This tale of the rail ticket small print that turned a straightforward journey into a nightmare went wildly viral and had people fuming
We’ve all had our fair share of bad experiences with the British railways, but @SamMarkWill’s rapidly unfolding train nightmare, which he shared on Twitter, is next level hellish.
Sam W describes being caught out by ‘a tiny bit of fine print’ and having to face a particularly unsympathetic conductor before receiving a threat of prosecution in the post.
And it’s quite the read, a tale that has gone wildly viral for reasons that will become rapidly apparent.
1.
So, this afternoon I got home to find a lovely letter from @northernassist telling me about how they wanted to prosecute me for using the below ticket to travel on the specified route at a peak time.
I paid £1.90 less than the fare they say I should have paid.
A thread pic.twitter.com/BhcxSvGtnQ— Sam W (@SamMarkWill) October 8, 2024
2.
s=”twitter-tweet” data-conversation=”none”>
You may be wondering – "the ticket says Anytime Single, why wasn't it valid"? This is because of a tiny bit of fine print in the 16-25 Railcard T&Cs about a minimum fare of £12 pre-10am.
Most notably, it doesn't apply in August. pic.twitter.com/PPjsiQO8d0— Sam W (@SamMarkWill) October 8, 2024
3.
So, I need to get a pre-10am train to Manchester on September 5th. After I plan to arrive, I'll have about 1 hour before changing to a London train.
I'd travelled on this particular pre-10am service a couple of times in August, using the @_Railcards discount with no problems.— Sam W (@SamMarkWill) October 8, 2024
4.
On the morning of travel, when I book on the Northern app, I scroll down until I get to that "Cheapest" Anytime service (as you can see). Nowhere is it made EXPLICIT that my Railcard will not, in fact, be valid on any services before 10am this time.
That was my mistake… pic.twitter.com/AoKRqGwLJ4— Sam W (@SamMarkWill) October 8, 2024
5.
Once on the train, the conductor tells me my ticket is invalid due to Railcard restrictions.
I immediately offer to pay for a new ticket, or even take a Fixed Penalty Fare if needs be. He says I can't do either; he must report it and Northern may prosecute me.— Sam W (@SamMarkWill) October 8, 2024
6.
He files his report whilst I Google the rules. I figure out it's due to the £12 pre-10am thing, by which stage his report is already gone. I ask him whether the fact I'm going on to London (AKA: spending more than £12 for my journey overall) changes anything. He basically shrugs.
— Sam W (@SamMarkWill) October 8, 2024
7.
.@jackfifield has done great work; he found that some people are getting fined hundreds for similarly tiny infractions.
Worth saying: unlike say a parking fine, if Northern succeed in prosecution, this will go on someone's criminal record for their whole life. pic.twitter.com/qgvAvJIz5F— Sam W (@SamMarkWill) October 8, 2024
8.
I've emailed the revenue protection team with all the info I can, so I hope this will work out OK. However, I'm understandably worried that an innocent mistake over a confusing and opaque rule – that only saved me £1.90! – will lead to a punishment of £100s and a criminal record.
— Sam W (@SamMarkWill) October 8, 2024
9.
So, what needs to change?
Northern: make it clearer that an "Anytime" ticket *isn't* Anytime with a Railcard. Leave app users no room to doubt.
Railcard: publicise your restrictions better. Ideally simplify them or just scrap them entirely whilst you're at it.— Sam W (@SamMarkWill) October 8, 2024
10.
Would much appreciate if people like/share this thread so the likes of @LouHaigh may see it.
There were multiple people caught out by this on *literally* just my carriage on that day. TOCs must do better; why would anyone get the train if this is how they will treat you? pic.twitter.com/iUhBD5gMSH— Sam W (@SamMarkWill) October 8, 2024
11.
One last piece of irony.
The reason I was going London on that day was to sit my driving theory. The quality of transport up North makes driving a near necessity, sadly, and I couldn't find any test availability in Greater Manchester/Leeds/Liverpool that month. pic.twitter.com/upB2w42fdA— Sam W (@SamMarkWill) October 9, 2024
Naturally, other Twitter users had strong words for Northern, with all but a few pedants (who are obviously wrong) siding with Sam W.
Most British thing I've ever heard. The service isn't there to be a service, the service is there as a low-level entrapment scam. https://t.co/f19Ui9kpKh
— Tom Whyman (@HealthUntoDeath) October 9, 2024
in england trains are so expensive that train companies make you buy a £30 discount card to get tickets at a normal price, but if the train company sells you the wrong ticket with said card you get a £500 fine and a criminal record for life https://t.co/ndCzGLxMfi pic.twitter.com/jmueRgq5t7
— dash. (@dashiellwood) October 9, 2024
This is ludicrous, you’d need a PhD to figure out the correct train ticket, there are inbuilt traps to lure you into getting it wrong and the penalty is a criminal record! It’s a hair raising experience buying a train ticket in England. https://t.co/MjQzM1Mfvx
— Mary Caulfield @susanthesilent.bsky.social (@SusanTheSilent) October 9, 2024
If they're marketing tickets as "any time" at point of sale and then slapping people with private prosecutions & hefty fines because they're secretly not actually "any time" tickets, the regulator should step in and slap *them* with a hefty fine https://t.co/HHGI74vDhO
— Anya Martin (@AnyaM8_) October 9, 2024
the brain olympics you have to do just to get a train in this fecking country https://t.co/e8L5Sy8fyB
— Laura ☠️ (@TricksyLiesmith) October 9, 2024
I may have this wrong, but it seems the railway company expects its passengers to understand the fine T&Cs of the discount card *but hasn't bothered to implement its ticketting app to have the same knowledge*… @GarethDennis https://t.co/6V2JCcuG2N
— Andrew Waugh (@MAndrewWaugh) October 10, 2024
Govt: Drive less! Use more trains, it’s better for us all!
The trains: https://t.co/A6BDch3U67
— Alex Goy (@A1GOY) October 9, 2024
All the very best to @SamMarkWill that the tale has a happy ending.
Source @SamMarkWill