Couple fined for getting off train two stops early. Thoughts?

Hadn't worked out what it meant myself actually. :o

If they were fined and thus sort of charged for their journey from the start to two stops before where their previous ticket was valid too, then the latter should be refunded? Or can that not happen.

Train tickets are getting more and more confusing. I swear there's an increase these days of people buying tickets and then finding out during the journey itself that it's not e.g. off peak.
 
thepeganator said:
To clarify, what do people mean by breaking their journey?

Not talking about the same thing as split ticketing? (which is totally and 100% legal as confirmed by the train companies).
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how is split ticketing illegal?

Breaking the journey will breach the contract - for example if you've got say a cheap ticket from major city x to major city y as part of some promotion but really just bought it because you want to get off at small town z en-route and this ticket was cheaper then you're breaching the terms and conditions of your promotional fare. Perhpas major city y is subsidising tickets to bring in more tourists or perhaps the train companies want to increase passenger numbers on certain routes...

Split ticketing - as in buying a ticket from a-b and b-c because its cheaper than buying one ticket from a-c doesn't seem to be illegal on the face of it - care to explain that one?
 
if they got a ticket direct to Z and got off at Y and got on another train then sure they broke the rules.

If they got a ticket to Z and got off at Y, cos they really wanted to go to Y then train company needs to **** off

Privatising transport is stupidest thing any civilised country can do.
 
Surely all these people mentioned contract law are missing the point somewhat, the railways (and the penalty fair system) are governed by specific byelaws which allow these fines to be issued.
 
dowie said:
how is split ticketing illegal?

Breaking the journey will breach the contract - for example if you've got say a cheap ticket from major city x to major city y as part of some promotion but really just bought it because you want to get off at small town z en-route and this ticket was cheaper then you're breaching the terms and conditions of your promotional fare. Perhpas major city y is subsidising tickets to bring in more tourists or perhaps the train companies want to increase passenger numbers on certain routes...

Split ticketing - as in buying a ticket from a-b and b-c because its cheaper than buying one ticket from a-c doesn't seem to be illegal on the face of it - care to explain that one?
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I said split ticketing is legal :confused:.

Breaking the journey is allowed, just not on promotional fares, on standard fares, including off peak etc, breaking the journey is fine, I have done it many times with company staff confirming it is fine.

Getting off the train early is also legal on standard fares, everyone who catches the train down to Portsmouth gets told by me to buy a ticket to "Portsmouth Stations" (Portsmouth Harbour and Portsmouth&Southsea) instead of Fratton in case we go into Portsmouth centre so they can use the return leg from anywhere.
It becomes illegal when you use a discounted (promotional) fare.

Split ticketing is legal because you are covering the whole journey you are taking.
Say you were going from A>B, yet A>C then C>B was cheaper.
You could quite easily buy A>C first, get off the train at C and buy C>B, and get back on the train.
Except with split ticketing you buy the tickets in one go.
The train has to stop at the station you split the journey at, that's why it's allowed, as then technically you stopped at that station and could have got off and bought the ticket.
 
xolotl said:
Surely all these people mentioned contract law are missing the point somewhat, the railways (and the penalty fair system) are governed by specific byelaws which allow these fines to be issued.
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Ahhh sense at last, was trying to figure out why it seemed so simple that they were wrong yet I could remember it was something.

All the penalty fare signs state that it's due to byelaw *** that governs railways.
 
ive paid 2 return tickets (4 journeys) to use only 1 of each half before as it was over £100 cheaper

it is stupid it should be cheaper to book normal but sometimes it isnt
 
Strife212 said:
They didn't break the journey, they just got off.

It's obviously designed to stop you hopping from train to train.

It's just unenforceable nonsense, they're almost holding you hostage otherwise.
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And why can you not hop off the train and then try another one? What if you want to go to the toilet on the platform, or get some food?

Rail companies can SMB tbh
 
The fine is ridiculous, the customer should be allowed to get off at an earlier stop if they want to, even if a discounted ticket is being used. This is nothing but bad PR for the train company.
 
Wow, I seemed to have hit a nerve with some people with this one.

Some interesting points above but for me it boils down to a few things:
1. Did they 'break' their journey? I think they did not, they did not intend to board another train from Eastleigh.
2. Did they end their journey before their destination? Clearly yes they did.
3. Was ending their journey allowed in the T&Cs of the ticket they purchased? From the statement by South West Trains, no it wasn't.
4. Was the fact that they weren't allowed to prematurely end their journey advertised or was the information given to them when they purchased the ticket? This is where is unknown is for me. From personal experience I very much doubt that it's advertised and I have never had this explained to me when purchasing tickets.

If my personal experience holds true for the couple in the story then I think the fine was unjustifiable. If however the train company could show where it was clearly advertised (etc) then the fine should stand and I for one am ok with it.
 
Wow. Just another reason to show why the UK Public Transport system is so dire. Trains are far too expensive for what they are.

With regards to the OP, people bought two saver tickets which required them to go from London TO Southampton.

They decided to get off the train two stops early when it passed through Eastleigh. So they paid the full amount from X to Y, got off early and are fined for it?

What a load of BS, T&C or not, that is ridiculous.
 
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