ScotRail fare dodgers to pay £30 penalty

[yorkie]

I hope it is worded better than that...

Passenger boards at Alloa
Guard checks tickets on the approach to Larbert
Passenger claims to have boarded at Stirling (gates open)

Which station is closer, Alloa or Stirling?

As we're not talking about theoretical helicopter travel, Stirling is clearly closer than Alloa.

 

[scotraildriver]

This is aimed at the huge number of pax arriving at Queen St who claim to have boarded at Bishopbriggs. Bishopbriggs is regularly ring fenced in the morning peak so that everyone there has a ticket, but the number of pax who claimed to have boarded there is huge - its not a small minority by any means. Many having boarded at Stirling, Dunblane and beyond. One chap caught recently was known to have claimed to getting away with it for 20 years...............

 

[motherwell334]

Other one is "single from Bridgeton" whilst trying to exit argyle street

 

[Altnabreac]

They went through a period a while back where they were very strict about this - to the point where I was regularly being refused railcard discounts on board because some staff at a certain station liked to take extended cigarette breaks "carry out essential station maintenance". Many RTVs were received for that!

This seems silly all in all. I agree with the OP - perhaps I've read too much of "disputes and prosecutions" but even though I always pay my fare, I feel much more comfortable on Scotrail than I do traveling in England because I know I won't risk prosecution for an honest mistake. Although, I am one of the vast majority for whom it would be an honest mistake.

But then, this all seems a bit weak. It only applies (if the article is correct) in situations where passengers claim to have boarded at a station where they did not board in order to secure a cheaper fare. In which case, I can't imagine very many of these will be issued Imagine - someone gets to the barriers at Queen Street and asks for a return from (unmanned station) Carntyne. What evidence is there to the contrary? It's a perfectly reasonable origin point. They surely can't issue this fare without some evidence to suggest that they could not have boarded at that station, which would probably only be the case if there was a revenue blockade at the station in question.

If the article's not entirely accurate and "buy before you board" will be strictly enforced for all, you're going to have a problem. I cannot believe how many times I've been refused sale of a ticket before boarding a train - being told to get it on board! (Hamilton West being the biggest offender, albeit this was many years ago). In many cases, leading to free travel because there was no other opportunity to buy! :roll:

Some ticket office staff are less than useful. One south Glasgow suburban station recently I was refused sale of tickets that didn't start at that station (point to point suburban Strathclyde tickets for travel later that day, not some obscure english travelpass). If you're going to have that attitude then a ticket office is no more use than a TVM.

By contrast Strathclyde TIs are nearly all excellent in selling obscure fares, as are the majority of Scotrail Guards.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Some ticket office staff are less than useful. One south Glasgow suburban station recently I was refused sale of tickets that didn't start at that station (point to point suburban Strathclyde tickets for travel later that day, not some obscure english travelpass). If you're going to have that attitude then a ticket office is no more use than a TVM.

Quite. Any long-term future of ticket offices has to be predicated on quality, professional and wide-ranging service. You can be sure that if a TVM can do everything a ticket office will do, the ticket office will not have long to live.