearance, so my interpretation of the NRCoC is that if there are no ticket issuing facilities available at the station at which you began your journey then the full range of tickets can be bought on board or at an interchange point, although this does not mean risking missing a connection (which was above the minimum connection time at MAN).
As it stood, we arrived two minutes late (into platform 9, main shed) and a large number of passengers disembarked without tickets. As is normal for that time, G4S were barriering platforms 8 and 9 and so a large queue formed. As I had mere minutes to catch my connection I spoke to one of the G4S staff and asked, politely, if I could pay on board my onward connection:
Me: I have a connection to catch, could I possibly go through and pay on board?
G4S: No! Join the back of the queue, you've committed fraud (hock
Me: The National Conditions of Carriage...
G4S ...say you're committing fraud as you haven't paid
Me: No it doesn't, it says nothing of the sort
G4S: Right, if that's how you want to play it (then attempts to summon a passing BTP Officer)
Me: OK, fine, fine
So I joined the back of the queue and bought a ticket, making my connection by 10/15 seconds at most. As it turned out, no ticket check took place between Piccadilly and Preston, so I would have had to pay at Preston. Personally, I think the G4S staff member knew I was right so tried to silence me the only way a 'jobsworth' knows how.
My question is: was my interpretation of the NRCoC correct? I'd like to hear especially from any members in revenue (Ferret, I'm looking at you here)
Cheers
A few weeks ago I was travelling from an unstaffed station in south Manchester to Preston. There are no TVMs there so I boarded the train (1630) with the intention of catching the 1654 Northern service onwards.
On the way into Piccadilly, the Guard didn't make an appearance, so my interpretation of the NRCoC is that if there are no ticket issuing facilities available at the station at which you began your journey then the full range of tickets can be bought on board or at an interchange point, although this does not mean risking missing a connection (which was above the minimum connection time at MAN).
As it stood, we arrived two minutes late (into platform 9, main shed) and a large number of passengers disembarked without tickets. As is normal for that time, G4S were barriering platforms 8 and 9 and so a large queue formed. As I had mere minutes to catch my connection I spoke to one of the G4S staff and asked, politely, if I could pay on board my onward connection:
Me: I have a connection to catch, could I possibly go through and pay on board?
G4S: No! Join the back of the queue, you've committed fraud (hock
Me: The National Conditions of Carriage...
G4S ...say you're committing fraud as you haven't paid
Me: No it doesn't, it says nothing of the sort
G4S: Right, if that's how you want to play it (then attempts to summon a passing BTP Officer)
Me: OK, fine, fine
So I joined the back of the queue and bought a ticket, making my connection by 10/15 seconds at most. As it turned out, no ticket check took place between Piccadilly and Preston, so I would have had to pay at Preston. Personally, I think the G4S staff member knew I was right so tried to silence me the only way a 'jobsworth' knows how.
My question is: was my interpretation of the NRCoC correct? I'd like to hear especially from any members in revenue (Ferret, I'm looking at you here)
Cheers