News


Ruthless application of penalty fares attacked by Passenger Focus


by Katie Silvester


Passenger Focus has launched a salvo against Tocs that slap passengers


with penalty fares or unpaid fares notices without discretion or consistency. While acknowledging the fact


that passengers should always have a valid ticket to travel, the passenger watchdog has found numerous examples of revenue protection staff giving passengers disproportionately large fines following misunderstandings of the rules surrounding tickets.


In one example, Mr H selected the


‘print-at-home’ option for his tickets but forgot to print them. On the day he took his email confirmation to the ticket office where he was told to speak to the train conductor. He did so prior to boarding and was


advised to get on. His details were taken later by a different member of staff and he


subsequently received a court summons for not having a valid ticket. In another case, Miss F bought an


advance ticket for a long-distance journey. She used her railcard, which reduced the fare from £14 to just under £10. She forgot her railcard and was issued a penalty fare for £260 – twice the most expensive peak fare for that journey. She was willing and able to prove that she had a railcard after the event but to no avail. Anthony Smith, CEO of Passenger


Focus, said: ‘The message is very clear – nobody is in favour of fare dodgers, but passengers do deserve a fair hearing. ‘If you’ve forgotten your railcard, lost


your ticket (but have proof of purchase) or you can’t pick up your booked tickets, you should be given a second chance. ‘A ticket will say on it, “see restrictions”.


But where do you see the restrictions? There’s nowhere to see them.’ • See page 5 for comment


Southern’s Class 456s to move to SWT


South West Trains is to get an extra 48 carriages, to increase capacity in the morning and evening peaks. The Class 456 trains will be coming from


Southern Railways, as part of a rolling stock cascade. They are compatible with SWT’s current Class 455s and will be refurbished to the same standard. Tim Shoveller, managing director of South


West Trains, said: ‘Both South West Trains and the Department for Transport recognise our shared responsibility to tackle overcrowding and look at ways of providing extra capacity and more seats for the 200 million customers who travel on our network every year. ‘We have already confirmed the


introduction of 60 additional carriages, which will be introduced from May next year, and today’s announcement that we have successfully secured a further 48 carriages will provide another huge boost to South West Trains’ passengers.’


The new carriages will be introduced into UK may soon have direct rail services to Holland and Switzerland


Eurostar is looking to run direct services to 10 further destinations, including the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland, as well as additional locations in France.


Nicolas Petrovic, CEO of Eurostar, told the Financial Times: ‘By 2016 and 2017 we would like people, when they are thinking about travelling to these cities, to consider taking Eurostar rather than flying.’ Until a couple of years ago, Eurostar had exclusive rights over running passenger services


through the Channel Tunnel, but the market has now been opened to other operators, with Deutsche Bahn planning to run its own services from 2015.


service between March and December 2014. Extra seats will be provided on 17 services travelling in and out of Waterloo, together with the creation of two additional eight-car morning services from Raynes Park to London. The previously announced 60 carriages due next May will be Class 460 Junipers formerly used by Gatwick Express. Transport secretary Justine Greening said: ‘I’m determined to do what I can to improve the service and this is great news for passengers. Adding extra carriages to these vital routes will mean more seats for passengers, easing congestion but also helping to boost London’s economy.’


Nottingham Express Transit has revealed its design for the city’s 22 new trams, which will be introduced onto the expanded network in 2014. The new vehicles will be manufactured by Alstom, which is part of the Tramlink Nottingham consortium


MAY/JUNE 2012 PAGE 9


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