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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2013/may/19/east-coast-trains-ticket-fine
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| East Coast trains is on the wrong track with ticket fine | East Coast trains is on the wrong track with ticket fine |
| (4 months later) | |
| I inadvertently boarded an East Coast train from London to Newark which was an hour earlier than the one I had booked. It's a journey I regularly take, but I had had a harrowing experience that morning trying to help save a child's life and so had forgotten to put my watch back an hour after returning from France. I therefore believed I was on the correct train. | I inadvertently boarded an East Coast train from London to Newark which was an hour earlier than the one I had booked. It's a journey I regularly take, but I had had a harrowing experience that morning trying to help save a child's life and so had forgotten to put my watch back an hour after returning from France. I therefore believed I was on the correct train. |
| I explained the circumstances to the ticket inspector and offered to get off at the next stop and await the correct train, but he said that since I would boarding from a different station to the one booked, my ticket would still not be valid and I must I pay £74.50 for a full single ticket from London to Newark. I was really distressed but the inspector lacked any empathy or understanding. I do think the whole picture could have been looked at. Since I was expecting a lift from Newark and had to wait an hour once there, getting an earlier train was no advantage to me. NJ, London | I explained the circumstances to the ticket inspector and offered to get off at the next stop and await the correct train, but he said that since I would boarding from a different station to the one booked, my ticket would still not be valid and I must I pay £74.50 for a full single ticket from London to Newark. I was really distressed but the inspector lacked any empathy or understanding. I do think the whole picture could have been looked at. Since I was expecting a lift from Newark and had to wait an hour once there, getting an earlier train was no advantage to me. NJ, London |
| In your correspondence with East Coast Trains, the company simply repeats that the rules are the rules and there's nothing it can do, despite the distressing circumstances. It is referring to the National Rail Conditions of Carriage. However, inspectors are usually possessed of human instincts and you would expect discretion to be applied when it's clear a genuine mistake has been made. | In your correspondence with East Coast Trains, the company simply repeats that the rules are the rules and there's nothing it can do, despite the distressing circumstances. It is referring to the National Rail Conditions of Carriage. However, inspectors are usually possessed of human instincts and you would expect discretion to be applied when it's clear a genuine mistake has been made. |
| When I point this out to East Coast Trains, it hastens to exert its humanity: "Due to the customer's original ticket type, the options she was given by the guard are correct," says a spokesman. "She was unable to get off and board the next train as her ticket was for a point to point journey, meaning a break in journey is not valid, therefore, she would still have been charged by the next guard. However, after consideration, East Coast is willing, on this occasion, to offer a refund of the original unused ticket." | When I point this out to East Coast Trains, it hastens to exert its humanity: "Due to the customer's original ticket type, the options she was given by the guard are correct," says a spokesman. "She was unable to get off and board the next train as her ticket was for a point to point journey, meaning a break in journey is not valid, therefore, she would still have been charged by the next guard. However, after consideration, East Coast is willing, on this occasion, to offer a refund of the original unused ticket." |
| If you need help email Anna Tims at your.problems@observer.co.uk or write to Your Problems, The Observer, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Include an address and phone number. We regret Anna cannot reply to letters individually. | If you need help email Anna Tims at your.problems@observer.co.uk or write to Your Problems, The Observer, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Include an address and phone number. We regret Anna cannot reply to letters individually. |
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