In message , at 06:47:56 on Tue,
27 Oct 2009, Neil Williams remarked:
On Tue, 27 Oct 2009 06:18:51 -0000, "Buddenbrooks"
wrote:

The transport company have to take the stance that penalty fares are always
payable otherwise it leaves them open to false claims. I very much doubt
there has been a case where a person who has a valid ticket for a train
journey and a credible case for believing they have boarded the wrong train
ever being prosecuted. If only the rail company would hate to establish a
precedent by loosing. After all they really want to stop people avoiding
fares, not create an alternative income stream. No fines will stop people
boarding the wrong train.

And people who board the wrong train aren't going to say "fair cop,
here's 20 quid". They're going to explain what has happened and hope
they get away with it.

And despite the nonsense about "contracts" spouted by Mr B, if they are
told that all they can do is pay the "full single fare" (which is in the
region of £65 for Leicester-London) a refusal will eventually end them
in court.

Incidentally I have been on an RA flight where one passenger was on the
wrong plane, even RA was arranging to get him back to origin free of charge!

I don't know about PF areas, but MX is that usually people who boarded
the wrong train are sent back from whence they came and told to
explain what happened to anyone that asks, not charged an extra fare,
Penalty or otherwise.

I've never heard that offered as an option for people caught on the
"wrong train" or with an "accidentally invalid"[1] ticket on an
'intercity' train. No, it's "pay up or else". And iirc the PF is only
£20 if the proper fare is £20, otherwise it's the higher amount.

[1] for example; an Open ticket used outside of the dates of validity,
when the person didn't understand fully what the rules were.
--
Roland Perry