Commuter who discovered season ticket loophole which saved him £700-a-year wins legal battle with train company who tried to GAG him

* Andrew Myers sued First Capital Connect (FCC) for not selling cheapest fare
* Lawyer realised he could buy season ticket from closer station for £700 less
* FCC tried to make him settle out of court and use a gagging order on him
* But Mr Myers fought them and won his case including £2,000 costs

By MARTIN ROBINSON
PUBLISHED: 16:13, 8 October 2013 | UPDATED: 17:30, 8 October 2013

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...d-GAG-him.html

A commuter who learned he could have saved £700 a year by using a loophole to buy his train season ticket from a different station has fought a gagging order and won a landmark legal battle.

City lawyer Andrew Myers sued First Capital Connect (FCC) when he discovered he was not sold the cheapest available fare for his route into London.

Mr Myers, who lives in St Albans, found he could buy a £3,068-a-year season ticket from Watford North, which is closer to London, but it could still be used from his home station, saving him £700.

FCC initially stood up to him and tried to hit him with a 'gagging order' and settle out of court once he made his money-saving discovery.

But he pursued them for the cash and after winning he is urging others to take advantage of his ruling and do the same if they are being 'ripped off'.

'Anyone who has bought a ticket in the past seven months should ask the company why they have been charged £700 more when they realised back in March a cheaper fare was available,' he said.

'It is outrageous that FCC have been selling season tickets for £700 more.. I did not think it right that they could buy my silence.'

Passenger groups and unions today praised the commuter for his legal fight.

Manuel Cortes, leader of the TSSA rail union, said: 'The most worrying part of this case is that FCC tried to buy Mr Myers' silence.

'They were worried that thousands of other passengers would follow his example and buy season tickets £700 cheaper as well.

'This is another example of First Group treating its passengers as cash cows.'

David Sidebottom, head of Passenger Focus, the rail travellers' pressure group, said: 'Passengers often say that they feel "ripped-off" and don't trust the railway industry to sell them the best-value ticket.

'If the industry is to rebuild passenger confidence, then it must act to tackle the complex and illogical fares system.

'This must include making terms attached to tickets much easier to work out..'

He added: 'We are disappointed to see that, in this case, the company continued to resist making a speedy apology and provide recompense to the passenger, when internally it had already accepted it was wrong.'

Mr Myers won the case at St Albans County Court, where a judge ruled the firm's behaviour was unreasonable.

The firm was also ordered to pay his costs of £2,193.

First Capital Connect said yesterday that Mr Myers had uncovered a 'previously unknown historic routing guide error', dating back to the days of British Rail.

The firm said the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) was now taking steps to close the loophole.

The rail company's spokesman said : 'The Association of Train Operating Companies is closing this loophole on our behalf. We are not aware of any other anomaly and believe that this was an isolated case. '

A Department for Transport spokesman said it was still considering ATOC's request.

An ATOC spokesman said: 'This is an example of a very obscure error in a system that offers millions of tickets for travel between more than 2,500 stations.

'If other such errors are found, we will look to correct them to ensure that all passengers are treated fairly.'