01 March 2024 , 17:45
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A student was left furious after being slapped with a £100 fine after buying a rail ticket unaware of a major rule.
Tom Hall was travelling from Hassocks, West Sussex, to London Blackfriars on Monday (February 26) where he's doing a masters at King's College London. But in a rush to get to his appointment, he bought his ticket through the Trainline app after boarding the train.
Tom's journey came to a crushing halt when an inspector at the barriers informed him he had an invalid ticket and handed him a £100 penalty fare. The 22-year-old said his nightmare journey was "particularly galling" after spotting that Thameslink, with whom he was travelling, had already cancelled nine services that day.
"I was trying to book it through the Trainline app," he said. "Then when I got to the gate and showed my ticket I got this £100 fine.
Tom was travelling into London for his masters course and ended up with a £100 fine (Tom Hall)"The inspector told me I could have gotten a much higher fine as well." Tom, who is studying for a masters in history and politics, appealed the fine but was told he didn't have much of a case given that he bought the wrong ticket, regardless of his honest mistake and the fact there were no ticket offices open at the time.
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Thameslink said that while there were no offices open, the station where he boarded did have ticket machines. Anyone caught buying tickets after getting on the train is liable to a fine.
"It feels ironic and unjust that on the same day Thameslink can cancel nine consecutive trains, making thousands of people late to work," he added. "They face no consequences, yet when customers make minor mistakes like mine, and clearly have a record of paying full price for tickets, they are forced to pay a substantial fine."
Tom said he has made genuine mistakes before when buying train tickets, but that they have previously been resolved by him paying a new fare. "Train services just aren't fulfilling what they promise. There are multiple cancellations every week, but for me this is the only line into London so I have no choice."
The fine came on the same day commuters were hit by chaos, with multiple services cancelled on Monday over signalling errors. Thameslink, Gatwick Express and Southern Rail trains ground to a halt early on Monday over the problem, and continued to be hit by delays into the rest of the morning.
A Thameslink spokesperson told the Mirror that disruption on Monday was caused by a power cut plus two additional signal failures that were out of the company's control. The firm also reiterated that anyone caught up in the disruption is entitled to claim Delay Repay compensation.
The spokesperson added: “The customer in this instance boarded a train without having a ticket. It was for this reason that they were issued with a Penalty Fare Notice (PFN), which is in line with the industry policy. If a customer believes they have been incorrectly issued a PFN, they have the right to appeal.”