Priv tickets - help needed

[Billy Hicks]

Wondered if you could help me clear up something that my elderly grandmother has told me and has left me rather confused.

My grandfather Peter Welch worked at British Rail for twenty years, from the 1960s to the early 1980s - as did my grandmother for a brief time around that era. This means that both of them and their four children received 'priv' discounts, a set number of free journeys for him and her and quarter-fare for everyone else. These continued after he retired so my mother was still able to get quarter fare until around the time she started university.

He passed away in 1994, but my grandmother tells me she was still able to use her set amount of free/quarter fare journeys per year. However, shortly after he passed away, my grandmother - still in a bad place after the loss of her husband - had her travel pass taken away from her from a stubborn guard on a train and was never given it back. She's sketchy on the details as it's going back to a time she was still in mourning, but I believe that being in a bad place she'd somehow made an error with the free travel (I'm not sure fully how it works - she might have forgotten to buy a ticket, or filled in the wrong box, I don't know) and was not able to articulate her mistake to the guard, leading him to believe she was basically fare dodging and confiscated the pass. She never followed it up and has had to travel at full price (she now at least has a Senior Railcard) ever since.

I'm guessing nothing can be done now as the events above took place around 20 years ago. All I know is that the rest of her family were extremely annoyed that the card was taken away from her but nothing was eventually done. Presumably a lost cause? She's elderly and has very little money now, and it's a shame her entitlement was unfairly taken away.

Any help available would be appreciated, thanks!

 

[CaptainHaddock]

You're probably best off contacting RSTL. It's a long shot after all this time, but maybe they have a database of all retired rail employees and their spouses and might be able to confirm your granmother's eligibility and send her out a new priv pass?

http://www.atoc.org/about-atoc/rail-staff-travel/contacts/

 

[Haywain]

In this case it is more appropriate to contact Railway Pensions at Darlington. They are more likely to have the relevant information.

 

[CyrusWuff]

In this case it is more appropriate to contact Railway Pensions at Darlington. They are more likely to have the relevant information.

Rail Staff Travel took over responsibility for administration of travel facilities for (most) Retired Staff a while back. However, the guidelines for dealing with misuse of travel facilities are withdrawal for at least a year, and possibly permanently. I believe the alleged "offender" should be given an opportunity to give their side of the story, however.

In this case, however, I suspect that ship has long since sailed due to the period of time that's passed.

 

[9K43]

If your grand dad was in the NUR/ RMT the Union may take an interest about a deceased member.
My wife and I get our free passes every spring.

Try speaking to some officers of the RMT based at Doncaster you may have some help from the Union.

 

[Andrew1395]

Remember you need to know what railway undertaking your father worked for. If it was a business sold prior to 1993, national carriers, workshops, hotels, sea link, etc your parents would be governed by different rules. If your grandmother is in receipt of a widows railway pension quote the pension number in any correspondence it should identify your grandfathers service and travel entitlement.

 

[reb0118]

I find this very odd. Either the guard reported the irregularity and this was followed up but then your grandmother would have received feedback and should know why she no longer has a pass. (I suppose any correspondence may have got lost in the post?)

Or:-

The guard did not report the matter but retained, and presumably disposed of, the pass. In this case a new pass would have been sent out as normal the following March as long as your Grandmother remained eligible.

 

[greatkingrat]

Did she move house around the time that this happened?

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

Presumably your grandmother is receiving her Widow's pension correctly - (half her husband's rate)? Staff travel for retired staff was dealt with by Railway Pensions until 2011 when RSTL took it over directly, so all her details would have been passed across. Her 'box' card (April to June) should have been sent automatically each year. This obviously has not happened and I suspect she probably tried to present (unwittingly) the last (and out of-date) card she had. If the guard had reported this a letter would have been sent about the irregularity so it is worth contacting RSTL to resolve the situation.

 

[Mutant Lemming]

If your grand dad was in the NUR/ RMT the Union may take an interest about a deceased member.
My wife and I get our free passes every spring.

Try speaking to some officers of the RMT based at Doncaster you may have some help from the Union.

Unless he was in ASLEF and then the RMT are unlikely to do anything.

 

[Billy Hicks]

Did she move house around the time that this happened?

...she did. About a year later though. It was a stressful time for her for quite a few years, so maybe something did get sent and it just got lost in the confusion.

Thanks everyone, I'll try contacting said places. It's no problem if nothing can be done, I just found the story extremely odd given that, as mentioned, it's not within a train guard's right to confiscate the form. Will chase this up!

 

[LowLevel]

...she did. About a year later though. It was a stressful time for her for quite a few years, so maybe something did get sent and it just got lost in the confusion.

Thanks everyone, I'll try contacting said places. It's no problem if nothing can be done, I just found the story extremely odd given that, as mentioned, it's not within a train guard's right to confiscate the form. Will chase this up!

A train guard is well within their right to withdraw any staff travel pass for misuse but must issue a receipt and a zero fare excess to complete the journey (the ZF excess correctly endorsed is an acceptable receipt).