Couple fined for getting of a train EARLY!!

[PavlovtheCat]

[http://uk.travel.yahoo.com/p-promo-3359792 [oh my fucking word]]

this is the funniest thing i have read all day!

here sorry am bad at links!

I have seen this - have contemplated doing the same ie buying a cheap ticket for a further away destination and getting off earlier but I am always worried that I'd be fined like that!

Oh trains companies piss me off for reasons precisely like this. Oh, and they're extortionate.

Yes I was told off for doing this - in my case the train was two hours late and I got off at the earlier stop because I knew I would be screwed at the destination given the lateness of the hour so got off in a city where I could at least go sit in a pub and wait for a taxi

That's insane. I thought "breaking" a journey meant buying two tickets for a single leg (eg. going from A to C, but buying one ticket from A to B, then another from B to C). I didn't think it applied to getting off earlier than your destination and not getting back on agaim.

I often get off trains early and get a bus or walk instead of waiting ages for a connection... what difference does it make to the train company, they've got an extra empty seat?!

Next thing you know they'll try and fine you for buying a ticket and not making the journey at all. Buying a train ticket doesn't simply entitle you to use a transport service, it means they OWN your very SOUL.

Its called travelling short and Martin Freeman (I think this is his name) talks about this being a good way to save money on Money Saving Expert. I can't believe they were fined. When I buy a normal ticket where I live I often get off a stop early which is a large shopping mall to do some shopping before continuing with my journey. I don't understand how they can get away with charging this. I hope the couple get their money back - train companies make enough money.

Goodness me. i must be being a bit dim, becasue i don't understand what grounds the train co has for complaint.

It's just ridiculous. I'm quite incredulous. The train company is hardly going to fold because people get off their trains early, is it?

Train companies always give the reason that off-peak advance tickets are available cheaply to justify annual above-inflation fare increases, but they apply so many conditions to the cheap tickets that people get penalised and fined for using them. It's a win-win for them really, isn't it? Passengers either pay a full fare, or buy a cheap fare and risk getting charged twice the full fare anyway!

Makes me so mad.

it is absolutely insane. I do not really understand what they have to gain from the person staying on for the full journey, or what they lose by them getting off. If they were staying on for an additional stop, they would gain the additional money, so fair enough (but even then a fine is not acceptable, just an additional charge for that journey) but to charge someone for getting of early is absurd.

How very dare people have a life not governed by the train company?! No wonder people don't generally bother with using them, as there is just no flexibility in using the trains.

I would have refused to pay the fine.

That's bonkers. "Train companies ban people from changing their minds"...

If they made the fares simpler (and cheaper), they wouldn't have these problems.

oh without a doubt, i would have refused too, let them take me to court where I would have my say with the judge.