. . . . people are far more concerned about a criminal record than any financial penalty. This is bound to have a deterrent fact, at least amongst those that are aware of the possibility, and I think that taking away that deterrent would not be a good move.
I agree.
Such a shift would assure the rail industry of the same level of abuse as on-street parking without payment, where a strategy of playing "parking roulette" is no more honest than playing the odds in any other simple gamble, and with no more loss than from the calculated odds..
What about the question of deliberate, pre-meditated fare evasion, by knowingly travelling without a valid ticket, intending to accept a Penalty Fare Notice from staff if detected, but with the intention of never responding further or never paying if an appeal is rejected??
How do you propose dealing with that?
I agree that this is the crucial question, and that any "idea" which tinkers with the current arrangements and which doesn't fully address the question will simply shift the playground for those who are exploitative or opportunist in their wish to minimise their spending.
Personally I'd keep the discretion for the staff but the railway policies from the management would need to be clear and consistent otherwise a prosecution might fail if those policies and their execution were found wanting...
This is yet another of your 'ideas', all of which seem to be simple responses to something you wish to avoid, but which introduce other unintended consequences.
Revisions are only realistic when they embrace the
full territory:-
when they are firmly rooted in coherent and consistent railway policy, custom, practice and regulations; are practical and workable in all situations across the network of stations, trains, ticket selling agents and on line systems; are lawful enforceable and defendable under challenge; are comprehesible to all parties in all situations; are compliant with fiscal policy and regulation, ECHR and other European legislation; are resilient to defects in internal systems and to external abuse; are amenable to passengers, operating companies, staff, the Department, focus groups, unions, rail users groups, and the regulator, and contribute to the viability of passenger travel on UK rail.
Your
ad hoc 'ideas' seem to fall short of that standard. You could perhaps check each of your ideas against that check-list of criteria in future?
But my main challenge to this 'idea' is to point out that your concern that a prosecution might fail if "policies and their execution were found wanting". Why would that happen? We're not looking at some sort of retail consumer business! A prosecution will be judged on an evaluation of whether the evidence presented is, or is not, captured by the words of the Law.