How is fare evasion dealt with abroad compared to the UK?

[175mph]

I in no way condone it, anywhere in the world, but reading the endless discussions on these forums, especially on Disputes & Prosecutions did make me wonder how it's dealt with in other countries, in Europe and the world beyond Europe.

In the US for example, the only case I've ever heard of revenue checks being in place, that is, passengers cannot enter or leave a platform area without getting their ticket inspected is at the Grand Central station in New York City. Are there any other stations in the US that don't have barriers but have regular ticket checks on passengers entering and leaving the platform areas of the station like in this country at Manchester Picadilly, for example. And if the conductor on the train catches someone they suspect of fare evasion, would they be handed over to armed police at the next station and be made to serve a ridiculously long prison sentence after a trial in court?

And in Japan, how heavy handed would they be with fare evaders, a fine, or being dragged off the train at the next station?

I know this all might seem ridiculous but I'm just interested to know about how much more or less heavy handed any other country might be when it comes to tackling fare evasion.

 

[rg177]

In Belgium on the Aachen-Welkenraedt train, a fare evader was dealt with pretty efficiently.

Guard came through at the first stop, pointed at the guy, pointed at the station, and told him to get off. When he didn't move, she grabbed his arm and pulled him off!

Switzerland is no nonsense. Witnessed a Brit getting slapped with a fine on the Lausanne Metro.

 

[175mph]

In Belgium on the Aachen-Welkenraedt train, a fare evader was dealt with pretty efficiently.

Guard came through at the first stop, pointed at the guy, pointed at the station, and told him to get off. When he didn't move, she grabbed his arm and pulled him off!

Switzerland is no nonsense. Witnessed a Brit getting slapped with a fine on the Lausanne Metro.

Can RPIs do that in this country under 'reasonable force' or is that a total no-no?

 

[paddington]

What are you asking exactly? The procedure in other countries, or how strictly the rules are enforced, or how hard it is to get away with not paying?

And if the conductor on the train catches someone they suspect of fare evasion, would they be handed over to armed police at the next station and be made to serve a ridiculously long prison sentence after a trial in court?

If a conductor in the UK catches someone, the first thing they would do is probably try to sell a ticket? (Even in a penalty fare area.) Or charge a penalty fare if they are authorised to do so. If this is refused then they may tell them to leave the train, take details and/or call police.

In much of Europe, you are required to carry ID, and you are required to register your address on your ID. On most lines you need to buy before boarding, so you simply get a fine from RPIs if you don't have a valid ticket, and you can't really escape as they will call the police if you don't have ID. Many places have escalating fines for repeat offences. On more rural lines you can buy on board, and I imagine if you refuse to pay, you will be asked to leave the train, and if you refuse to leave either the police will be called if this is feasible, or nothing will happen.

In Japan you can buy a ticket (or excess your not-fully-valid ticket) at your destination in the majority of the country, except on very rural lines.

In Australia I observed a drunk man get on and the guard said the train wouldn't move until he left, which he eventually did.

 

[175mph]

What are you asking exactly? The procedure in other countries, or how strictly the rules are enforced, or how hard it is to get away with not paying?



If a conductor in the UK catches someone, the first thing they would do is probably try to sell a ticket? (Even in a penalty fare area.) Or charge a penalty fare if they are authorised to do so. If this is refused then they may tell them to leave the train, take details and/or call police.

In much of Europe, you are required to carry ID, and you are required to register your address on your ID. On most lines you need to buy before boarding, so you simply get a fine from RPIs if you don't have a valid ticket, and you can't really escape as they will call the police if you don't have ID. Many places have escalating fines for repeat offences. On more rural lines you can buy on board, and I imagine if you refuse to pay, you will be asked to leave the train, and if you refuse to leave either the police will be called if this is feasible, or nothing will happen.

In Japan you can buy a ticket (or excess your not-fully-valid ticket) at your destination in the majority of the country, except on very rural lines.

In Australia I observed a drunk man get on and the guard said the train wouldn't move until he left, which he eventually did.

A bit of both.

I noticed when I travelled from Brussels Midi to Luxembourg in 2016, not one platform apart from the one for Eurostar for obvious reasons, had any form of ticket checking.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Can RPIs do that in this country under 'reasonable force' or is that a total no-no?

Not quite the same thing, but I've witnessed a (fairly slight, short, female) Scottish guard chase a fare evader from her train right out of the station shouting as she went. She didn't catch him, sadly, but they are made of sterner stuff up there than in England!

 

[Bletchleyite]

On more rural lines you can buy on board

In 1990s DB this involved telling the driver you wanted a ticket, and he'd make a mental note to tell any RPIs who boarded (unlikely) that you had done so. No actual ticket was issued, it was merely a way of recording intent to pay. The Pacer-like DMUs used for those local services had a mounting for a coin dispenser and ticket machine in the cab but I never saw one actually fitted.

In Japan you can buy a ticket (or excess your not-fully-valid ticket) at your destination in the majority of the country, except on very rural lines.

That's probably the best-advised way for tourists to use the Tokyo underground - buy the cheapest ticket and "adjust" at the destination. The lack of ability to do that does sometimes catch Japanese tourists out on LU. That said, I managed to confuse that system once by doing a circular journey, the fare adjust machine didn't know what to make of it, no staff anywhere so I had to jump the barrier, which set off a loud alarm but nobody was there to do anything about it.

In Australia I observed a drunk man get on and the guard said the train wouldn't move until he left, which he eventually did.

What you might term the "newspaper method" is of course the most common (and highly effective) means of enforcement against non-payers and other undesirables on UK buses. Make a PA if you have one, stop engine, open newspaper and wait for a passenger to remove the person who needs removing.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Switzerland is no nonsense. Witnessed a Brit getting slapped with a fine on the Lausanne Metro.

Generally, there are two levels in CH. On local services it's absolute - no ticket, you will be fined - so e.g. a broken TVM means the station is effectively closed unless you use a mobile ticket (I bet Northern would love this). On IR/IC, discretion *can* be shown, and "confused tourist" is one of the listed accepted excuses, in such cases you are just charged a CHF10 on-board supplement plus fare instead of the fine.

 

[AlexNL]

All public transport in the Netherlands operates according to a 'buy before you board' policy. More and more railway stations have been equipped with gatelines, which are in operation 24/7 (there are call for aid-buttons next to each gateline). The subway systems in Amsterdam and Rotterdam are gated as well. Trams operate according to an open entry policy, but on buses you are expected to board at the front of the vehicle and touch in there.

If you don't have a ticket, you'll be charged a penalty fare (€ 50 + the regular fare). You may be offered the opportunity to pay in cash on the spot, which is up to the discretion of the ticket examiner. If you pay on the spot you'll be given a ticket which lets you complete your journey, but you can't raise a dispute. If you aren't offered the opportunity, don't want to pay on the spot, or if you can't pay in cash, an unpaid fare notice is sent to your home address (you'll have to ID yourself).

You'll have 14 days to pay the price of the UFN, if you don't you'll get a reminder (with + € 15 on top in administration fees), after that the UFN will be given to a debt collection agency who will handle the process from there. If you disagree with the UFN, the recommendation is: pay first, raise a dispute later. The administrative process is automated and a complaint won't stop the debt collection timer.

If you are unable to produce a valid ID, usually the police is called in at the next station who will take over the process from there.

 

[yorkie]

Can RPIs do that in this country under 'reasonable force' or is that a total no-no?

A total no-no in the UK.

If you don't have a ticket, you'll be charged a penalty fare (€ 50 + the regular fare).

The OP was asking about fare evaders; in the Netherlands is the issuing of a Penalty Fare an accusation of fare evasion?

Or is it how it is in the UK, which is a higher than normal charge issued to people who are merely deemed to have made a mistake under certain circumstances...?
https://www.chilternrailways.co.uk/sites/default/files/files/timetables/Chiltern Penalty Fares.pdf

A Penalty Fare is a charge that [a train company] is allowed to make under the Regulations and Rules. It is not a fine, and anyone who is charged one is not being accused of avoiding, or attempting to avoid, paying their fare.

 

[AlexNL]

The OP was asking about fare evaders; in the Netherlands is the issuing of a Penalty Fare an accusation of fare evasion?

In the Netherlands, not having a valid ticket is seen as fare evasion. The rule is pretty simple: you must be in the possession of a valid ticket before you board the vehicle. There are no exceptions to this rule, although it's at the discretion of the ticket examiner whether they will actually issue a fine or if they will look the other way.

The € 50 is a legally imposed fine, which is placed on top of the price which you would have paid normally for a ticket. If you can pay on the spot, the ticket examiner will issue you a ticket and that settles the matter. There will be no registration, but you can't appeal either.

If you cannot or do not wish to pay on the spot, the ticket examiner will issue an "uitstel van betaling" (UvB, deferred payment) and will register your details. The "UvB" is also a "proces verbaal" (statement of facts), all ticket examiners are a "BOA" (buitengewoon opsporingsambtenaar, special investigating officer) who have the legal powers to issue a fine for fare evasion. The public transport company can then send an unpaid fare notice.

Just today I saw a guard put a message on Twitter about a fine which he had issued to a passenger who presented a ticket which was purchased after the train's scheduled departure time. According to the guard, the train left the station at 9:16 while the ticket was bought through the NS app at 9:19 (the time of inspection being 9:20). The guard concluded that the passenger had no intention of paying for his trip until he saw the guard, and thus issued a fine.

 

[bahnause]

Generally, there are two levels in CH. On local services it's absolute - no ticket, you will be fined - so e.g. a broken TVM means the station is effectively closed unless you use a mobile ticket (I bet Northern would love this). On IR/IC, discretion *can* be shown, and "confused tourist" is one of the listed accepted excuses, in such cases you are just charged a CHF10 on-board supplement plus fare instead of the fine.

There is no general rule in Switzerland, the TOC decides if they want to sell tickets on the train or not. The general rule is: Buy before you board. If the only available ticket machine is broken, you board the train without a ticket. No station would be closed because of this. You can call the helpline number and inform them, but you don't have to. If there is a ticket inspection, they can check the status of the ticket machine.

RPI can show discretion even on regional services. Happens mostly around airports ​

Travelling without a valid ticket is not a criminal offence and there is no fine (only the police can issue fines), it is a additional fee. Criminal charges may be pressed, mostly if a ticket is manipulated or forged.

I you forget your personal season ticket or your half fare card you will be charged a 5 CHF fee.

 

[Groningen]

There were plans in the Netherlands to put the fine of 50 euro much higher, but because of possible violence decided not to do.

According to Wikipedia the penalty is 7 euro to the trainticket without discount in Belgium.

 

[MisterT]

You may be offered the opportunity to pay in cash on the spot, which is up to the discretion of the ticket examiner. If you pay on the spot you'll be given a ticket which lets you complete your journey, but you can't raise a dispute. If you aren't offered the opportunity, don't want to pay on the spot, or if you can't pay in cash, an unpaid fare notice is sent to your home address (you'll have to ID yourself).

Not 'may', but 'should'. You have always the opportunity to pay on the spot, but many 'regulars' simply hand over their ID for the unpaid fare notice.

Edit: the unpaid fare notice is basically a fine in draft stage. As long as you pay within 14 days, the matter is settled and all is well. When you do not pay, the draft is changed to an actual fine, and it is handed over to the official "Centraal Justitieel Incassobureau", the official debt collection agency for the Dutch government.

 

[Giugiaro]

https://www.publico.pt/2019/01/23/sociedade/noticia/policia-colhida-comboio-gare-oriente-1859176

PORTUGAL: Police officers injured in the Oriente station when aiding the driver and ticket inspector

"A Police officer was hit by a train late Wednesday at Oriente Station in Lisbon, getting seriously injured. A colleague who accompanied her was also hit but suffered only minor injuries.

The two officers responded to a request for help issued by the train driver, whose train had just left Santa Apolonia station but stopped shortly after when a passenger attacked him and the ticket inspector for travelling without a valid ticket."

The train was held at platform 5. When the police arrived at the scene, the offender started fleeing towards platform 4 and, allegedly, pushed the officers towards an incoming train when resisting arrest.





Marvelous.

 

[MarcVD]

Belgium : strict buy before you board police, there are ticket windows and/or vending machines in each station. Boarding without ticket is not an offense, though, the ticket will just be more expensive when sold in the train than on the ground. Currently 7 Euros more. Only obvious fare evaders are fined and/or prosecuted.

On the other hand, control on board is not very strict. People working on that are clearly not always very motivated (I try to remain polite) and I frequently travel without ever seeing the guard, even on long trips. On the line I use the most, I would say that only one third of my tickets have been checked. The fact that many trains are formed with EMUs or DMUs that do not allow passage between them further complicate the controls : if you want to play fare evasion, just board the unit that the guard won't be in, and you are safe till the next stop...

 

[Groningen]

There was months an uproar in Belgium that guards had to wear nameplates. Not good for privacy!

In Germany the fare gets doubled to at least 60 euro with die Bahn.

 

[30907]

In Germany the fare gets doubled to at least 60 euro with die Bahn.

Think this only applies in urban/Regional services, where the only on-board checks are random. Not buying before you board/using the TVM on-board immediately is evidence of Schwarzfahren - and there is a lot of it!

DB Fernverkehr still operates the Bordpreis (buy-on-board supplement) provided you ask at the first ticket check (checks are regular). Not sure what happens if you try to hide in the proverbial loo on an IC/E...

 

[atraindriver]

<deleted>

 

[Matt_pool]

On the metro and trams in Prague you get plain clothes inspectors doing spot checks.

If you haven't validated your ticket, or if you haven't validated it correctly (by putting it in the machine the wrong way round, upside down etc) or if you have validated it more than once, you get an 800CZK (about £27) fine which is reduced to 400CZK (about £13.50) if you pay on the spot.

And if you can't produce valid ID the inspectors call the police. There are no ticket barriers at the metro stations, but there are big signs in Czech and English reminding people to validate their ticket if they haven't already done so. Tourists are a good target, but there is no excuse for not doing your research beforehand.

It's a bit more draconian in Bratislava. If you haven't validated your ticket within 15 seconds of the doors on the bus or tram closing, the validation machines are deactivated until the next stop. And if you get caught by an inspector you get a €50 fine.

 

[Mag_seven]

If you haven't validated your ticket within 15 seconds of the doors on the bus or tram closing, the validation machines are deactivated until the next stop

I thought that was only when an inspector boarded as described in this thread:

https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/bratislava-trams.152930/

We found out later that when the inspector boards the bus these validating machines were turned off.

 

[Craig2601]

In italy it’s like an onboard show watching staff try to catch fare evaders on the double deck trains - often watching for them coming and splitting up. When a guard caught a fare evader it was certainly no nonsense - were told to get off or police would be meeting the train at Ancona!

 

[swt class 450]

It seems to vary by country and by type of train. In some countries they will just simply sell you a ticket (often with a surcharge) and if you dont pay then they will just kick you off at the next stop. Whilst in others they have penalty fare systems in place.

Some countries (like Germany for example) seem to employ thug type RPIs who can get very violent and aggressive towards passengers. They are a lot worse than our RPIs.

Here is a summary of how they deal with people without tickets in various Mainland European countries:

• Austria:
· Intercity (and certain Regional trains): If you don't have a ticket then the Guard will simply sell you one onboard. There is a surcharge of 3.00EUR if you boarded at a station with a ticket office or ticket machine but there is no surcharge if you boarded at a station without a ticket office or ticket machine or they were closed or not working. If you refuse to pay then they will just make you get off the train.
· Suburban (and certain Regional trains): A penalty fare system apples. If you don't have a valid ticket and an RPI boards then you will have to pay a penalty fare of 105.00EUR if paid on the spot or 135.00EUR if you do not pay on the spot.

• Belgium:
· All Trains: If you don't have a ticket then the Guard will simply sell you one onboard. There is a surcharge of 7.00EUR if you boarded at a station with a ticket office or ticket machine but there is no surcharge if you boarded at a station without a ticket office or ticket machine or they were closed or not working. If you refuse to pay then they will just make you get off the train.

• Denmark:
· Not too sure.

• France:
· Intercity (TGV/OUIGO/IZY/THALYS) trains: If you don't have a ticket then the Guard will simply sell you one onboard. There is a surcharge of 10.00EUR if you boarded at a station with a ticket office or ticket machine but there is no surcharge if you boarded at a station without a ticket office or ticket machine or they were closed or not working. If you refuse to pay then they will just make you get off the train.
· Regional (TER) trains: If you don't have a ticket then the Guard will simply sell you one onboard. There is a small surcharge (prices vary) if you boarded at a station with a ticket office or ticket machine but there is no surcharge if you boarded at a station without a ticket office or ticket machine or they were closed or not working. If you refuse to pay then they will just make you get off the train.
· Suburban (Transilien) trains: A penalty fare system apples. If you don't have a valid ticket and an RPI boards then you will have to pay a penalty fare of 45.00EUR total.

• Germany:
· Intercity (EC/IC/ICE) Trains: If you don't have a ticket then the Guard will simply sell you one onboard. There is a surcharge of 19.00EUR if you boarded at a station with a ticket office or ticket machine but there is no surcharge if you boarded at a station without a ticket office or ticket machine or they were closed or not working. If you refuse to pay then they will just make you get off the train.
· Regional (IRE/RB/RE) Trains: If you don't have a ticket then the Guard will simply sell you one onboard. There is a surcharge of 10% of the price of the ticket you wish to purchase (but not less than a surcharge of 2.00EUR) if you boarded at a station with a ticket office or ticket machine but there is no surcharge if you boarded at a station without a ticket office or ticket machine or they were closed or not working. If you refuse to pay then they will just make you get off the train.
· Suburban (S) Trains: A penalty fare system apples. If you don't have a valid ticket and an RPI boards then you will have to pay a penalty fare of 60.00EUR total.
· Private Operators: There are over 50 different private train operators in Germany. Different rules apply on different TOCs.

• Greece:
· Not too sure.

• Ireland:
· All Trains: A penalty fare system apples. If you don't have a valid ticket and an RPI boards then you will have to pay a penalty fare of 100.00EUR total.

• Italy:
· Not too sure. You can definitely buy on board on some trains (mainly the long distance intercity and high speed ones).

• Luxembourg:
· All Trains: If you don't have a ticket then the Guard will simply sell you one onboard. There is a surcharge of 1.00EUR if you boarded at a station with a ticket office or ticket machine but there is no surcharge if you boarded at a station without a ticket office or ticket machine or they were closed or not working. If you refuse to pay then they will just make you get off the train.

• Netherlands:
· All Trains: A penalty fare system apples. If you don't have a valid ticket and an RPI boards then you will have to pay a penalty fare of 50.00EUR total.

• Norway:
· All Trains: If you don't have a ticket then the Guard will simply sell you one onboard. There is a surcharge of 40.00NOK if you boarded at a station with a ticket office or ticket machine but there is no surcharge if you boarded at a station without a ticket office or ticket machine or they were closed or not working. If you refuse to pay then they will just make you get off the train.

• Portugal:
· Not too sure.

• Spain:
· Not too sure.

• Sweden:
· All Trains: If you don't have a ticket then the Guard will simply sell you one onboard (except for SL Stockholm suburban trains which have penalty fares). There is a surcharge (prices vary) if you boarded at a station with a ticket office or ticket machine but there is no surcharge if you boarded at a station without a ticket office or ticket machine or they were closed or not working. If you refuse to pay then they will just make you get off the train. ****Note that all Swedish train operators are card only onboard. I am unsure what happens if you only have cash. Perhaps they would just let you travel for free****

• Switzerland:
· Intercity Trains: If you don't have a ticket then the Guard will simply sell you one onboard. There is a surcharge of 10.00CHF if you boarded at a station with a ticket office or ticket machine but there is no surcharge if you boarded at a station without a ticket office or ticket machine or they were closed or not working. If you refuse to pay then they will just make you get off the train.
· Regional and Suburban Trains: A penalty fare system apples. If you don't have a valid ticket and an RPI boards then you will have to pay a penalty fare of 90.00CHF or 130.00CHF or 160.00CHF (depending on the circumstances) total.

• Eastern Europe ( Albania / Belarus / Bosnia & Herzegovina / Bulgaria / Croatia / Czech Republic / Estonia / Finland / Hungary / Kosovo / Latvia / Lithuania / Macedonia / Moldova / Montenegro / Poland / Romania / Russia / Serbia / Slovakia / Slovenia / Transnistria / Ukraine ):
· All Trains: If you don't have a ticket then the Guard will simply sell you one onboard. There is normally a small surcharge (prices vary) if you boarded at a station with a ticket office or ticket machine but there is no surcharge if you boarded at a station without a ticket office or ticket machine or they were closed or not working. If you refuse to pay then they will just make you get off the train.

This is just for mainline trains. Different rules (normally including penalty fares) apply for metro and tram and bus systems across Europe. The local transport often has much stricter rules than the mainline railways.

I much prefer the method where you can just buy on the train if you don't have a ticket. It makes it much more fair. These penalty fare systems catch out far too many honest people who did not intend to fare evade. I am sure all these countries make huge profits from dishing out penalty fares to tourists who make honest mistakes.

 

[30907]

Thanks for the detailed list; a couple of comments:

Germany - some regions operate a PF system like S-bahn routes.
"Kein Einstieg ohne gueltiger Fahrkarte" or similar appears by train doors, and stations have TVMs. And yes, sometimes locals get PF'ed when they think it's unfair.
Poland - IIRC on regional trains you have to join the train by the guard's door and get your ticket immediately to avoid a PF. Don't know if this applies on the newer local operators.

 

[WideRanger]

What are you asking exactly? The procedure in other countries, or how strictly the rules are enforced, or how hard it is to get away with not paying?

In Japan you can buy a ticket (or excess your not-fully-valid ticket) at your destination in the majority of the country, except on very rural lines.

Virtually all stations in Japan have a clear gateline for both entry and exit and so fare evasion is quite uncommon. But as mentioned, you always have the right to pay any excess at your destination for the standard fare. So if you don't have a ticket for the whole journey, there's not a lot they can do until you get to the final gateline. There are some people who evade by take extremely long journeys, carefully making sure that they finish the journey at remote stations where there is no gateline, but on a train without a virtual gateline on exit from the train. But there really is significant stigma about doing this so it's not common. And in the (unlikely) event that you were caught, you could become the focus of the local police (because they don't have a lot else on, much of the time), and that could be a rather unpleasant experience.

There is a big difference however, with supplement tickets for premium trains or carriages. These are enforced rigorously on board, and you will be made to buy the supplement on board, sometimes with a smallish extra fee. Culturally, this is not considered to be evasion, just not buying the supplement ticket before boarding. It's quite common for people with a season ticket in standard class to go into the Green (First class) carriages spontaneously, and pay the extra fee on board.

 

[dutchflyer]

2 notes:
other as above suggested IDs do NOT have adresses on them, in general, the amount of work changing them when moving home would be enormous. many however now have chips which are very easy and quick to register. The ultimate of this is China-where f.e. boarding lists for ships can be done in seconds that way-compare that with EURO*.
1234 on DE; NO, onboard sale in local trains has been suspended, at least by DB, since several years- KiN (kundenbetreuer im nahverkehr, the current term) cannot even sell. As most of DE is anyway covered by tariff-unions=Verkehrsverbnund, in these you MUST have a ticket before boarding and most trains carry labels proclaiming that. And thats daft easy: you an already buy the ticket for all the way in the bus to the station.as its by zone and includes any transportation in between. Without a ticket means fraudulent travel, finable with 60 eur-more if repeats in a certain time.
Nasty entry-gates are much more common in suburban train-areas, like in PT around Lisboa, all Cercanias in ES, the SL-trains around Stockholm, all locallines in Turkish cities, etc. These simply function like metro's.

 

[LesS]

The system in Australia varies from Sate to Sate and City to City.
For Sydney:
The very strict rule is that you MUST have a valid ticket before boarding, either train or bus. A valid ticket is either and OPAL card (like Oyster) which has been tapped on or a single trip ticket obtained from a TVM. No tap on means no valid ticket. On train ticket checks are very frequent. The fine is an Instant A$200. Recently I have noticed that details have been taken electronically meaning that a mailed document must follow. No money is handled on the train.
Sometimes interesting ticket check practices occur. A few years ago I tapped on at Central and on the approach to the train a team of ticket staff were checking all tickets. On several of the distant lines with few services ticket checks seem to be rare.
On another occasion I was overtime on my trip when a ticket check occurred. Without any suspicious circumstance they did not look further and the overtime was not detected. Had they read the card details they would have found it. Technically I believe that this would be an invalid ticket once past the time limit.

The systems in other cities varies and I am not familiar with them.

 

[axlecounter]

• Switzerland:

· Intercity Trains: If you don't have a ticket then the Guard will simply sell you one onboard. There is a surcharge of 10.00CHF if you boarded at a station with a ticket office or ticket machine but there is no surcharge if you boarded at a station without a ticket office or ticket machine or they were closed or not working. If you refuse to pay then they will just make you get off the train.

Not really. If you don’t have a valid ticket (at all) the Guard might sell you a ticket, but it is up to the Guard to decide wheter it is appropriate or not. In case not you’d get a fine (90CHF) + Ticket price.

 

[AY1975]

• France:
· Intercity (TGV/OUIGO/IZY/THALYS) trains: If you don't have a ticket then the Guard will simply sell you one onboard. There is a surcharge of 10.00EUR if you boarded at a station with a ticket office or ticket machine but there is no surcharge if you boarded at a station without a ticket office or ticket machine or they were closed or not working. If you refuse to pay then they will just make you get off the train.
· Regional (TER) trains: If you don't have a ticket then the Guard will simply sell you one onboard. There is a small surcharge (prices vary) if you boarded at a station with a ticket office or ticket machine but there is no surcharge if you boarded at a station without a ticket office or ticket machine or they were closed or not working. If you refuse to pay then they will just make you get off the train.
· Suburban (Transilien) trains: A penalty fare system apples. If you don't have a valid ticket and an RPI boards then you will have to pay a penalty fare of 45.00EUR total.

I thought the 10 Euro surcharge, called the "tarif de bord" (like the "Bordpreis" in Germany), only applied if you approached the guard before departure or as soon as you boarded the train - if you waited for the guard to approach you, you would be charged a much higher penalty fare (known as the "tarif de contrôle"). That is, unless you board at an unstaffed station with no working ticket machine.

Other important points about France:

If you have a ticket issued on standard SNCF ticket stock, you must validate ("composter") it by inserting it into the yellow validator ("composteur") at the platform entrance. Forgetting to validate your ticket will also result in a penalty fare unless you find the guard before they find you. Mobile tickets, print-at-home tickets, tickets issued by operators other than SNCF, and rail passes (such as Interrail or Eurail) do not need to be validated.

Some validators will work no matter which end and which side of your ticket you insert into it, and some will only work if you insert the left-hand side, face down.

Some main line stations in France now have access gates, but where these are in use you still need to validate your ticket before going through them if you have a standard SNCF ticket.

If you board at an unstaffed station with no working ticket machine, you can simply buy a ticket onboard, but the guard will only be able to sell you a single, so on the return leg of your journey, if you are boarding at a station with a ticket office or machine, you will need to allow sufficient time to buy a ticket.

TGV, Ouigo, Izy and Thalys trains (and some conventional long-distance trains) have compulsory reservation, so you will need a ticket before boarding anyway.

From my experience, SNCF guards tend to be much more lax with on-train checks than in countries such as Germany and Switzerland - they only tend to come round once during a train's entire journey, if at all, rather than after every station call. I once got on an SNCF TER train at a rural unstaffed halt, and looked for the guard but couldn't find them so I ended up having a free ride through no fault of my own! Best not to chance it, though.

 

[AY1975]

• Italy:
· Not too sure. You can definitely buy on board on some trains (mainly the long distance intercity and high speed ones).

I thought you had to buy before boarding on most if not all trains in Italy.

Italy also has ticket validators similar to those in France (or certainly did when I was last there 20 years ago - see my comment on France above) so standard Trenitalia tickets need to be validated before boarding.