Not Combating Fare Evasion.
Last week when the conductor came to check tickets on a train I was on a girl in school uniform asked for a child fare and the conductor sold her a ticket, a boy sitting next to her, not in school uniform, who could easily have been 17 also asked for a child fare. The conductor refused to believe he was under 16, the boy's response was "You prove I'm over 16 if you want me to pay the full fare." To which the conductor's response was "I'm allowed to charge the full adult fare to anyone who boards at a staffed station without a ticket." The boy then claimed he was £1 short of the adult fare and the conductor seemed to let him off with that.
Yet at the same time you see posters at stations saying in instants like that you could finish up being arrested or 'at the wrong station' as it says on some posters.
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