Penalty Fares
From Paul Rigg
Friday, 11 May 2018
Northern are introducing penalty fares from Monday 14th which means that if you haven't got a ticket already you have to get a "promise to pay" token from a ticket machine before getting on a train.
This is going to be a particular problem at Mytholmroyd where there is only a machine on the Leeds bound platform and no direct access between platforms. The rules state that if you are travelling towards Todmorden you must walk up to the Leeds bound platform, get a promise to pay form, go back down to the main road and then go up the other side.
I agree with Northern making fare evasion more difficult but I do think that the lack of a machine on the up platform at Mytholmroyd makes for a difficult situation.
From Julie C
Friday, 11 May 2018
I agree re Mytholmroyd and the ticket machine location. It would make life much easier, especially for the less able bodied of us, if the machine was moved down by the bridge perhaps it could go by the bike store. It takes a big effort getting up to either platform, and it's too much doing it twice! The present machine doesn't take cash and lots of young folk in particular don't carry a bank card.
From Myra James
Friday, 11 May 2018
At HB station I have rarely seen both ticket machines on platform 2 operational and on platform 1 last Sunday neither was working. Northern needs to ensure reliable ticket machines are in place before introducing penalty fares, unless we can assume that telling the guard that the machine was out of order will be sufficient excuse. I also have in mind scenarios where trains are running late. If you arrive at the station to find a late-running train about to leave, must you let it go, buy your ticket and await the next, possibly also late-running train? I don’t know about anyone else, but if I encounter a train that’s going to my destination, I want to be able to jump on it!