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-   -   Penalty fare increase (https://www.londonbanter.co.uk/london-transport/7194-penalty-fare-increase.html)

Paul Scott October 11th 08 04:32 PM

Penalty fare increase
 
Surprised the increase to £50 (£25 if paid within 3 weeks) on TfL services
hasn't been mentioned:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/medi...tre/10025.aspx

I wonder if mainline rail, regional trams, and the TW Metro etc will follow?

Paul S



[email protected] October 11th 08 05:58 PM

Penalty fare increase
 
On 11 Oct, 17:32, "Paul Scott" wrote:
Surprised the increase to £50 (£25 if paid within 3 weeks) on TfL services
hasn't been mentioned:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/medi...tre/10025.aspx

I wonder if mainline rail, regional trams, and the TW Metro etc will follow?

Paul S


Effectively the on-the-spot fine only increases by £5 with the more
severe penalty effective if there is a delay in payment. The press
release suggests this applies to the Overground network so presumably
mainline rail operators will have to follow to avoid anomalies at
joint terminals.

The headline of a £50 fine is somewhat let down by the realisation
that the increase is really only £5.

Jonathan

Lüko Willms October 11th 08 07:23 PM

Penalty fare increase
 
Am Sat, 11 Oct 2008 16:32:03 UTC, schrieb "Paul Scott"
auf uk.railway :

Surprised the increase to £50 (£25 if paid within 3 weeks) on TfL services
hasn't been mentioned:


"This is an increase from the current level of £20 on the Buses,
Tubes, Docklands Light Railway (DLR) and London Overground. "

Well, the Conservatives act as one would expect. Hard, but ruthless.



Cheers,
L.W.




Paul Scott October 11th 08 07:36 PM

Penalty fare increase
 

" Willms" wrote in message
...
Am Sat, 11 Oct 2008 16:32:03 UTC, schrieb "Paul Scott"
auf uk.railway :

Surprised the increase to £50 (£25 if paid within 3 weeks) on TfL
services
hasn't been mentioned:


"This is an increase from the current level of £20 on the Buses,
Tubes, Docklands Light Railway (DLR) and London Overground. "

Well, the Conservatives act as one would expect. Hard, but ruthless.


Nice try Lüko - the '2008 Act' would have commenced it's progress years
ago...

Paul



®i©ardo October 11th 08 07:43 PM

Penalty fare increase
 
Lüko Willms wrote:
Am Sat, 11 Oct 2008 16:32:03 UTC, schrieb "Paul Scott"
auf uk.railway :

Surprised the increase to £50 (£25 if paid within 3 weeks) on TfL services
hasn't been mentioned:


"This is an increase from the current level of £20 on the Buses,
Tubes, Docklands Light Railway (DLR) and London Overground. "

Well, the Conservatives act as one would expect. Hard, but ruthless.



Cheers,
L.W.



Brilliant! Does this mean that Brown and his Darling have gone, and
Balls and Cooper are are no longer taking the **** by claiming double
expenses for their housing?

--
Moving things in still pictures!

MIG October 11th 08 07:46 PM

Penalty fare increase
 
On Oct 11, 6:58*pm, wrote:
On 11 Oct, 17:32, "Paul Scott" wrote:

Surprised the increase to £50 (£25 if paid within 3 weeks) on TfL services
hasn't been mentioned:


http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/medi...tre/10025.aspx


I wonder if mainline rail, regional trams, and the TW Metro etc will follow?


Paul S


Effectively the on-the-spot fine only increases by £5 with the more
severe penalty effective if there is a delay in payment. *The press
release suggests this applies to the Overground network so presumably
mainline rail operators will have to follow to avoid anomalies at
joint terminals.

The headline of a £50 fine is somewhat let down by the realisation
that the increase is really only £5.

Jonathan


It's actually a removal of the right to appeal (useless though that
was).

Also, I note that the article is full of references to fare evasion,
when as I understand it, if fare evasion is suspected, there should be
a prosecution.

So is this really about applying the penalty fare as a genuine fine,
rather than the removal of a discount, in which case is it legal?

It's like ASBOs, a lesser punishment, but one which can be applied
without trial on the assumption of guilty till proven innocent. It's
totally wrong. Fare evaders should be prosecuted, not let off with
£50 "fares".

(Although I suspect that fare evaders won't be touched at all, while
the authorities concentrate on people caught out by Oyster anomalies.

Neil Williams October 12th 08 10:45 AM

Penalty fare increase
 
On Sat, 11 Oct 2008 10:58:09 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

Effectively the on-the-spot fine only increases by =A35 with the more
severe penalty effective if there is a delay in payment. The press
release suggests this applies to the Overground network so presumably
mainline rail operators will have to follow to avoid anomalies at
joint terminals.


Or TfL won't be able to at mainline termini. That said, there are
plenty of stations (Milton Keynes Central is one, Euston another)
where PFs apply to one TOC but not another. To determine what should
be charged, "sneaky" questions are usually asked.

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

Peter Masson October 12th 08 11:41 AM

Penalty fare increase
 

"Neil Williams" wrote

there are
plenty of stations (Milton Keynes Central is one, Euston another)
where PFs apply to one TOC but not another. To determine what should
be charged, "sneaky" questions are usually asked.

If you're travelling between Victoria and Gatwick Airport, Southern trains
are subject to a penalty fare regime, but you can buy tickets onboard
Gatwick Express trains. Gatwick Express is now part of Southern.

Peter



[email protected] October 12th 08 01:36 PM

Penalty fare increase
 
On 12 Oct, 12:41, "Peter Masson" wrote:
"Neil Williams" wrote

there are
plenty of stations (Milton Keynes Central is one, Euston another)
where PFs apply to one TOC but not another. *To determine what should
be charged, "sneaky" questions are usually asked.


If you're travelling between Victoria and Gatwick Airport, Southern trains
are subject to a penalty fare regime, but you can buy tickets onboard
Gatwick Express trains. Gatwick Express is now part of Southern.

Peter


Euston is a bit of a red herring given the split of platforms between
gated 8-11 and the other ungated platforms. Milton Keynes can
presumably be checked by the arrival time of trains (given that the
steps from each platform are visible from the gate line).

Similarly, between Gatwick and Redhill, penalty fares aren't going to
be charged on-train on a FGW turbo as the service is not in the scheme
- which means that a RPI isn't going to be on the train [1]. I would
hope that anyone going to the barriers at Redhill without a ticket
having travelled from Gatwick is charged a Penalty Fare regardless of
which train they took.

The whole justification behind penalty fares is the admission that on
most commuter routes not all tickets are going to be checked. On
Gatwick Express you are almost certain to have your ticket checked and
can travel without buying one. On Southern, it is quite possible that
the ticket won't be checked (although actually, Southern guards are
quite good at checking on longer distance services since they aren't
tied to a particular door release point - driver opens doors on a 377
and there is a point for the guard to close the doors in each
carriage) so you have to buy it before travelling.

Jonathan

[1] On a number of occasions, I have seen a whole group of FGW RPIs
carrying out a "ticketless travel survey" on these services but this
doesn't involve Penalty Fares.

Neil Williams October 12th 08 01:59 PM

Penalty fare increase
 
On Sun, 12 Oct 2008 06:36:25 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

Euston is a bit of a red herring given the split of platforms between
gated 8-11 and the other ungated platforms. Milton Keynes can
presumably be checked by the arrival time of trains (given that the
steps from each platform are visible from the gate line).


VT, to be fair, never use 8-11, though LM do in the peaks use the
non-barriered platforms, and there is never a grip on arrival at
these. Similarly, the policy at Euston seems to be that if two trains
arrive at once the barriers are opened, as to do otherwise results in
it taking upwards of 5 minutes to get through, which causes problems
with people trying to get to departing trains at the same time.

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

John B October 13th 08 04:18 PM

Penalty fare increase
 
On 11 Oct, 20:46, MIG wrote:
(Although I suspect that fare evaders won't be touched at all, while
the authorities concentrate on people caught out by Oyster anomalies.


Eh? They get charged four quid through an entirely separate 'minimum
fare' scheme.

--
John Band
john at johnband dot org
www.johnband.org

asdf October 14th 08 06:42 AM

Penalty fare increase
 
On Mon, 13 Oct 2008 09:18:23 -0700 (PDT), John B wrote:

(Although I suspect that fare evaders won't be touched at all, while
the authorities concentrate on people caught out by Oyster anomalies.


Eh? They get charged four quid through an entirely separate 'minimum
fare' scheme.


Not entirely separate - if you fail to touch in (or re-touch in after
an OOSI, etc), you can still be given a Penalty Fare.

Stephen Farrow October 14th 08 04:10 PM

Penalty fare increase
 
Paul Scott wrote:
Surprised the increase to £50 (£25 if paid within 3 weeks) on TfL services
hasn't been mentioned:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/medi...tre/10025.aspx

I wonder if mainline rail, regional trams, and the TW Metro etc will follow?


It's already £80 on Metrolink in Manchester.


--

Stephen

Neil Williams October 14th 08 07:23 PM

Penalty fare increase
 
On Tue, 14 Oct 2008 17:10:03 +0100, Stephen Farrow
wrote:

It's already £80 on Metrolink in Manchester.


With a discount for prompt payment, I presume? Good. It should be
set at that kind of level (as the amounts concerned are similar to
parking offences), but equally come with decriminalisation of fare
dodging so the Penalty Fare doesn't just exist to penalise those
making a mistake.

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

Barry Salter October 14th 08 08:43 PM

Penalty fare increase
 
Neil Williams wrote:
On Tue, 14 Oct 2008 17:10:03 +0100, Stephen Farrow
wrote:

It's already £80 on Metrolink in Manchester.


With a discount for prompt payment, I presume? Good. It should be
set at that kind of level (as the amounts concerned are similar to
parking offences), but equally come with decriminalisation of fare
dodging so the Penalty Fare doesn't just exist to penalise those
making a mistake.

Metrolink call it a "Standard Fare", with levels as follows:

1st Offence: £10 on the spot, £15 within 21 days
2nd Offence: £20 on the spot, £30 within 21 days
3rd Offence: £40 on the spot, £60 within 21 days
4th Offence: £80 on the spot or prosecution

The figures above are based on a rolling 12 month period.

So if, for example:

1. You get stopped by a Metrolink revenue inspector on 31st October
and no other offence is committed for a full twelve months, you will
return to a clean record.

2. You get stopped by a Metrolink revenue inspector on 31st October
and then again on the 3rd November in the same year you will be at the
2nd offence level and this will remain with you for a full twelve months
before returning to a clean record.

Cheers,

Barry

Neil Williams October 15th 08 05:30 AM

Penalty fare increase
 
On Tue, 14 Oct 2008 21:43:20 +0100, Barry Salter
wrote:

4th Offence: £80 on the spot or prosecution


Given that most people don't carry £80 in their wallet, do they march
you to a cashpoint?

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

Paul Weaver October 15th 08 10:13 AM

Penalty fare increase
 
On 15 Oct, 06:30, (Neil Williams)
wrote:
On Tue, 14 Oct 2008 21:43:20 +0100, Barry Salter

wrote:
4th Offence: £80 on the spot or prosecution


Given that most people don't carry £80 in their wallet, do they march
you to a cashpoint?


Perhaps a debit card?

What's to stop you from giving a false name and paying £10 cash?

Stimpy October 15th 08 10:19 AM

Penalty fare increase
 
On Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:13:05 +0100, Paul Weaver wrote

4th Offence: £80 on the spot or prosecution


Given that most people don't carry £80 in their wallet, do they march
you to a cashpoint?


Perhaps a debit card?


Many people don't carry them.


[email protected] October 26th 08 05:54 PM

Penalty fare increase
 
On Oct 11, 7:36*pm, "Paul Scott"
wrote:
" Willms" wrote in message

...

Am Sat, 11 Oct 2008 16:32:03 UTC, *schrieb "Paul Scott"
*auf uk.railway :


Surprised the increase to £50 (£25 if paid within 3 weeks) on TfL
services
hasn't been mentioned:


*"This is an increase from the current level of £20 on the Buses,
Tubes, Docklands Light Railway (DLR) and London Overground. "


*Well, the Conservatives act as one would expect. Hard, but ruthless.


Nice try Lüko - the '2008 Act' would have commenced it's progress years
ago...

Paul


January 2006 actually... http://services.parliament.uk/bills/...forlondon.html

Paul Scott October 26th 08 06:09 PM

Penalty fare increase
 

wrote in message
...
On Oct 11, 7:36 pm, "Paul Scott"
wrote:
"Lüko Willms" wrote in message

...

"This is an increase from the current level of £20 on the Buses,
Tubes, Docklands Light Railway (DLR) and London Overground. "


Well, the Conservatives act as one would expect. Hard, but ruthless.


Nice try Lüko - the '2008 Act' would have commenced it's progress years
ago...


January 2006 actually...
http://services.parliament.uk/bills/...forlondon.html

Exactly - nearly 3 years. So it can't really be blamed on Boris, as Lüko
was trying to imply, I think...

Paul S



DavidCh0 October 30th 08 08:43 AM

Penalty fare increase
 
On 15 Oct, 10:19, Stimpy wrote:
On Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:13:05 +0100, Paul Weaver wrote



4th Offence: £80 on the spot or prosecution


Given that most people don't carry £80 in their wallet, do they march
you to a cashpoint?


Perhaps a debit card?


Many people don't carry them.


Many people don't have £80.

Neil Williams October 30th 08 08:58 AM

Penalty fare increase
 
On 30 Oct, 09:43, DavidCh0 wrote:

Many people don't have £80.


I assume they will be prosecuted, then. If they can't afford the
"time", they shouldn't do the crime.

Neil


MIG October 30th 08 09:14 AM

Penalty fare increase
 
On Oct 30, 9:58*am, Neil Williams wrote:
On 30 Oct, 09:43, DavidCh0 wrote:

Many people don't have £80.


I assume they will be prosecuted, then. *If they can't afford the
"time", they shouldn't do the crime.

Neil


If they are thought to be evading their fare, they should be
prosecuted full stop. Lesser on-the-spot fines, penalty fares etc are
all inappropriate in every situation.

They only make sense if one assumes that the authorities don't really
care about fare-evasion, but want to find a way of getting a bit of
extra cash from a set of passengers which partly overlaps with the
fare-evaders.

Mr Thant October 30th 08 10:15 AM

Penalty fare increase
 
On 30 Oct, 10:14, MIG wrote:
If they are thought to be evading their fare, they should be
prosecuted full stop. *Lesser on-the-spot fines, penalty fares etc are
all inappropriate in every situation.


They've tried that and found it costs thousands of pounds per case and
doesn't have a high conviction rate. Also I don't think there's much
public support for doing so, and certainly the press have a field day
each time a case comes up (well, at least if the offender is white,
middle class and has a good sob story).

U

Mizter T October 30th 08 10:47 AM

Penalty fare increase
 

On 30 Oct, 11:15, Mr Thant
wrote:

On 30 Oct, 10:14, MIG wrote:

If they are thought to be evading their fare, they should be
prosecuted full stop. *Lesser on-the-spot fines, penalty fares etc are
all inappropriate in every situation.


They've tried that and found it costs thousands of pounds per case and
doesn't have a high conviction rate. Also I don't think there's much
public support for doing so, and certainly the press have a field day
each time a case comes up (well, at least if the offender is white,
middle class and has a good sob story).


The burden of proof for a criminal conviction is of course "beyond
reasonable doubt" - well, I dare say that doubt can be conjured up by
those who wish for it. One rather suspects that the fare evaders who
are more likely to be prosecuted are those who, on being caught out
and confronted face-to-face by officialdom, subsequently decide to
adopt an honest approach and confess their sins. The problem is trying
to nail the others.

MIG October 30th 08 10:55 AM

Penalty fare increase
 
On Oct 30, 11:15*am, Mr Thant
wrote:
On 30 Oct, 10:14, MIG wrote:

If they are thought to be evading their fare, they should be
prosecuted full stop. *Lesser on-the-spot fines, penalty fares etc are
all inappropriate in every situation.


They've tried that and found it costs thousands of pounds per case and
doesn't have a high conviction rate. Also I don't think there's much
public support for doing so, and certainly the press have a field day
each time a case comes up (well, at least if the offender is white,
middle class and has a good sob story).


But if there's a low conviction rate when someone gets a proper
hearing in court, is that really an argument for punishment without
trial?

I can't remember any sob stories about people found guilty in court
though. The press stories are usually about people being hassled for
extra money on trains. It's demanding money on the spot rather than
prosecution that leads to press stories.

Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease. Because we have been
unsuccessful at dealing with scumbags through proper legal processes,
we punish a different bunch of people without a fair hearing.

Mr Thant October 30th 08 11:04 AM

Penalty fare increase
 
On 30 Oct, 11:55, MIG wrote:
But if there's a low conviction rate when someone gets a proper
hearing in court, is that really an argument for punishment without
trial?


Hang on - you can refuse a penalty fare and go to court, can't you?

I can't remember any sob stories about people found guilty in court
though. *The press stories are usually about people being hassled for
extra money on trains. *It's demanding money on the spot rather than
prosecution that leads to press stories.


I'm talking about the "TfL wastes thousands prosecuting [photogenic
sympathetic white-collar worker] over a 90p bus fare" type stories.

(usually coupled with gripes about Oyster touching in, which I believe
is a cause you're sympathetic too)

U

MIG October 30th 08 11:26 AM

Penalty fare increase
 
On Oct 30, 12:04*pm, Mr Thant
wrote:
On 30 Oct, 11:55, MIG wrote:

But if there's a low conviction rate when someone gets a proper
hearing in court, is that really an argument for punishment without
trial?


Hang on - you can refuse a penalty fare and go to court, can't you?


I think that technically, you should only be issued a penalty fare if
fare evasion isn't suspected, although the definition of fare evasion
seems to be extended according the the TfL statement. But given that
a penalty fare is technically a fare, you can be prosecuted for
evasion of the penalty fare if you refuse to pay. I hadn't seen that
as an option presented on the spot exactly.


I can't remember any sob stories about people found guilty in court
though. *The press stories are usually about people being hassled for
extra money on trains. *It's demanding money on the spot rather than
prosecution that leads to press stories.


I'm talking about the "TfL wastes thousands prosecuting [photogenic
sympathetic white-collar worker] over a 90p bus fare" type stories.

(usually coupled with gripes about Oyster touching in, which I believe
is a cause you're sympathetic too)


I do have objections to Oyster, but they are only relevant if you
agree with me (which many don't) that Oyster unresolved journey fares
etc are penalty fares. I don't know if my objections to Oyster rules
have any bearing on potential prosecution cases.

MIG October 30th 08 12:09 PM

Penalty fare increase
 
On Oct 30, 12:04*pm, Mr Thant
wrote:
On 30 Oct, 11:55, MIG wrote:

But if there's a low conviction rate when someone gets a proper
hearing in court, is that really an argument for punishment without
trial?


Hang on - you can refuse a penalty fare and go to court, can't you?

I can't remember any sob stories about people found guilty in court
though. *The press stories are usually about people being hassled for
extra money on trains. *It's demanding money on the spot rather than
prosecution that leads to press stories.


I'm talking about the "TfL wastes thousands prosecuting [photogenic
sympathetic white-collar worker] over a 90p bus fare" type stories.

(usually coupled with gripes about Oyster touching in, which I believe
is a cause you're sympathetic too)


Oh I remember what I was thinking of in a comment upthread.

In a week where, due to a non-functioning machine, I had a zone 1 - 2
paper travelcard, I was thinking of going to Rickmansworth. That
should have cost me £2 return PAYG from the boundary.

If I touched in and out at Baker Street I would pay £4 too much
overall.

If I went through the Baker Street barrier with the paper travelcard
and touched only at Rickmansworth I would pay £8 too much.

If I got off at Wembley Park and waited for the next train while
touching in, I would pay the correct fare but would be without a valid
ticket if gripped between Willesden Green and Wembley Park, and then
at risk of the full penalty fare (the relevant bit, but my most likely
plan).

If I got the Jubilee, got off at Willesden Green etc, I would not be
at risk but would hugely increase my journey time.

And all that hassle because the machine wasn't working and TfL won't
issue reasonably priced extensions to holders of paper travelcards.

[email protected] October 30th 08 01:38 PM

Penalty fare increase
 


Hang on - you can refuse a penalty fare and go to court, can't you?


No. When an inspector finds you with an invalid / no ticket he has
two options.

1. He thinks that you are deliberately avoiding the fare. He will
not issue you with a penalty fare but report your details to the
prosecution office who decide if there is enough evidence to take you
to court.

2. He decides to issue you with a penalty fare. Once he has gone down
this route then you cannot be taken to court for fare evasion as this
would be considered double jepody

So you can see that is either court or penalty fare but not both. In
the penalty fare case you can appeal to an independent adjudicator but
you will not get a criminal record whatever the outcome.

Mr Thant October 30th 08 01:44 PM

Penalty fare increase
 
On 30 Oct, 14:38, wrote:
2. He decides to issue you with a penalty fare. *Once he has gone down
this route then you cannot be taken to court for fare evasion as this
would be considered double jepody


And if you refuse to pay? I was under the impression you'd be done for
evading the penalty fare.

U

Tim Woodall October 30th 08 02:10 PM

Penalty fare increase
 
On Thu, 30 Oct 2008 05:26:05 -0700 (PDT),
MIG wrote:

I can't remember any sob stories about people found guilty in court
though. *The press stories are usually about people being hassled for
extra money on trains. *It's demanding money on the spot rather than
prosecution that leads to press stories.


I'm talking about the "TfL wastes thousands prosecuting [photogenic
sympathetic white-collar worker] over a 90p bus fare" type stories.

(usually coupled with gripes about Oyster touching in, which I believe
is a cause you're sympathetic too)


I do have objections to Oyster, but they are only relevant if you
agree with me (which many don't) that Oyster unresolved journey fares
etc are penalty fares. I don't know if my objections to Oyster rules
have any bearing on potential prosecution cases.


My fear with Oyster is that it's almost impossible to work out why it
goes wrong when it does.

I've had three failures, one was definitely an oyster problem because it
let me through the barrier but didn't register the entry (I've also
witnessed this happen with someone else not registering an exit but
opening the barrier). One might have been my mistake, again an entry
didn't register, but I was using the manual barrier. One was because I
didn't understand how oyster worked - there were problems with the
manual barrier at Watford Junction so I'd been using the thing at the
bottom of platform 9 to touch in an out. When the manual barrier was
fixed I touched out at the bottom of platform 9 and then again (because
I was asked to) at the manual barrier which registered as an entry.

I've also had a huge number of missing entries on the online journey
history. The balance has ended up correct but entries or exits (or both)
are completely missing.

I have wondered about building a little device to interrogate the oyster
card so you can tell whether an entry or exit has actually been
registered on the card. But that's going to take a lot of round tuits
that I can't see me having in the forseeable future.

Tim.

--
God said, "div D = rho, div B = 0, curl E = - @B/@t, curl H = J + @D/@t,"
and there was light.

http://www.woodall.me.uk/

MIG October 30th 08 02:36 PM

Penalty fare increase
 
On Oct 30, 2:44*pm, Mr Thant
wrote:
On 30 Oct, 14:38, wrote:

2. He decides to issue you with a penalty fare. *Once he has gone down
this route then you cannot be taken to court for fare evasion as this
would be considered double jepody


And if you refuse to pay? I was under the impression you'd be done for
evading the penalty fare.


That's my impression too, but not that you'd be faced with an explicit
option on the spot.

Neil Williams October 30th 08 08:30 PM

Penalty fare increase
 
On Thu, 30 Oct 2008 03:14:27 -0700 (PDT), MIG
wrote:

They only make sense if one assumes that the authorities don't really
care about fare-evasion, but want to find a way of getting a bit of
extra cash from a set of passengers which partly overlaps with the
fare-evaders.


Certainly on the mainline, though, it only overlaps so far as people
who aren't paying enough attention. A PF cannot be issued for a
ticket that would be valid other than that it's the wrong time of day
- the only thing that can be done there is an excess. It might well
be the same for a route issue as well. That leaves people who travel
beyond their destination, with no ticket or in the wrong class, all of
whom should really be paying more attention.

The only one I'd think needs leniency as well (but doesn't currently
get it) is someone travelling on a season ticket that's one day out of
date from a station with no barriers, as that would be quite easily
done. Perhaps a way to handle that in a sensible world would be to
issue a PF which would be refunded against the renewal of the ticket,
if this was to be done that day.

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

Charles Ellson October 30th 08 09:25 PM

Penalty fare increase
 
wrote:
Hang on - you can refuse a penalty fare and go to court, can't you?


No. When an inspector finds you with an invalid / no ticket he has
two options.

1. He thinks that you are deliberately avoiding the fare. He will
not issue you with a penalty fare but report your details to the
prosecution office who decide if there is enough evidence to take you
to court.

2. He decides to issue you with a penalty fare. Once he has gone down
this route then you cannot be taken to court for fare evasion as this
would be considered double jepody

So you can see that is either court or penalty fare but not both. In
the penalty fare case you can appeal to an independent adjudicator but
you will not get a criminal record whatever the outcome.

You will get a criminal record if it is successfully prosecuted as a
theft offence. It is IIRC when you are prosecuted for breaching an
appropriate byelaw that you don't get a criminal record.

MIG October 30th 08 10:20 PM

Penalty fare increase
 
On Oct 30, 9:30*pm, (Neil Williams)
wrote:
On Thu, 30 Oct 2008 03:14:27 -0700 (PDT), MIG

wrote:
They only make sense if one assumes that the authorities don't really
care about fare-evasion, but want to find a way of getting a bit of
extra cash from a set of passengers which partly overlaps with the
fare-evaders.


Certainly on the mainline, though, it only overlaps so far as people
who aren't paying enough attention. *A PF cannot be issued for a
ticket that would be valid other than that it's the wrong time of day
- the only thing that can be done there is an excess. *It might well
be the same for a route issue as well. *That leaves people who travel
beyond their destination, with no ticket or in the wrong class, all of
whom should really be paying more attention.


Isn't that because penalty fare areas generally don't correspond to
routes on which the only affordable fares are limited to specific
trains?

In both cases there is a high "fare" which people wouldn't normally
pay, and which they have to pay when caught out, but it'd defined in a
different way.


The only one I'd think needs leniency as well (but doesn't currently
get it) is someone travelling on a season ticket that's one day out of
date from a station with no barriers, as that would be quite easily
done. *Perhaps a way to handle that in a sensible world would be to
issue a PF which would be refunded against the renewal of the ticket,
if this was to be done that day.


I am not in favour of leniency as such, but I'd like to decriminalise
day-to-day travel. Ticketing systems that are a test of ordinary
folks' knowledge of complicated regulations and where ten times as
many staff check tickets as sell them do not do anything for the
competitiveness of the railways.

Roland Perry October 31st 08 05:21 AM

Penalty fare increase
 
In message , at 21:30:34 on Thu,
30 Oct 2008, Neil Williams remarked:
They only make sense if one assumes that the authorities don't really
care about fare-evasion, but want to find a way of getting a bit of
extra cash from a set of passengers which partly overlaps with the
fare-evaders.


Certainly on the mainline, though, it only overlaps so far as people
who aren't paying enough attention. A PF cannot be issued for a
ticket that would be valid other than that it's the wrong time of day
- the only thing that can be done there is an excess. It might well
be the same for a route issue as well. That leaves people who travel
beyond their destination, with no ticket or in the wrong class, all of
whom should really be paying more attention.


What about people travelling with the wrong ToC? [eg on a NXEC train
with a Hull-trains-only ticket] Or do you count that as a "Route issue"?

In that sort of case, is the excess going to be any less than the cost
of a whole new ticket?
--
Roland Perry

Neil Williams October 31st 08 05:25 AM

Penalty fare increase
 
On Thu, 30 Oct 2008 22:25:17 +0000, Charles Ellson
wrote:

You will get a criminal record if it is successfully prosecuted as a
theft offence. It is IIRC when you are prosecuted for breaching an
appropriate byelaw that you don't get a criminal record.


Fare-dodging isn't theft, as it doesn't deprive someone of the travel
you have "taken".

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

Richard Adamfi October 31st 08 06:51 AM

Penalty fare increase
 
Neil Williams wrote:

Fare-dodging isn't theft, as it doesn't deprive someone of the travel
you have "taken".


What I find curious is that you can end up with a criminal record for
fare-dodging, but not for avoiding parking charges.

Seamer October 31st 08 07:31 AM

Penalty fare increase
 
On Oct 30, 3:38*pm, wrote:

2. He decides to issue you with a penalty fare. *Once he has gone down
this route then you cannot be taken to court for fare evasion as this
would be considered double jepody

So you can see that is either court or penalty fare but not both. *In
the penalty fare case you can appeal to an independent adjudicator but
you will not get a criminal record whatever the outcome.


Isn't it actually the case that in 2. you can't be taken to court
because you've bought a valid ticket? Isn't that what a penalty fare
is - a hugely overpriced single ticket, that the rail companies "dress
up" as a fine? All you're actaully doing is buying an on-board single.



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