Did I do the wrong thing?

[BurtTheDurt]

Last week I was on the train, it was a few stops until it terminated. A group of 3 girls got on, I’d guess they were barely into their teens. It was busy so I was stood near the door, about 8 feet away. A ticket inspector who had been making his way down asked for their tickets which they showed to him. It quickly became clear they’d been bought the tickets by an adult which means they’re cheaper but the adult wasn’t accompanying them. The inspector began really telling them off, saying they would need to get off at the next stop or give their details. I could see they were panicking and one became tearful. I decided in the moment to step forward and say I was with them and that I’d moved further up so they could chat without me overhearing. The inspector seemed a bit annoyed but moved on. The girls thanked me and I moved back to my original spot.

I mentioned this to a family member in passing when we met for lunch. They said I shouldn’t have interfered and why would I approach a group of teenage girls anyway (I’m 41F with my own teen DD if it makes any difference. I thought I was being helpful and I’d honestly hope someone else would do the same if it was my DD. Did I overstep here?

Well done for stepping in - it’s what and individual should do when someone else’s error is impacting on young children. 👏

Why are teen fares cheaper if accompanied by an adult?

I did this myself a few weeks ago. The conductor actually asked if any adult would ‘adopt’ some teens for the journey so they’d get cheaper tickets. I said I’d easily do that but I wasn’t paying for their lunch!!!

You did a good thing and why would your friend query your choice to approach a group of teenage girls? They must have been only 13 or so from how you describe them- quite a vulnerable group not a bunch of troublemaking neds as some people seem to view all teens these days. Good on you.

You absolutely did the right thing. My daughter (14 at the time )was travelling by train alone one day. She was originally travelling to a different station and had a ticket for that (same price). Once through the barriers the plan had to change and she had to catch the train back to near our home to get home safely. She couldn’t go back through barriers to buy a ticket and so planned to explain and purchase a new ticket if required on the train which is usually an option. A ticket inspector asked for her ticket (not the train guard who sells them) and she explained the situation and he tore into her that as she hadn’t got a valid ticket and came from a manned station she had to pay a penalty fare and demanded her details. She rang me crying saying he wanted her details and should she give them. I spoke to him and explained situation and he refused to listen and insisted on issuing the penalty even though she had a ticket same face value and had not physically been able to buy a replacement at the station. She was so upset and all around her were sticking up for her and having a go at the man but he insisted. Disgusting way to treat a child that wasn’t trying to get away with not paying just through no fault of her own needed to buy a new ticket on the train! No one could help her in that situation but I was grateful the other adults were supporting her on the train. You absolutely did the correct thing.

What you did was harmless and supportive of the future those girls could become politicians and your act of kindness will be remembered

Agreed. I think you were great to do this.

Absolutely this. 🙌

except when that same “minor issue” is repeated many times a day it adds up.

I’m a guard on a train and, believe it or not, we aren’t ogres but you would (or maybe you wouldn’t) be surprised by the amount of times these things happen. The amount of people travelling on a wrong ticket, wrong time of day, wrong company, with a railcard they’ve “left at home” , travelling to get somewhere for a family emergency without funds etc. in the beginning you buy all the stories until you e seen the same person travelling to her a dying grandmothers bedside for the 5th time. It’s our job, it’s not a part of the job any of us like but we have to enforce the rules because equally why should one person get a cheaper fare when you’ve paid full price?!

I mentioned this to a family member in passing when we met for lunch. They said I shouldn’t have interfered

Funny how her dislike of people interfering didn’t stretch to keeping her own gob shut…

Honestly? I wouldn’t give the slightest toss if someone had jumped the train when I’d paid full price. Are you saying you’d have done the same to those girls then?

Oh yes! It’s the sort of family member you try to have as little to do with as you can!

I usually always pay for my ticket - going along one particular journey I haven't had to show said ticket 90% of the time. I know people who have stopped bothering on this journey now because it's so rarely checked. I don't begrudge them that. It's about 2 stops. It's nothing

I mentioned an incident where a guard was understanding about the ridiculous rules around tickets - My mum had paid for a ticket, she wasn't trying to cheat anyone

I know a friend who brought 2 tickets 1 for her and 1 for her friend, but somehow ended up buying 2 different days despite paying at the same time. The guard laughed and let it pass. Again, she'd paid for the right journey.

I don't begrudge anyone who has got a ticket but for the wrong company/day/time because some of the clauses are confusing (like off peak times can vary by location!) and because mistakes happen and because they have tickets and have tried to pay.

And ticket prices are ridiculous for journeys, I don't blame people going 2 stops trying to avoid paying. The train would be running anyway with people who've paid for the longer journeys, it's not going to make that much difference and if they get caught then they'll be fined or buy on the train. Simple.

Not really any reason for her to keep it shut when the op was having a conversation with her

But surely if the OP was interfering, so was the family member?

This is what I was wondering too.

Irrespective of the rights or wrongs, girls and women should not just be ejected from public transport into a possibly unfamiliar environment. Do men just not pay any attention to the news?

Not really. If someone tells me something they should be open to other's opinions

I don’t know the exact reason, they just are. Look it up on the greater Anglia website if you like? I just buy the tickets and go on about my business

Train ticket pricing and restrictions are insanely complicated and a constantly moving target. I'm not saying it's your fault as a guard. I'm saying that in the face of such insanity it's inevitable that sometimes people are going to get it wrong.

When you've got situations where you can get a ticket from A to B, and another from B to C, and pay less than a ticket from A to C even though you'd be sitting on exactly the same train in both cases (aka "split ticketing") then my sympathies towards the train companies tend to reduce. Similarly when you've got situations where certain tickets are only valid between certain times but finding out what those times actually are is damn-near impossible (I'm looking at you, Thameslink, and your "off-peak" vs "super off-peak" tickets), then I'm also not going to be particularly sympathetic.

I keep hearing about ticket inspectors being quite aggressive towards young female travellers so good for you!

If using a network card for example

Yes, but if the inspector was such a massive jobsworth he would've checked the ops ticket too, nonsense.