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URGENT: Cross country train without ticket

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Jaden_emerald

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For certain reasons, I'll legitimately have to catch a cross-country train tomorrow morning without a ticket, departing from it's starting point.

My questions are:

1. Is there a fixed ticket check at the start of Cross-contry journeys, or is it only occasional at random points?

2. Is the Unpaid Fare Notice a permit to travel to the intended destination?

3. How do I pay the fare afterwards, having received the UFN?

Thanks in advance
 
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6Gman

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Jaden_emerald said:
For certain reasons, I'll legitimately have to catch a cross-country train tomorrow morning without a ticket, departing from it's starting point.

My questions are:

1. Is there a fixed ticket check at the start of Cross-contry journeys, or is it only occasional at random points?

2. Is the Unpaid Fare Notice a permit to travel to the intended destination?

3. How do I pay the fare afterwards, having received the UFN?

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

1. Depends on many factors.
2. You may be in error assuming an UFN will be issued.
3. Not sure - if an UFN is issued it will explain the procedure.
 
ForTheLoveOf

ForTheLoveOf

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Jaden_emerald said:
For certain reasons, I'll legitimately have to catch a cross-country train tomorrow morning without a ticket, departing from it's starting point.

My questions are:

1. Is there a fixed ticket check at the start of Cross-contry journeys, or is it only occasional at random points?

2. Is the Unpaid Fare Notice a permit to travel to the intended destination?

3. How do I pay the fare afterwards, having received the UFN?

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
I am a relatively frequent user of CrossCountry and can confidently say that there are frequent ticket checks on virtually all CrossCountry services. It's very rare to get more than a few stops without being checked. They are, like most other Arriva TOCs, very revenue keen. In that sense, if you are to board without a ticket then it would at least be better to avoid Arriva TOCs (CrossCountry, Northern, ATW etc.).

Equally, if you board at a station with adequate ticket issuing facilities, they may well take your details and prosecute you. No matter what the fare costs, the risk is not worth it.

If you are short of money to take the train, you have a few options.

1 - don't travel.

2 - get someone else to lend you the money.

3 - get someone else to pay for the tickets and then collect them yourself.

4 - get someone else to go to a station in person and use the 'stranded traveller' procedure.

Not buying a ticket before you board - if you board at a station with ticket issuing facilities - isn't an option unless you ambivalent over the very real possibility of a prosecution. If you don't have enough money to buy a ticket, I would suggest that you probably cannot afford the amount required to settle a prosecution out of Court.

There are frequently ways to make CrossCountry journeys for a significantly lower price than the through ticket - such as by splitting tickets. Accredited websites, such as www.trainsplit.com, can find the optimal combination of split tickets very easily for you.
 
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mmh

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Ticket checks are always random. If you start the journey somewhere where you can't buy a ticket, you'll be asked to buy one on board if you're checked.

I'm a bit confused, why do you think you'll have trouble?
 
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bnm

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What is this legitimate reason for boarding the train at its starting station (one that will almost certainly have ticket buying facilities) without a ticket?
 
The_Train

The_Train

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I have used CrossCountry quite a bit recently to travel between Stoke and Stafford. This is a 15 minutes journey with no stops in between and on each occasion I've travelled, my ticket has been checked. I'd be amazed if you weren't asked to produce your ticket before the first scheduled stop after departure
 
J

Jaden_emerald

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mmh said:
Ticket checks are always random. If you start the journey somewhere where you can't buy a ticket, you'll be asked to buy one on board if you're checked.

I'm a bit confused, why do you think you'll have trouble?
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WHere I'm from, long-distance trains have fixed checks by a conductor at the start of a route, whereas on regional or suburban trains, it's merely inspectors who board occasionally along the route, getting off one or two stops later.

There, the UFN equivalent is valid as a ticket to the station you declare as your destination.

Only lived across the Channel for a short while though, hence asking.

SWTrainspottin said:
Where are you boarding?
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At a station without barriers which is the start of the specific route. THis XC service is medium-distance
 
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M

mmh

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ForTheLoveOf said:
I am a relatively frequent user of CrossCountry and can confidently say that there are frequent ticket checks on virtually all CrossCountry services. It's very rare to get more than a few stops without being checked. They are, like most other Arriva TOCs, very revenue keen. In that sense, if you are to board without a ticket then it would at least be better to avoid Arriva TOCs (CrossCountry, Northern, ATW etc.)
Click to expand...

You can't have much experience of ATW in North Wales then, it's perfectly normal to pay the guard when they come along.
 
J

Jaden_emerald

Member
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ForTheLoveOf said:
I am a relatively frequent user of CrossCountry and can confidently say that there are frequent ticket checks on virtually all CrossCountry services. It's very rare to get more than a few stops without being checked. They are, like most other Arriva TOCs, very revenue keen. In that sense, if you are to board without a ticket then it would at least be better to avoid Arriva TOCs (CrossCountry, Northern, ATW etc.).
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Although I got robbed of the bulk of my cash, I saved some in one pocket which would be enough to buy a ticket to the first stop. SOmeone I know says he does this on purpose quite frequently on long-distance trains and that, especially on busy services, he's always been fine.

SO if checks do normally take place at the start of the route, I think I'll just go ahead with this tomorrow.
 
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mmh

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Jaden_emerald said:
WHere I'm from, long-distance trains have fixed checks by a conductor at the start of a route, whereas on regional or suburban trains, it's merely inspectors who board occasionally along the route, getting off one or two stops later.

There, the UFN equivalent is valid as a ticket to the station you declare as your destination.

Only lived across the Channel for a short while though, hence asking.

At a station without barriers which is the start of the specific route. THis XC service is medium-distance
Click to expand...

Ah. In Britain it's really varied, hence me saying it's "random" - it's possible to go from one end of the country to the other without a ticket check, but also possible to to be checked going five miles. Unless you're starting your journey at a station without a ticket office, or on a route where, unofficially, it's normal to buy tickets on the train (e.g. the North Wales coast) you could be stung for a ridiculously expensive ticket. Although mostly going to or from London.

Someone will be along in a moment to say you can't board at an an unstaffed station with a ticket machine. They are wrong.
 
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yorkie

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You cannot contact any friends or relatives at all?

In that case I think you will probably have to defer travelling until you can contact someone.

If you board the train with no means to pay, CrossCountry are within their rights to prosecute you.
 
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Jaden_emerald

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yorkie said:
You cannot contact any friends or relatives at all?

In that case I think you will probably have to defer travelling until you can contact someone.

If you board the train with no means to pay, CrossCountry are within their rights to prosecute you.
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From what I understand, if I co-operate, providing my ID and residential address, an UFN or Penalty Fare should be issued.

Is that not the case with XC?
 
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yorkie

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Jaden_emerald said:
From what I understand, if I co-operate, providing my ID and residential address, an UFN or Penalty Fare should be issued.
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Why do you think that?
Jaden_emerald said:
Is that not the case with XC?
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If the Guard has reason to believe you deliberately boarded the train knowing you had no means to pay for the ticket, they are within their rights to prosecute you.

They might ask if you visited the ticket office, if it was open. If you deliberately did not use it, then that would arouse suspicion.

They might choose to issue an unpaid fare notice, but there is no right to that. And if you ask for one, then I am pretty sure they won't be issuing one!
 
DaveNewcastle

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Just to be clear, a person who travels by train in the UK without a ticket, and with the intention of travelling without a ticket, is at risk of being found Guilty of a Crime, with the potential for long-lasting implications for you for years to come.
There are exceptions and circumstances that would avoid that outcome, of course, and you have claimed that there is a 'legitimate' reason for travelling without a ticket.
But, you haven't told us what that 'legitimacy' is, so it is impossible to advise whether: a) it would fall within the range of providing evidence of a crime, or b) it would fall within the range of one of the exceptions.

The impression that you have given to me is that you do have the intention of travelling without a ticket.

If it is a) then the only advice you should receive would be not to travel. If it is b) then you should travel without any concern.

You can not expect a reliable answer from this forum if you do not provide the necessary details.
It is also unreasonable of you to ask for reliable advice when you deliberately don't provide the vital information which you think is relevant : the 'legitimacy'.
 
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Busaholic

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As we have no way of telling where you're boarding, it's hard to be specific but I can tell you if it happens to be Penzance, then, probably no problem getting on the train, but you'll be asked to show or buy a ticket before reaching St Erth, the next station or, if not, certainly before Camborne.
 
najaB

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Jaden_emerald said:
From what I understand, if I co-operate, providing my ID and residential address, an UFN or Penalty Fare should be issued.
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This is incorrect. If you board a train without a ticket at a station where there were facilities available to pay for one then, with a few exceptions, you are liable to be prosecuted.
 
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