Neil Williams wrote:
Jo Lonergan wrote:

Was I breaking the terms of the ticket by leaving the train before it
had reached a London Terminal? And if so, would the staff have been
entitled physically to prevent me from leaving the station until I'd
paid a fine?

On a Cheap Day Return, no, as break of journey and ending short are
permitted on both portions of the ticket. However, that probably
isn't the question you wanted answered, which is presumably what would
have happened if this was done on a ticket where it was explicitly
*not* permitted to do this, such as Advance or Megatrain.

My understanding in that situation is that, if you left the train
early on one of those tickets, you would be treated as if you had
completed the journey you did with no ticket at all (as by doing so
your ticket was rendered invalid, and thus it ceased to exist as a
valid ticket). Thus, the train company would have the option of
charging you a discounted ticket for that journey (unlikely), charging
you the full fare (the most likely in a non-penalty-fare area),
charging you a Penalty Fare (the most likely in a penalty fare area)
or prosecuting you (more likely than it used to be, but not that
likely unless they think you are deliberately trying to defraud, often
on a repeated basis).

If they chose one of the first 3, and you refused to pay, it would be
pursued in the same way as if no fare was paid. This might be by way
of chasing it up as a civil debt (in the case of a Penalty Fare you
don't have to pay on the spot if you give your details) or by
recoursing to option 4 of prosecution.

In no case, though, are staff permitted to physically prevent you
leaving the station once the formalities for each of the options they
have are carried out, though they may seek your arrest by the BTP if
you refuse to pay *and* refuse to give correct details in order to
allow those options to be pursued.

Neil


Would this apply if the early termination of the journey was for a
reason such as illness?

--
Rod

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Although common it frequently goes undiagnosed.
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