To think she's in big trouble

[skatermom]

My 14 year old daughter went out into town with her friend yesterday afternoon being bank holiday Monday. We live in a small village and she walks everywhere mostly. This time, they decided to get on the train and thought she would buy a ticket on the train. Her friend has a season ticket due to taking a train for school.
Well, the train conductor gave her a penalty notice for £50 and that a letter will be sent to her address as to what to do.

The problem is that she said she was not about to give her name and address to a stranger so she gave them a false name AND address!
So we will never receive said letter!
I've been so worried because I know it's an offence to not have a ticket but a worse one to give false details. I'm sure it's a criminal offence!
I'm so worried that she'll be on a CCTV somewhere or a 'wanted' ad placed out for her. I haven't slept all night thinking about this.

What would you do? Will they come find her?
Am I unreasonable to think she will be in big trouble with this?

Perhaps it was missed earlier in the thread. It was a false name, not someone she knows. More like 'Jane Smith' at '101 High Street' with a strange postcode.

I dont understand why the conductor wouldn't let her buy a ticket on the train. Surely that would have been the obvious solution.

Either she panicked a bit when she couldn't buy a ticket (understandable) or she was deliberately cheeky to him (not ok).

I would be minded to take her down to the station and explain that the conductor wouldn't sell her a ticket, she panicked, gave the wrong address. Pay for the ticket but challenge the fine.

If your daughter is identified then this could escalate.

I would take her to the station and explain the situation, what she has done isn't anything to be proud of.

@blackbyrd we do not earn five per cent commission on ticket sales I don't know where you have got that information from but I have a set salary each year and make nothing from ticket sales.

Again I don't understand why the guard did not give her an opportunity to buy a ticket the ticket machine gives us this option, most of us guards are human and will do a decent job

Going off topic slightly before being a guard I used to work on the ticket barriers at a busy station on the south coast it would be late in the evening,young ladies would say they had lost their ticket, clearly some had been out drinking and spent far too much, I did not ask for details I would rather see them get home safely, people say that young Women and girls get favoritism, I say this is not true after Sarah everard and many cases of harassment of women and young girls,their safety is my priority and not profit for the company

@Littlewhitecat our train line has ticket machines at most of the stops. I travel by train to work and you can always buy a ticket on the train. I have an annual season ticket but I've seen many people buy one on the train or buy it when the get to the main city at the barriers. There isn't more to the story. The ticket would have cost £2.80, not something my daughter would have worried about. It was her thinking she'd just buy in the train that got her into this but the man said no way. Buying it on the phone isn't something we here would normally do since you could just zap your card on the train. That will have to change now.

Also, she could have taken the bus into the town, she has a full bus pass for this. It wasn't intentional to dodge the fare.

They check the name and address on a hand held terminal. So it’s not possible

"I don’t understand why she couldn’t purchase a ticket on the train?

My local station is unmanned (and no barriers). There is a ticket machine but people seem to buy tickets from the conductor on the train every day?"

⬆️ This! Our local ticket office is closed. DS doesn't have a bank card to use the machine at the station. He thus buys a ticket on the train. If an official had a problem with this I would step in and explain.

Not on my line they don't. The last couple I've seen the inspector just gave them a bit of paper and pen then walked off.

I got a train in a completely different part of the country (England) last week. In London I just use contactless at the barriers but there were NO barriers at this large station and my friend had to buy the ticket using an app on her phone which generated a QR code for when the inspector came down the train. There were no barriers at the destination either. I’m a grown woman but would have been confused about what to do.

My local line is the North Clyde line into Glasgow QS, people buy tickets on the train all the time, including off-peak fares, regardless of whether they got on at a station without a ticket office or machine or not. It's just standard here, tbh I'm surprised that other places don't allow it, and glad that ours does. I think it stinks to not be able to buy your ticket on the train tbh. What's next - can't buy your ticket on the bus?

It’s not against the law then is it as some are saying? If there’s complete disparity across the country and most on here (including a ticket inspector) are saying buying tickets on trains is commonplace.

I think he should have given her the opportunity to buy a ticket.

@Okaywhatevs I don't think there are names and addresses of children on a portal anywhere for trains to use so there will be no way to check.

Ticket machine at my village station has been vandalised, can’t remember when I last saw ticket office manned.
For now I’d explain to her where she went wrong ( why couldn’t she pay on the train) and help her learn the lesson of planning. eg always have the means to get home, no matter how late at night for when she’s older.

It’s not the crime of the century, no one will come after her.

No barrier where I live AND you buy your ticket on the train.

Also, if she starts to use trains often she could use the train line app.

Her coming up with a fake name was more not taking it seriously I think

let me guess. She’s not exactly a prefect at school

She called me straight after, saying she asked the man if she could ring her mom to speak to him and he said it doesn't matter about your mom, here's my ID, I'm an official and if you don't give me your details, I'll ring the police to wait at the next station.

Oh ffs.

Anyone justifying this doesn't have a strong, anti-theft moral compass, they're just pro-authoritarian bullshit.

If the train companies want people on the trains to buy tickets, there's an easy way of doing that. If they'd rather employ threatening, bullying, situation-escalating twats like this who don't sell tickets, that tells you what the rule is for and it's not upstanding honesty and decency.

I think there is a grain of truth in this. I wad fined once. I had a ticket for the journey but it wasn't valid. The train company own website was I think deliberately vague about what the conditions were. I showed it to the ticket inspector and said it was not made clear and he got arsey and said I should be lucky it was "just" a fine and not a court summons. A friend made the same mistake a different day and was given a warning.

Meanwhile I know someone who travels most days without a ticket. He's very tall and built like a tank, funnily enough he rarely gets challenged for a ticket. (Not condoning it but there is a thing as an easy target)

Exactly!

Hear, hear. 👏

I wouldn't wany my 14 year old daughter giving out her name and address. Yes she shouldn't be fare dodging but her safety is the most important thing.

I know it's bad but it's also kind of hilarious...

She won't get in any trouble op. I know someone who has done this loads of times and nothing has ever happened. I'm not saying I agree with it, I'd never do it myself, but it will be fine.

@skatermom with your updates on how the conductor handled the situation I wouldn’t have given my DD a telling off at all, she was panicking because he used his authority to bully and intimidate a child on a train that regularly allows people to purchase tickets on it.

I’d be furious with the conductor and the way he handled this situation and I’d be making a formal complaint.

Your DD made an innocent mistake, obviously she shouldn’t have given out incorrect details but I don’t blame her especially as he threatened her with the police, clearly he has no experience with children or he just enjoyed having his little power trip.

Travelling without a ticket is wrong and OP and her DD know that. However its not wrong for her to make a valid assumption that she could have bought one on the train if this is standard procedure where they live (which it seems like it is)
It is unreasonable of the ticket inspector not to give them the benefit of the doubt and imo being a jobsworth about the sake of a child fare.

In fact, now I think on it, people even buy tickets from the staff at the barrier at their destination station (in my case usually Glasgow QS), after their journey's ended. Which is how it should be imo.