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What happens if you get on the wrong train?

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TSR :D

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Let's say if you're hurrying to the platform not realising that you're on wrong platform and got on wrong train.

What should you do in this case? Seeing you have got ticket but this train goes nowhere near the destination stated on the ticket.
 
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LexyBoy

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Let's say if you're hurrying to the platform not realising that you're on wrong platform and got on wrong train.

What should you do in this case? Seeing you have got ticket but this train goes nowhere near the destination stated on the ticket.

Let the TM/guard know asap; generally they will give permission to travel back on the next train. You could legitimately be charged the appropriate fare for the unintende journey though.

 

TSR :D

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Let the TM/guard know asap; generally they will give permission to travel back on the next train. You could legitimately be charged the appropriate fare for the unintende journey though.

Is getting their permission in writing necessary?
 

SWTDesiro

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If you accidentally board a commuter or suburban train let's say you could get off at the next stop and take a return train. If you board an InterCity or Express train where the next stop is very far away you should inform the conductor who can allow you to return back.
 

Jeremy B

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I wouldn't be surprised if someone traveling from say Kings Cross to Finsbury Park doesn't accidentally board an East Coast train with a first scheduled stop of York
 

SussexMan

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Let the TM/guard know asap; generally they will give permission to travel back on the next train. You could legitimately be charged....


Couldn't that equally have said

Let the TM/guard know asap; generally they will give permission to travel back on the next train. You could legitimately be charged under the Railway Byelaws and end up having to pay a few hundred pounds to settle out of court.
 

trainophile

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Similarly I've wondered what would happen if you fall asleep and go past your destination. Probably have to buy a new ticket to get back I guess?
 

David

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Similarly I've wondered what would happen if you fall asleep and go past your destination. Probably have to buy a new ticket to get back I guess?

If it's a short distance, then guards (if approached and asked very nicely) will usually turn a blind eye.

However, if your on an advance and your over carried by nearly 200 miles, then ker-ching! (Yes, I've been caught out like this before :oops:)
 

exile

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If you board the wrong train you've committed this offence:-

Railway bylaw 18. Ticketless travel in non-compulsory ticket areas
(1) In any area not designated as a compulsory ticket area, no person shall enter
any train for the purpose of travelling on the railway unless he has with him a
valid ticket entitling him to travel.
 

ainsworth74

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If you board the wrong train you've committed this offence:-

Though that of course only applies if none of the provisions of section three apply:

(3) No person shall be in breach of Byelaw 18(1) or 18(2) if:

(i) there were no facilities in working order for the issue or validation of any ticket at the time when, and the station where, he began his journey; or

(ii) there was a notice at the station where he began his journey permitting journeys to be started without a valid ticket; or

(iii) an authorised person gave him permission to travel without a
valid ticket.
 

pemma

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Similarly I've wondered what would happen if you fall asleep and go past your destination. Probably have to buy a new ticket to get back I guess?

I've seen a similar situation to this on Virgin Trains. Train stopped at Stoke, woman who wanted Stoke didn't realise the train was so close to Stoke and had gone to use the toilet. She rushed through the train to the doors but couldn't alight before the doors closed. The next stop was Milton Keynes. The passenger had remained stood by the door with her bags, when the ticket inspector came around he had a long conversation with her (don't know what was said) but it didn't look like she was given an unpaid fares notice or sold a new ticket.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
If you board the wrong train you've committed this offence:-

Railway bylaw 18. Ticketless travel in non-compulsory ticket areas
(1) In any area not designated as a compulsory ticket area, no person shall enter
any train for the purpose of travelling on the railway unless he has with him a
valid ticket entitling him to travel.

What happens if there is an incorrect station announcement, the train is showing the wrong destination on it's blind or a platform alteration is not announced? Does the operator/station management breach any rules in those circumstances?
 

Pen Mill

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I had a confusing situation in May at Man Picc.
I'd looked up a Virgin train on NRE that was going to Crewe at 10:55 Saturday.

I got on the train ,sat down with a few minutes to spare and saw the in-train digital info which said it was calling at Stockport , Stoke & Stafford.
I panicked and got off because there wasn't a staff member available.

I e-mailed NRE who responded that they had checked with Virgin (which I also did later) and the train did stop at Crewe.
The "calling at" info wasn't showing on the platform.

Fortunately ,It wasn't time critical and I got a Northern train 12 minutes later.
 

GadgetMan

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Unless I have any reason to doubt the passenger then I will endorse their ticket to allow them to travel back and start again. I have the pleasure of working at a smallish depot so the diagrams come round often......if I come across the same person again in a short space of time then they will have the book thrown them.

Some people will be offered a soft approach but then dig themselves into a hole. The guard will suggest they should get off at station X and there will be a train in the other direction in 10 mins. "Is it ok if I change at station Y instead?" comes the response. After a bit more questioning this 'mistake' turns into a plan to meet a friend at station Y and travel together etc.:roll:
 

6Gman

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Similarly I've wondered what would happen if you fall asleep and go past your destination. Probably have to buy a new ticket to get back I guess?

I was brought up on a story of a set of Holyhead men going "on the cushions" to Crewe, falling asleep en route and waking in Stafford.

At which point the fireman looked at the driver and asked "Ydi Stafford yn dod o flaen Crewe?" [Does Stafford come before Crewe?].

Personally I thought it was all part of 6G men being of the view that 6J men were not the brightest!

:D
 

Cletus

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I was on the walkway at Clapham Junction recently, I looked for the destination required - Wimbledon - the screen said next train platform X. I rushed down, got on the train, sat down & looked at the stopping pattern & it said 1st stop Woking! I (and 2 other men) got up to leave, but train pulled away.
So I sat down and awaited my fate from someone asking for my ticket. No-one did, so I got off at Woking, bought a single and made my way back into London, my ticket wasn't checked on the way back either.

Judging by the fact that 3 if us did the same thing on 1 train, presumably it's a regular occurrence?
 

yorkie

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To answer the OP: it would surely depend on the circumstances and I don't believe there is enough information supplied to answer the question.
I got on the train ,sat down with a few minutes to spare and saw the in-train digital info which said it was calling at Stockport , Stoke & Stafford.
I panicked and got off because there wasn't a staff member available.
But Stockport is before Stoke or Crewe, so you could have got off there.
 

Essexman

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Yesterday on Transpennine from York to Scarborough as we stopped at Malton announced that the two passengers with tickets to London should get off here and take the train back to York which would be arriving on the same platform in a few minutes. Two chinese looking tourists with luggage got out.

I did a similar thing in Brussels once. Rushed up steps and jumped on a train which I thought was going to Amsterdam, only for doors to shut and it head off the other way. Guard didn't speak English but understood enough to let me get off at first stop without having to pay.
 

FManc

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I always feel sorry for the people that leave their farewells far too late at Euston and next thing you know the doors have locked and the next stop is Crewe or Stoke. eeeeek.
 

causton

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I always feel sorry for the people that leave their farewells far too late at Euston and next thing you know the doors have locked and the next stop is Crewe or Stoke. eeeeek.

That's why IMO farewells should be done off the train!

I guess it happened to me before, I naively assumed all c2c trains from West Ham stopped at Barking... until I ended up in Laindon!

Luckily there were about 20 of us who had done it and we all ended up getting let back on the next train in... an all stations one though :(
 

craigwilson

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I had a confusing situation in May at Man Picc.
I'd looked up a Virgin train on NRE that was going to Crewe at 10:55 Saturday.

I got on the train ,sat down with a few minutes to spare and saw the in-train digital info which said it was calling at Stockport , Stoke & Stafford.
I panicked and got off because there wasn't a staff member available.

I e-mailed NRE who responded that they had checked with Virgin (which I also did later) and the train did stop at Crewe.
The "calling at" info wasn't showing on the platform.

Fortunately ,It wasn't time critical and I got a Northern train 12 minutes later.

That's odd because I was sure that all the xx:55 services went Manchester-Stockport-Wilmslow-Crewe-Euston.

Maybe it was a mis-set customer info display?
 

The Colonel

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Well when Oi gets 'em at my ticket window I tell 'em to get the next train from Platform One, over the footbridge at Raynes Park on to Platfrom 3 - the straight one - and get the train to where they thought they were going in the first place. Never seen 'em back yet . . :lol:

Usually happens once a week. I can't believe that the Waterloo CIS screens AND the internal on train ones AND the guards announcements were ALL wrong for that particular journey :)

Today saw two ladies get on at Esher who had wanted Hampton Court - from thier non-stop yakking on the way back I suspect thats why they missed the right train in the first place.
 

district

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Similarly I've wondered what would happen if you fall asleep and go past your destination. Probably have to buy a new ticket to get back I guess?

I fell asleep on a train from Ashford to Brighton, and ended up at Bexhill. I told the guard of the train I fell asleep on after we departed St. Leonards Warrior Square (when I woke up) who told me to board the next train back. I also informed the guard of that train. Both were fine with it.
 

NathanPrior

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Similarly I've wondered what would happen if you fall asleep and go past your destination. Probably have to buy a new ticket to get back I guess?

Saw someone do this, they wanted to go to Watford Junction but woke up at Nuneaton, just very slightly off course.
 

Pen Mill

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To answer the OP: it would surely depend on the circumstances and I don't believe there is enough information supplied to answer the question.

But Stockport is before Stoke or Crewe, so you could have got off there.
True enough. I suppose it could've given me time to find out but I just flapped !
 

adc82140

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Dozed off once after a night shift- missed Farnborough, woke up just outside Basingstoke. Told the guard what I had done, he just laughed at me and pointed me towards the next train back, and advised me to seek out the guard of that train too.
 

snail

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I wouldn't be surprised if someone traveling from say Kings Cross to Finsbury Park doesn't accidentally board an East Coast train with a first scheduled stop of York
I've accidentally boarded the evening Virgin non-stop service to Glasgow from Preston more than once intending to go no farther than Lancaster. On each occasion it was late running and arrived around the time a Lancaster stopper was due. Fortunately I've never actually travelled on it as there are plenty of announcements! :oops:
 

calc7

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We made a sneaky stop at Nuneaton the other day (front coach only in the platform) to let a bloke out of the cab door who'd managed to not be able to operate the door at Stafford, his intended station to alight. It was next stop Euston.
 
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