It sounds like there's been improvements at peak times with people paying. I usually travel outside these times - when travelling from unbarriered stations towards Leeds, I don't think I've been on a train where the guard hasn't been selling people tickets (there do seem to be an increased number of trains with additional staff on, which helps) - I've not heard any mentioning the PF scheme. Coming from Leeds, the number of on-board ticket checks seems to have reduced noticeably.
It seems to be coming down, at the moment at least, to the individual guards as to what information they give to passengers on the FP scheme. I've been on some services where they include a comment about the line being a Penalty Fare route on departure, even from Leeds, whereas others do not mention it. That comes down to staff training, and of course willingness by crews to go with it. Given the current dispute between crews and Northern / DfT it is probably not a surprise that there will be some inconsistencies.
However all the stations I've passed through seem to clearly make it known that they are part of the FP Zone, and increasing numbers of the 333s at least are having stickers applied over doors (presumably for the benefit of both passengers & crew) reminding of the scheme, and all save Leeds have regular audio announcements about the FP scheme. In short it is now increasingly difficult to claim ignorance to it, and this is having an impact from what I can see. What is more noticeable on the Aire & Wharfe lines is that Northern have been tweaking how they approach it, increasing the number of posters, signs on stations & trains, adapting audio announcements & even now starting to increase the number of TVMs. For example Guiseley now has two, one at the entrance to the ticket office which is card only, and a second on P2 which accepts cash as well. Personally I see these ongoing changes as Northern learning from the early part of the trial, and improving how they deliver it, something that is common with any new project anywhere. I know that some expect new systems to be 100% bullet-proof from Day 1, but that simply isn't how the real world works unfortunately. So the fact that they are not belligerently sticking to a Day 1 model should offer at least some encouragement that the errors of previous revenue protection schemes are being learned, or at least remembered going forward.
As I say, if things start to go seriously wrong, I'll happily engage in more debate about it, but to be honest most of the concerns raised through this thread seem to be more pedantic and occasionally based on out of date regulation, rather than anything tangible.
Tickets still being sold on Airedale services this very minute!
And the circumstances were?
Herein lies the point, Northern guards are not now barred from selling tickets. I still see it, although not as much as say a year ago. But any number of circumstances might apply here, the passenger may have had a Promise To Pay that the member didn't observe, they may have reported a faulty TVM or card reader and so needed to buy onboard. And in the instance of at least one semi-regular passenger I see on the Wharfe, the guard may be using discretion in particular circumstances, in this case because the passenger suffers severe anxiety & this is know to the regular crews they allow them to but onboard to help with the passenger's condition.
It is worth pointing out to everyone commenting about onboard sales, everywhere in the FP regulations & notices the phrase
"If a passenger gets on a train without a ticket or Promise to Pay notice at a station where ticket buying facilities are available, they may be liable to pay a penalty fare" (my emphasis) include that key word, "may" not "will" when referring to FPs. This allows for some level of discretion by both crews & authorised persons, something that must not be lost when debating this matter.