East Midlands Trains have had this silly policy for years; the situation on the Matlock line is particularly bizarre, as only Duffield and Belper are penalty fares stations, and passengers are very much in the habit of buying tickets from the conductor on the train even from Duffield and Belper (it does not help that the ticket machines at these stations are very erratic, and they have no staff). The conductor gives no impression that they are doing anything wrong, despite the existence of a PF policy and the clear presence of signage at Belper (I personally think the signage at Duffield is insufficient, but it is still officially a penalty fares station). They even allow discounted tickets to be sold despite the presence of ticket machines (and on the occasions when these are in full working order).
On the four or five occasions in a year when RPIs do venture down this route, they come down on the Duffield and Belper passengers like a ton of bricks, and I’ve observed (it was my local line for some years) the occasional very nasty argument between a passenger and two RPIs, one of which resulted in BTP presence on arrival at Derby... ‘But I bought my ticket on the train yesterday...’ ‘You can’t, it’s not allowed, Belper is a penalty fares station...’ ‘But if I bought it on the train yesterday, why can’t I today?’ ‘Because it’s against the law...’ Cue a sickening expletive ridden rant from the irate passenger, who then spat at the poor hapless RPIs who were simply enforcing policy (‘we don’t make the rules, we just have to enforce them’), resulting in the summoning of BTP. While the passenger’s behaviour in that instance was absolutely disgusting, and they were quite rightly prosecuted, I don’t think inconsistency of this kind (you can buy your tickets on the train some days but not others, depending on the grade of the staff member who happens to be doing the inspection) assists the travelling public and a much clearer, more unequivocal and much fairer policy is needed for penalty fares areas. I sometimes feel that UK TOCs could learn a lot from their continental European counterparts if they want to be serious but fair in enforcing penalty fares.
Greater Anglia have achieved a sensible compromise, I think: guards will still sell tickets in PF areas (on the Norwich main line, for instance), but will only sell anytime fares, and will draw a passenger’s attention very clearly to a penalty fares warning printed on the back of a ticket. This to me seems a much fairer and clearer policy, and more helpful to the passenger.
