Evading the fares at the station

[Eagle]

One good friend of mine alights daily on the down side. She often waits until she thinks everyone has left the station as she cannot abide people trying to shuff through on her ticker.

A few weeks ago she thought she was the last was half was through and a man came from no where.

Why do these scroungers make a mockery of the system . I always thought if the gates were in use an employee of the railway company had to be there , but I guess as usual I was wrong.

Fare evading was very rare in my younger days. What is happening.

[alywin]

I always thought if the gates were in use an employee of the railway company had to be there , but I guess as usual I was wrong.

So did I. After all, health and safety prohibits the gates from being closed when there's nobody to staff them in case it's necessary to evacuate the station. Yet I've seen the gates on the up side unmanned and closed on a couple of occasions.

[Robin Orton]

I always thought if the gates were in use an employee of the railway company had to be there...

Me too. I've noticed on at least one occasion recently that the gates on the down side at Forest Hill station were similarly closed and unpersoned.

[Willy]

Even if the gates are manned the staff don't seem to be all that bothered, I have seen people "tail-gate" right in front of them and the staff don't bat an eye-lid. Half the time the disabled access gate is wide open and people just stroll through, the staff seem more concerned with huddling near the heater and having a chat...

[Eagle]

Perhaps the Railway Companies should be keeping more of an eye on their staff

[Annie]

Perhaps the Railway Companies should be keeping more of an eye on their staff

The problem is - its not their money so they probably think why bother to challenge people, especially since they might get more than the fare in return.

[JeeBee]

Fare evading was very rare in my younger days. What is happening.

Unlikely, back then there were no gates, etc, you could just walk through and onto the train. Of course the fares weren't so ridiculous back then so maybe there was less incentive to fare dodge.

[Eagle]

Younger people were more honest.

Why do not the railway companies get the money.. If not why did they spend money putting the gates in

Fare avoidance is a decease once tolerated the society suffers.

Should be ZERO tolerance . Whover gets the money should person the gates with people who will take action.

[richpickings]

I often walk through the barrier behind someone (the gate - not the individual barriers) but I am not evading a fare. I am a season ticket holder with a paper ticket and therefore do not need to touch in and touch out. I usually carry my ticket in my hand so it can be inspected at any time but don't always put it through the machine. With such a small number of barriers this makes a lot of sense as it helps speed up the process of everyone getting through the barriers. The staff know this, they also know me, which is why they seemingly turn a blind eye.
I am not condoning or denying the existence of fare evaders (it annoys me as much as the next person) I am merely pointing out that not everyone who appears to be fare evading is actually doing so.

[Giddysquid]

On a slightly different note, has anyone else found a problem with the ink on season tickets fading quite quickly. I've got through 4 replacement season tickets that have simply faded. I'm wondering if it's a new kind of printer they use or else maybe the ticket machines are scraping the ink as the ticket goes through. Please tell me I'm not the only person this happens to!

[Dorian]

Wrong kind of ink ?

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[bensonby]

I often walk through the barrier behind someone (the gate - not the individual barriers) but I am not evading a fare. I am a season ticket holder with a paper ticket and therefore do not need to touch in and touch out. I usually carry my ticket in my hand so it can be inspected at any time but don't always put it through the machine. With such a small number of barriers this makes a lot of sense as it helps speed up the process of everyone getting through the barriers.

without wishing to sound ridiculously anal - but that is an offence under Byelaw 9(2) of the National Railway Byelaws.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/ ... yelaws.pdf

Obviously I entirely understand where you are coming from!

[richpickings]

*slaps wrist*

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[bensonby]

:p

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[alywin]

On a slightly different note, has anyone else found a problem with the ink on season tickets fading quite quickly. I've got through 4 replacement season tickets that have simply faded. I'm wondering if it's a new kind of printer they use or else maybe the ticket machines are scraping the ink as the ticket goes through. Please tell me I'm not the only person this happens to!

You're not. And it's not just season tickets it happens to, although the last one I had of those had faded so much 3 months after its expiry date that I couldn't take a photocopy of it for the taxman. I used to stuff tickets in the back of my season ticket holder and they'd be fine for years: last time I changed holders I went to look at them (all reasonably recent) and they were all blank. I think it just rubs off. Since I'm now self-employed, I need to keep some of these for my tax return: what use are they if they're illegible? And of course if you buy them from a machine the credit card receipt suffers the same.

[newbrit]

I still remember the night when junior staff from the Overground promised us that the stations would be manned during working hours...

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[alywin]

I have it in writing (well, printing) that all Overground stations were going to be manned at all hours when the trains were operating ...