Didn''t Show a Valid Ticket when Asked

[STS]

When I was travelling on the train this morning, I was using my laptop. I wasn't paying much attention to what was going on around me, when I noticed that the train was almost in the station. I quickly rushed to put my things away, when the ticket inspector decided to start doing his rounds.

 

While I was in the middle of putting my stuff in my bag, he asked to see my ticket. I explained that I was about to get off the train. I continued to put my stuff away and as the train pulled into the station, I flashed my ticket before alighting. I barely made it off the train in time.

 

As I left, he shouted out to me that I was on CCTV and he would be taking action against me as, even though I eventually showed him my ticket, I didn't show a valid ticket when asked.

 

I don't think anything will come of this but, if it does. Is there anything they can do here? At the end of the day, the ticket inspector waited almost 20 minutes to start doing his rounds. Had he done them at the start of the journey, I would have been able to show him my ticket. Waiting until the train was about to pull into the station was inappropriate and I wasn't the only one in the carriage who was unable to show him a ticket due to his timing.

 

Had I stopped putting my things away to show him my ticket when he originally asked, I would have missed my stop and had to travel to the next station to catch a train back. I would then have been travelling without a valid ticket.

[Stigy]

Hi,

 

It is an offence contrary to National Railway Byelaw 18(2) not to show a ticket, however I think you can rest assured nothing will happen in this case. For starters the staff member probably won't go to the trouble of getting CCTV for this matter as it's quite trivial given you actually showed a ticket, albeit not straight away. He also doesn't have your details, so what's he going to do when he gets CCTV? Unless there's more to this than meets the eye, I don't think you have anything to worry about. Byelaw 18(2) is usually charged when a passenger states they forgot their ticket, or lost it. Or in certain circumstances, just point blank refuses to show a ticket on request. In these cases the passenger would be reported to the company involved and following a written witness statement (MG11), the individual could end up in the Magistrates' Court and be fines and incur costs etc. If a passenger is reported for an offence they'd have their name and address taken at the very least, and be told they're being reported for an offence.