Promise to pay

Hi, can some clear this up, if you depart from a station with a ticket office and a ticket machine which dispenses promise to pay tickets, is the PRMS To pay valid on the train? Thanks

Lewis lamb62) said:

Hi, can some clear this up, if you depart from a station with a ticket office and a ticket machine which dispenses promise to pay tickets, is the PRMS To pay valid on the train? Thanks

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I'm assuming (a) an open ticket office and (b) Northern (because Promise to Pay is a Northern thing). In which case, no.

In Northern's penalty fare FAQs ( https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/legal/penalty-fares) they tell us

What is a Promise to Pay notice?

A Promise to Pay notice is a ticket that must be obtained from our ticket vending machines if customers do not have the facility to pay by credit/debit card. The Promise to Pay notice allows customers to board the train with the intention of exchanging the notice at the first opportunity with a revenue officer, or at the next available booking office.

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It seems to me that if there's an open ticket office, there's a 'facility to pay' other than with plastic. So you don't need a promise to pay notice as you can buy a ticket before getting on the train.

What if there is an unreasonably large queue? Does a promise to pay then become valid as there was no 'reasonable' facility to pay? I am well aware there is no answer to this question but it is an interesting one to ponder.