Prosecution for railcard offences? Here’s how to avoid them

Train Talk: No need to change the system – just the information on the ticket

Going places? Northern trains at York railway station (Simon Calder)

The rail ticket I am holding is for a journey from Gatwick airport to East Croydon. Gratuitously, it tells me: “Valid for any permitted route.” It’s hard to imagine anyone doing anything other than boarding one of the frequent direct trains from the airport to the south London station, taking 15 minutes.

“Refundable and exchangeable for a fee,” it adds. This, too, is redundant information. The ticket cost £4.30 and the admin fee for a refund is £5, so no one would do ever that.

More seriously: misleadingly, it calls itself an “Anytime Day Single”, which a reasonable person might imagine you can use at any time. In fact it means: “Only valid for travel at the times when your railcard is valid.”

Most railcards have restrictions on timings for “walk-up” tickets – basically anything that isn’t an advance fare. The main aim is a block on morning departures, particularly in southeast England.

In the olden days when everyone bought from station booking offices, the clerk would often stamp “Restrictions Advised” on the ticket. So if you were found travelling with a discounted ticket on a weekday, revenue protection staff would know that you had been forewarned.

Today, when passengers buy a ticket with a railcard discount, they are assumed to know the rules. Ticket machines at stations generally will not allow you to buy a walk-up ticket with a railcard until after the restriction is lifted each weekday. Many of us buy online (particularly through Trainline), and the system handily shows when cheap fares become available; tomorrow on that Gatwick-East Croydon run, the 9.02am departure is full fare (£6.50) while railcard holders prepared to wait for the 9.13am get a one-third discount down to £4.30.

Suppose I buy a ticket for the later train, on which reservations are neither possible nor necessary. It will carry the words “Anytime Day Single” prominently, even though it is not valid until that magic 9.13am departure. Trainline knows that – and the rail firm assumes I know, too.

But I now have a ticket marked “Anytime”. I might want to use it before the morning restriction lifts. If I try to do so, though, I will be in breach of the National Rail Conditions of Travel. They specify “you must purchase, where possible, a valid ticket before you board a train” and use it “in accordance with the specific terms and conditions associated with it” – for example, if it is a ticket with time restrictions and/or has been bought with a railcard discount.

If I breach the rules, I could be punished under the Regulation of Railways Act 1889. That is the situation facing some young people holding 16-25 railcards in the north of England. In July and August their cards give discounts through the morning rush hour. But come September, a £12 minimum fare applies before 10am – ruling out using the railcard for shorter commutes.

Sam Williamson, 22, an engineering graduate from Glossop, inadvertently bought a ticket with time restrictions last month. When challenged by a Northern revenue protection officer, he offered to pay the £1.90 difference – but was told instead he could be prosecuted, as other people in his position have been. They are fined hundreds of pounds and get a criminal record.

“Heavy-handed”, chorused fellow passengers and the media. Yet fare-dodging is a problem that costs taxpayers (on who the burden for rail losses falls these days) hundreds of millions of pounds each year. Northern and TransPennine Express say about one in 30 passengers on their trains in the north of England does not have a valid ticket. Accordingly, “swat teams” of revenue protection staff target random stations and trains. If you are picked up by these people then the chances are you will either face a penalty fare of £100 or be prosecuted.

Simplify railcard rules, many will demand. But the reason the restrictions are so tangled is because the rail industry wants to encourage additional journeys and lure people away from their cars – while not losing money by allowing railcard holders to commute more cheaply.

A better solution: in cases like mine, when “Anytime” doesn’t mean any time, remove the word from tickets. At the very least, when issuing a ticket with a railcard discount, add the warning “valid only when railcard restrictions allow”.

Until that happens, here’s what do to if you are in the slightest doubt about whether your ticket is valid for the intended train. Always ask before you board the train. Check with the staff at the ticket gates or, in “open stations”, approach the guard or train manager. Make an effort to check, and you could be told to try again later – or pay extra. Annoying, but better than the alternatives.