Of those three, Number 1.
So what exactly do posters want me as a guard to do?
1. excess up the ticket
But in response to legitimate and intelligent objections from others, (and despite "
No but's or maybe's.") perhaps a 2 tiered approach would work:
For long distance journeys (where the walk-up fare is over, say, £50 to £100 one-way) then Excessing seems to give the best result for all with a low risk of inviting abuse and not too much additional work;
For shorter journeys (under £50 to £100 one-way fare) then charge a full fare with opportunity for pax to reclaim unused discounted ticket (or to reclaim the full fare less admin fee). This would apply to regular/commuter travel.
But I agree with
MikeWh, the proportionate response which we should be aiming for would be 2.
If a pax forgets something 'the railways' can allow it to be put right for little or no expense. But I disagree that 'the railways' should behave as the servants of respected clients, those days are long gone - but it is a relationship that can work fine if its balanced and proportionate. Sadly, it is neither balanced nor proportionate at the present time.
I expect 'the railways' to get it wrong from time to time, quite often in fact, (and with staff blaming 'other parts' of the system: the signaller, their TOC's control, the timetable, the stock, infrastructure, the weather - everything is to blame in a quite institutionalised culture of blame!). Passengers get the blame for all sorts. But the fact is, we have only a modest expectation of railway performance. So, to be proportionate, I'm claiming that Passengers needn't be held to any higher standard of accountability. As it is already, I believe that
passengers ARE held to higher standards of accountability and transparency than the TOCs!
So some adjustment
is necessary.
(I onder if some staff may recognise this position, and will consider themselves on the same side as passengers as being held accountable to unreasonable standards set by competing TOCs?)
And for the avoidance of doubt, I certainly wouldn't want to preclude a Guard who recognises a regular Railcard traveller from letting a one-off lapse pass with a reminder not to forget tomorrow. This might apply in some local and rural situations as well as in some long-distance services, to elderly and young alike - it would be an expression of a community working properly (and probably isn't likely to happen on crammed commuter lines in rush-hours!).