GWR - Penalty Fair Notice - Reading to Theale on a London 1-6 to Basingstoke Season Ticket

[island]

Good point - it seems to be a 'loophole' in Byelaw 18 that if you enter the train with a valid ticket, and present a ticket for inspection - even if it is not valid at the point of inspection - then you are not guilty of any offence. Could intent even be proven for RoRA? I think an RCCA offence of knowingly overtravelling might actually be the most appropriate. Certainly not an easy one for a prosecutor!

The situation is an interesting one and I think we had a thread a few years ago around someone with a paper Travelcard who inadvertently joined a train not calling at his desired stop and landing him outside of the purchased zones. May have been Charing Cross to Gravesend service running fast London Bridge to New Eltham.

The analysis, as far as I remember it, is that:
Byelaw 18 (1) did not apply as the passenger had a valid ticket upon joining the train
Byelaw 18 (2) did not apply as the passenger produced a ticket – that byelaw does not require the ticket to be valid
S5 RRA did not apply as the passenger had not intentionally overtravelled
S103 RCCA did not apply as the passenger did not knowingly and wilfully neglect to quit the carriage.

However, the passenger was issued a Penalty Fare, which then became the fare for his journey. If he proceeded not to pay this amount, he would wind up having travelled on a train without paying his fare, and with intent to avoid the payment thereof, and could at that point be prosecuted under S5 RRA.

If you have difficulty with that, consider instead the possibility that the passenger had been seen by a staff member not authorised to issue penalty fares and instead ended up with an unpaid fare notice for the SDS from Reading Stations to Theale. That would certainly need to be paid to avoid a S5 RRA prosecution, and I see no reason that non-payment of the Penalty Fare would end up the same way.

I have not assessed whether the Penalty Fare could be invalid for being issued from the wrong station. Even if it is, the fare from Reading Stations to Theale remains due.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

The situation is an interesting one and I think we had a thread a few years ago around someone with a paper Travelcard who inadvertently joined a train not calling at his desired stop and landing him outside of the purchased zones. May have been Charing Cross to Gravesend service running fast London Bridge to New Eltham.

The analysis, as far as I remember it, is that:
Byelaw 18 (1) did not apply as the passenger had a valid ticket upon joining the train
Byelaw 18 (2) did not apply as the passenger produced a ticket – that byelaw does not require the ticket to be valid
S5 RRA did not apply as the passenger had not intentionally overtravelled
S103 RCCA did not apply as the passenger did not knowingly and wilfully neglect to quit the carriage.

However, the passenger was issued a Penalty Fare, which then became the fare for his journey. If he proceeded not to pay this amount, he would wind up having travelled on a train without paying his fare, and with intent to avoid the payment thereof, and could at that point be prosecuted under S5 RRA.

If you have difficulty with that, consider instead the possibility that the passenger had been seen by a staff member not authorised to issue penalty fares and instead ended up with an unpaid fare notice for the SDS from Reading Stations to Theale. That would certainly need to be paid to avoid a S5 RRA prosecution, and I see no reason that non-payment of the Penalty Fare would end up the same way.

I have not assessed whether the Penalty Fare could be invalid for being issued from the wrong station. Even if it is, the fare from Reading Stations to Theale remains due.

Perhaps the fare from Reading to Theale is due, or perhaps the (larger) excess fare for travelling on effectively a wrong route is due (see previous posts about the fact that a Theale "AAA BASINGSTOKE" ticket exists). But one or t'other must be paid, unless the company agrees to waive the charge.