Staff duty travel passes - is their usage monitored?

[43066]

A general question really. Many railway staff are issued with duty travel passes, which open all national rail ticket barriers network wide, and which are only allowed to be used in certain limited circumstances; in particular, they are not allowed to be used for leisure or residential travel.

There is clearly scope for misuse of these passes, so I wondered whether there is any centralised database by which their usage is monitored so that improper travel patterns could be picked up (a la TfL Oyster cards), or is the system entirely reliant on people using such passes being challenged at gatelines?

 

[Haywain]

A general question really. Many railway staff are issued with duty travel passes, which open all national rail ticket barriers network wide, and which are only allowed to be used in certain limited circumstances; in particular, they are not allowed to be used for leisure or residential travel.

Is there any centralised database by which usage of these is monitored, so that improper travel patterns could be picked up, a la TfL Oyster cards? Or is the system entirely reliant on people using such passes being challenged at gatelines?

I don't know the answer to your question but would say that all electronic tickets have the potential to be monitored.

 

[baz962]

Possibly could be but an ex colleague that you (43066) know used to use it for residential travel if he was waiting to be let through a barrier on a toc that we get free travel on and was possibly going to miss his train. Nothing ever got said.

 

[RPI]

Yes, all staff travel is now monitored by RDG, RDG will present the relevant TOC with any irregular patterns etc and it's then up to the TOC what further investigation/action to take.

 

[Sheffcaster202]

I’m unsure about monitoring but imagine with all smart cards their history can be checked.

In terms of usage, which is detailed on the back, they are for booked work only, when accompanied by a diagram showing which train you should be travelling as a passenger on.

In reality when checking tickets and you have a fully uniformed member of staff, kit bag with them, freight driver in grubby oranges etc you soon establish you don’t need to check the diagram and right to travel etc. little bit of a chat about where you’re off to, if it’s good or bad and you soon have the answers without even needing to check anything.

People flashing you a priv or spouses priv (non safe guarded) with no ticket, a ‘can I hitch a freebie?’ and assuming a free ride for leisure is a far far more common misuse from my own experience!

Attached is full usage rules from my own card.

 

[Hadders]

I've no inside knowledge about this specific query but we are increasingly seeing TOCs researching electronic travel histories when investigating ticket irregularities. If a member of staff is misusing duty travel passes then it would be very easy for a TOC to 'join the dots'.

 

[Ralph Ayres]

It must be pretty common - as baz962 mentions - for staff to get through a gateline using a pass which opens the gates, when they are actually travelling using a different pass/ticket that needs gateline staff intervention to be allowed through (or even just for the convenience of tapping on a reader rather than wrangling a paper ticket). I've done similar things myself. Technically probably against the rules but it really wouldn't hold water if monitoring flagged it and any disciplinary action were taken, except after a formal request to stop doing it.

 

[RPI]

There certainly have been staff travel irregularities flagged recently, both staff and spouses, RDG have now made it so easy for staff to buy priv seasons as well (to smart card), no form filling required and you can buy priv weekly seasons, there's really no excuse to be bragging it now.

 

[Tallguy]

Many years ago my live in girlfriend was a driver on the District line. As we lived together I was eligible for a ‘spouse pass’ which gave me unrestricted travel on the tube and buses back then. It was drummed into me that both the staff pass and spouse pass usage was monitored and never to give it to someone else etc. it saved me a fortune in grave costs to my job and I was grateful for it, but as we have seen here in the past, these passes are monitored and if misused action is taken against the staff member concerned, which can and has led to dismissal.

 

[Wallsendmag]

A general question really. Many railway staff are issued with duty travel passes, which open all national rail ticket barriers network wide, and which are only allowed to be used in certain limited circumstances; in particular, they are not allowed to be used for leisure or residential travel.

There is clearly scope for misuse of these passes, so I wondered whether there is any centralised database by which their usage is monitored so that improper travel patterns could be picked up (a la TfL Oyster cards), or is the system entirely reliant on people using such passes being challenged at gatelines?

No they aren't, each operator chooses which TOC passes they will accept at their gates and some TOCs don't issue gate passes to all staff. Yes it is very very easy to check the taps.

 

[LowLevel]

I'd never use my universal gate pass (Duty Authority to Travel Card) when off duty. It seems a silly own goal to be using it in places where I've no business to be doing so given it is clearly issued to an individual IE me.

 

[scrapy]

It must be pretty common - as baz962 mentions - for staff to get through a gateline using a pass which opens the gates, when they are actually travelling using a different pass/ticket that needs gateline staff intervention to be allowed through (or even just for the convenience of tapping on a reader rather than wrangling a paper ticket). I've done similar things myself. Technically probably against the rules but it really wouldn't hold water if monitoring flagged it and any disciplinary action were taken, except after a formal request to stop doing it.

I don't know that there needs to be a formal request to stop doing it as the rules are pretty clear.

I do know someone who used the duty pass to tap out of an unmanned gateline (they did have recipricol staff travel on the TOC serving that station so wasn't fare dodging, however it was well outside their own employers geographical area). A few days later they received a 'reminder' letter from RDG stating that if the pass is misused they could be subject to disciplinary action and/or have all their (and their families) leisure facilities withdrawn. None of their colleagues got this letter so is almost certainly down to one suspicious use of the pass. So I guess usage is definitely monitored.

 

[skyhigh]

I do know someone who used the duty pass to tap out of an unmanned gateline (they did have recipricol staff travel on the TOC serving that station so wasn't fare dodging, however it was well outside their own employers geographical area). A few days later they received a 'reminder' letter from RDG stating that if the pass is misused they could be subject to disciplinary action and/or have all their (and their families) leisure facilities withdrawn.

I also know someone this happened to in almost identical circumstances. There was also an email from HR asking for an explanation as to why the pass was used at that location.

 

[jamiearmley]

Wasn't there a general communication sent out a while ago : possibly before COVID : to all holders reminding them that it should only be used as intended at gatelines etc? I seem to recall this but cannot find the communication.

If my recollection is correct, then this may have been a pre emptive measure to prevent anyone 'caught' claiming they weren't aware, perhaps?

 

[MP393]

Wasn't there a general communication sent out a while ago : possibly before COVID : to all holders reminding them that it should only be used as intended at gatelines etc? I seem to recall this but cannot find the communication.

If my recollection is correct, then this may have been a pre emptive measure to prevent anyone 'caught' claiming they weren't aware, perhaps?

Came here to post the same thing, there definitely was an email sent out a while back to say they are not for use for travel off duty or for opening gate lines out of their official use

 

[357]

I can't find the thread now but about two years ago we had a guy on here who worked for GTR who's wife was using her pass to get to work. The software automatically flagged it to the TOC who stopped her. The guy lost his job over it, although there was much more that came to light in the meeting than he'd mentioned in the thread and to me prior, that kinda irritated me.

If anyone reading this now or in future is in a spot of bother, always tell your rep the entire story! They can't help you if you keep things from them!

 

[Statto]

I can't find the thread now but about two years ago we had a guy on here who worked for GTR who's wife was using her pass to get to work. The software automatically flagged it to the TOC who stopped her. The guy lost his job over it, although there was much more that came to light in the meeting than he'd mentioned in the thread and to me prior, that kinda irritated me.

If anyone reading this now or in future is in a spot of bother, always tell your rep the entire story! They can't help you if you keep things from them!

I found that thread easily enough in the search function, & here is that thread

Misuse of Spouse travel Pass

Really scared, because I don’t want to lose my job. Please need advise my partner pass was seized because shes been using her travel pass for travel everyday to work. Me and my partner hadn’t been in good terms and hardly even communicate in the house for years now sometime I don’t even stat in...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[357]

I found that thread easily enough in the search function, & here is that thread

Misuse of Spouse travel Pass

Really scared, because I don’t want to lose my job. Please need advise my partner pass was seized because shes been using her travel pass for travel everyday to work. Me and my partner hadn’t been in good terms and hardly even communicate in the house for years now sometime I don’t even stat in...

www.railforums.co.uk

Thanks. Reading back through is a bit of a Vietnam moment for me and reminds me why I won't offer any advice other than posting here anymore.

An absolutely stupid situation to get right up to the meeting after spending hours on the phone and typing up a defence for him before learning that the woman wasn't entitled to have her pass anyway.

 

[Haywain]

learning that the woman wasn't entitled to have her pass anyway.

The woman wasn't a spouse?

 

[357]

The woman wasn't a spouse?

They had a child together - unsure what their marital status was/is - but they were not living together and this was highlighted in the RDG report that was along the lines of "Staff members address is in X, this spouse pass is used from Y on the same trains every weekday, returning at the same time every weekday"