03 November 2023 , 14:32
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A 16-year-old girl claims she was slapped with a £100 fine on a recent train train journey, even though she had bought a ticket online.
Izzy Moston was travelling from college to the gym on the Wirral line of the Merseyrail network when she was hit with the hefty fine, despite having paid her fare using the Trainline app.
When asked for her ticket by Merseyrail staff on the train, she showed them her phone with proof that she had paid for her journey. However, she was told by staff that the digital confirmation on her phone did not count as a valid ticket and that she would be served with a £100 fine, which could be halved if paid within 21 days reports Liverpool Echo.
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Izzy says she was told she should have printed her ticket out at the station she travelled with, but pointed out that there was no ticket machine in operation at Birkenhead Park Station, where she had boarded the train.
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She was on a Merseyrail train (Andrew Teebay/Liverpool Echo)Speaking to the ECHO, Izzy said: "It was a bit of a shock to be told I would be getting a fine when I had paid for a ticket. I don't think it is made clear that you need to print it off at the station, it is not something I would think about really. "The experience has made me a bit scared to travel by train in future in case this happens again. I felt bad telling my mum about it because she will have to help me pay the fine."
Izzy's mum, Sarah Harvey, said that the policy is "really unclear" and that her daughter had faced a "real shock to be pulled aside and fined". She said that Izzy had to give her mum's details to staff as she didn't have £100 and it was "quite scary" for her daughter who believed she had paid for a ticket, adding that she felt the fine was "totally unnecessary". They will be appealing the decision.
Sarah shared her frustration on X, formerly known as Twitter, and got responses from others in the same situation. Lucy Goldsmith said: "This happened to my son Sarah, we appealed twice and in the end they agreed, he was 17 at the time, ridiculous."
Sue Ormesher shared her experience: "Same thing happened to my son. He had bought a ticket but was fined for not printing it out! Ridiculous."
Margaret Hanson also had a similar story: "This happened to our youngest too. Merseyrail is notorious for fining people with no hard copy tickets, even though they can prove they've paid. So old fashioned." Others were quick to slam Merseyrail for not having a digital option "in this day and age".
In response, Suzanne Grant, Commercial Director at Merseyrail said: "Whilst we can't talk about specific cases, customers purchasing tickets to travel on Merseyrail from third party retailers such as the Trainline, must have their printed ticket with them in order to travel. It is not possible to travel using an email confirmation or booking reference number as these can be refunded after travel."
"We have worked hard with third party retailers to ensure they make this fact clear at the point of purchase and we offer the ability to collect a ticket at any of our staffed ticket offices across the Merseyrail network. Anyone who believes they have been unfairly issued with a Penalty Fare can appeal via an independent appeals body, details of which are provided on Penalty Fare paperwork."
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