In message , at 16:38:42 on
Sat, 27 Jan 2007, Peter Masson remarked:
It is usual, these days, to have a ticket office window on the "wrong"
side of the barriers... it allows people who don't have tickets for
the journey they've just made to buy one so they can leave the
station.

Really? I thought the practice was to demand a penalty fare from such
individuals (as Cherie discovered).

The passenger may have started at a station where the ticket office was not
open. If he had purchased a PTT he will not be liable for a penalty fare,
but will have to exchange the PTT for the appropriate ticket. Trains which
serve City Thameslink are DOO, so it is not normally possible to exchange a
PTT for a ticket on the train.

Yes, that's a possibility, but for a tiny minority of passengers. I
expect the rest will be asked to pay a penalty fare.
--
Roland Perry