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My wife took a train to London Marylebone from Bicester on Saturday to meet me. I'd gone in earlier with the car. As an annual season ticket holder we are given 6 free travel passes each year for anyone to use.
The pass has a section for name and date. My wife filled in her name and her pen was running out so she didn't fill in the date as she didn't want it to look like she had altered it.
On arrival at Marylebone she asked one of the ticket inspectors to borrow a pen to complete the date. He then referred it to his senior inspector [EDIT], who then confiscated the ticket and wouldn't allow my wife through as she hadn't completed the date prior to her journey.
He then wanted her to pay the full single fare from Bicester to Marylebone. She refused saying that this wasn't fair as it was blatantly a new travel pass, had not been tampered with in anyway.
He then said she could travel back to Bicester free of charge with no ticket but wouldn't be allowed to exit at Marylebone.
She got on a train back and she'd then called me. I told her to get off at the first stop (High Wycombe) and I'd come and meet her with the car and go back to London.
She got off at High Wycombe and [EDIT] had been travelling on the same train, he also got off, proceeded to the ticket barrier and informed the staff that under no circumstance should my wife be allowed through as she had no ticket (which had been confiscated by [EDIT] at Marylebone). Understandably by now my wife was angry and upset as this was now feeling like harassment.
She told the staff at High Wycombe that I was on my way and they kept asking her how long I would be. I arrived after about 45mins and [EDIT] was nowhere to be seen. He'd actually gone off duty, but dedicated some of his free time to detaining my wife.
I can't believe the petty-minded behaviour of this man. My wife had a valid travel pass, had problems filling in the date due to a faulty pen and then was subjected to harrassment by this ticket inspector. We missed our night out in London as we were then too late to get back for out 6:50pm cinema screening and we were both feeling upset and angry by this man's behaviour.
I've written a strongly worded complaint letter to [EDIT] the Chairman of Chiltern Railways, but wanted to share this with others on this forum.
I wont comment on the behavior of the inspector as its 3rd hand information.
However it is common practice to challenge passengers who have a ticket or authority that needs a form of validation (in your wifes case it needed to be filled out b4 travel) when these are not correctly held either a penalty fare or the standard fare should be charged.
I think [EDIT] showed some discretion when he allowed her to travel back to origin, most inspectors would have taken her details for a prosecution as she refused to pay.
The reason these matters are usually dealt with so vigorously is that fraud is very common with these types of passes, sometimes people even use pencil so they can change the details....silly I know....but it causes the inspectors to treat everyone the same.
Like SRPO, I am not going to comment on the third hand allegation about the actions of the Inspector.
Although you may not like it, I agree also that some discretion appears to have been shown. SRPO is right, the inspector did not need to allow your wife to travel back to Bicester without a ticket. From your story, it seems that your wife didn't even comply with that because instead of accepting the opportunity to return without charge only to her starting station, she decided to get off at a different station albeit under your 'instruction'.
I will reserve my main comment for your description of the ticket. It is wrong to say that your wife had a valid ticket.
Those free tickets are issued subject to strict rules of use which include the requirement to fill in the date before travelling and it is clear that your wife failed to abide by the conditions therefore she did not have a valid ticket. In providing the ticket, the rail company contracts to carry the passenger free of charge provided only that you abide by the conditions laid down. That means filling in the date before travelling.
The rail company can hardly be held responsible for the fact that your wife couldn't sort out the need to have a pen that works and I am certain that there is a shop come bookstall at Bicester station.
The Dept for Transport are consulting on whether to fine Chiltern Railways £500,000 for breaching their franchise. You can write to support or object to: The Dept for Transport, Great Minster House, 76 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DR (for the attention of Andrew Murray).
It's all very well to disagree, but the advice given is from leading experts in this field and is absolutely correct. I am fairly confident that the response from the TOC will be in a similar vein.
Originally Posted by Informat
The Dept for Transport are consulting on whether to fine Chiltern Railways £500,000 for breaching their franchise. You can write to support or object to: The Dept for Transport, Great Minster House, 76 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DR (for the attention of Andrew Murray).
Not quite sure how this applies to the thread. Surely the consultation refers to timetabling issues and station improvements. Perhaps a new thread would be clearer. 8)
Excuse me for being cynical but I somehow feel there is more to this than has been posted, I couldn't imagine ny inspector doing this? surely he would have just reported for prosecution or issued a Penalty Fare?
One of the problems with a 'public forum' is that none of the advisors who contribute have full access to the 'evidence'. It is also a common problem that the 'original post' tells only the part of the story that the poster wants to air.
There are some parts that are 'simple'. 'Wife' did not have a valid ticket. As such, on boarding the train, she has committed (at least) a Byelaw offence. The conversation with the Inspector will have been one of the main reasons why he chose to act as he did. We cannot be certain that he was 'off duty' or travelling home, or simply fulfilling th last part of his diagram when he borded the train home.
If your story is absolutely correct, then I recommend that you visit (and pay) a high street solicitor near you and lay out the full facts. You must expect that solicitor to be very sceptical about some of the accusations. Harrassment charges are quite serious, and the Inspector will be very aware of that. I know some, and have met many. My initial thought is that none of them would go 'the extra mile' with a simple accusation of travelling without a validated pass.
I agree fully with Wriggler7s comments, but this case was dealt with 2 years ago.
I think that putting the news report about the possibility of Chiltern being fined for entirely unrelated matters in respect of their franchise into this thread has simply lead to confusion.
Nonetheless, comments regarding the 'selectivity' of some stories are valid in many cases.
Chiltern Railways free travel pass fiasco
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Originally Posted by gree0115
