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Would you pay someone else's fare?

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radamfi

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Suppose you are on a train and there is an argument between a guard and a passenger and the train is being delayed because the passenger is refusing to pay his fare, or doesn't agree to paying an excess. Suppose also you have an urgent appointment, or important connection, so can't afford the train to be late.

Would you consider paying the passenger's fare, especially if it is only a relatively small sum, in order to get the train moving again?

Are there circumstances where the guard would refuse your money?
 
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trivran

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I'd pay the fare, have done so a couple of times, each time the money eventually found its' way back.
 

Monty

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Suppose you are on a train and there is an argument between a guard and a passenger and the train is being delayed because the passenger is refusing to pay his fare, or doesn't agree to paying an excess. Suppose also you have an urgent appointment, or important connection, so can't afford the train to be late.

Would you consider paying the passenger's fare, especially if it is only a relatively small sum, in order to get the train moving again?

Are there circumstances where the guard would refuse your money?

I'd like to think most guards would just walk away and concentrate on their door procedures and dispatch. Last thing you want is to be drawn into an argument over a fare when the train is arriving at a station. You end up being distracted, you go to your panel do a general door release and oh no! You are at a SDO station with eight coaches and the platform is only long enough for four.

I personally would either invite the passenger to leave the train or just phone ahead and see if revenue and join the train down the line. Delaying the train over a fare is silly and ends up costing the company more in fines than the loss in revenue from the fare.

And besides you should'nt have to pay, you've already had to pay once. :)
 
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If it'sa very small sum I'd pay. I have history on this as on previous journeys I've coughed up fifty pence to save an argument and eighty pence to stop an unbelievable display of arrogance by both parties. It's not right but needs must..........
 

ATW Alex 101

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I shouldn't imagine why the guard would refuse the fare, if you said you were just giving money to the passenger the guard couldnt really do anything
 

Yew

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Maybe not for a fare dispute, however if someone was a little short for their fare I think i would put a pound or two towards it, what goes around comes around after all.
 

radamfi

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I personally would either invite the passenger to leave the train or just phone ahead and see if revenue and join the train down the line. Delaying the train over a fare is silly and ends up costing the company more in fines than the loss in revenue from the fare.

It does happen, though, but probably more likely to happen up north than in SWT-land. Remember the famous incident with the 'Big Man' on Scotrail where a passenger physically threw a fellow passenger off the train?
 

Clip

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I wouldnt pay. Too much that could go wrong in such a situation like the passenger themselves getting irate for you getting involved and such like.
 

deltic1989

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Yew:1149906 said:
Maybe not for a fare dispute, however if someone was a little short for their fare I think i would put a pound or two towards it, what goes around comes around after all.

I have done this before. A fella needed to get home because his son had had an accident and the tvm wouldnt take his card and, there was no atm nearby so i payed this guys fare (something like a fiver). He insisted on taking my adress and a few days later i received the money back and a thank you note from the guy and his son. In that instance i dont mind as yew says what goes around comes around. I didnt even really expect the money back.
 

swj99

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Yes, I would. I wouldn't be particularly worried about whether they paid me back either, because as far as I'm concerned, people have done me favours and I'd just be passing the favour on to someone else who needed it.
 

Flamingo

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On a few occasions I have had people pay the fare of blatent fare-dodgers. What I won't accept is if somebody hands over an "unused" ticket to said fare-dodger.
 

Yew

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On a few occasions I have had people pay the fare of blatent fare-dodgers. What I won't accept is if somebody hands over an "unused" ticket to said fare-dodger.

Since tickets are non transferable? Or because it's the return part of an off peak return with your head code from yesterday stamped on it? :)
 

Flamingo

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. No, I don't do that. They just bought whatever bs story, like the 19 year old who thought because she was a student she qualified for a child fare - with a wallet full of adult tickets
 

radamfi

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. No, I don't do that.

Does that mean you don't delay trains when you have people who refuse to pay or does that mean you delay trains when you have people who refuse to pay and will not accept other people paying their fare to avoid the delay?
 

island

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Other than someone I know, I might possibly pay a small amount on a train. Not at a station though; I've seen people go around outside stations spinning some story about how they were kicked out of their home by their parent/family member/partner and have no money to get to their friend/other parent/cousin in [insert suitably distant station] and would you mind giving them the money for the ticket? If given the specified amount, they mysteriously don't board any train but show up again a while later to tell someone else the story, and if you offer to go with them to the booking office to buy the ticket they mysteriously decline.
 

Flamingo

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I won't delay a train over a ticket. The grey area is when said passenger becomes aggressive or abusive. If one then delays the train, some managers will still have you on the carpet for the delay as "they were sitting quiet until you approached them, you should have left them alone"
 

radamfi

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If one then delays the train, some managers will still have you on the carpet for the delay as "they were sitting quiet until you approached them, you should have left them alone"

LOL. That means you don't have to check tickets any more!
 

170401

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i find it frustrating when you know the person is a seasoned fare dodger and some other git thinks they are doing the person a big favour. Its not always the case and sometimes a Ti/PF/unpaid fares/ kicked off is the best option because at least then they get a lesson to learn.

If they keep getting bailed out they won't learn. Same go's for guards who excess child and yp tickets. It shouldn't be done it should be a completely new ticket otherwise they just keep doing it.
 

SS4

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I wouldnt pay. Too much that could go wrong in such a situation like the passenger themselves getting irate for you getting involved and such like.

I agree. After all how do I know this isn't someone who has got out of paying hundreds of pounds worth of fares by employing the same trick over time.

It's pretty moot since it's been established no competent guard would delay the train for the sake of a few quid
 

junglejames

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Depends on the situation, and whether or not i thought they were trying it on. Wouldnt matter whether or not the train was going to be delayed. If someone honestly hasnt got enough money, then i would probably do the decent thing.
The problem is, sometimes you dont know who is genuine and who isnt.

One time getting the bus into Oxford, the woman in front only had a large note, and no change. The driver never had the required change. The driver sat thinking for a few seconds, before i offered to pay the fare. Job sorted, nobody delayed, and everybody happy. The woman insisted on going straight to the bank and paying me back as soon as we got to Oxford.
 

142094

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Staff are always told that it goes Safety > Punctuality > Revenue. No member of staff is going to get assaulted over a ticket that will probably be only a couple of quid, and delaying a train may in fact cost hundreds of pounds.

Back to the original question, no I would not pay the ticket. Many (not all) people who ask for a couple of quid will be habitual beggars, spinning a well-told story.
 
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