I agree with much of what you say, many simply expect to be able to do as they wish and pay if asked to do so on train. That is particularly clear from the vast numbers of people who, when spoken to by inspectors, argue "It's up to the guard to come and sell me a ticket".
No it isn't. The Byelaw makes that perfectly clear and the Appeal Court judgment in Corbyn [1978] in relation to criminally avoiding a fare, underlines exactly where the responsibility to pay the correct fare lies.
That said, I also agree that too many stations have no, or limited facilities for the increased patronage on many services.
I do find this a bit hard to accept though; you say
"If they can make announcements on the train about no tickets being sold perhaps they should be announcing that tickets are only sold from stations where there is no means to buy them and that where there is they must be bought before boarding otherwise etc etc. At least for a few months for the message to sink in."
If we look through the posts on this and other forums over the past four or five years it is clear that many TOCs have been ramping up the pressure, putting up posters and issuing press releases and taking people to Court very regularly throughout the past 5 years.
The press, media and all of these forums have been going over the same ground, the same offences and arguments through all that time, so how long do they need to go on issuing warnings before people take notice, use the many apps and other means of purchasing before travelling, or get there a bit earlier and actually buy before boarding when the facilities are available for them to do so?
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