FGW fines

Wed 27 May 2015, 14:30

I bought an Oxford Evening Out ticket on the train on Monday of this week at 6:33pm and it was fine.

It's gone up to £3.05 from £3, though (!). The guard said people complained about it costing less than a child ticket before, or something ludicrous like that.

Tue 26 May 2015, 20:34

Still 18.37 according to the National Rail website (http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/prf5d26b54764470855429d0ef67a73c.aspx). It's never been available from the machine as best I know.

Tue 26 May 2015, 18:58

Last week the ticket staff at the Oxford barrier said that the Oxford Evening Out ticket is now only available for departures after 7pm from Charlbury. As the next train doesn't leave until 19.43 and arrives at 8pm it's not much use. Does anyone know if this is true?

Tue 26 May 2015, 18:14

You definitely couldn't get the Oxford evening out ticket from the machine last time I tried. Of course that may have been axed with the new fare strucure...

Tue 26 May 2015, 17:50

You can buy tickets from the machine if you have a Cotswold railcard. Just select other ticket types and choose - I think - local Railcard

Mon 25 May 2015, 21:30

If someone has actually been given a Penalty Fare from Charlbury/Hanborough then the guard was wrong. Stations on the Cotswold Line are not in the Penalty Fare zone (FGW's map: www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/-/media/pdf/ticketsandtraintimes/buybeforeyouboard/penaltyfares-map-a.pdf) so the guard has no legal basis on which to fine you.

You can still be charged the full price rather than an off-peak price (assuming the ticket machine would have sold you a ticket), but given the new restrictions on off-peak tickets that's often moot anyway.

Mon 25 May 2015, 21:10

The ticket machines do not accept cotswold line tickets either ! so you have to buy on the train if ticket office is closed !

Mon 25 May 2015, 20:24

Thanks, Frank, for alerting us to this. I always used to tell my daughter that if she was challenged in this way, she should tell the guard that the ticket machine doesn't take cash. I don't see how one can be penalised for not having a debit/credit card.

Mon 25 May 2015, 19:18

I should have said the train from Charlbury.

Mon 25 May 2015, 18:39

Beware! For the first time I saw someone this morning get fined on the train into Charlbury for trying to buy a ticket on the train. They got on at Hanborough and the guard insisted that as there was a ticket machine on the platform they needed to have bought a ticket before boarding the train. Maybe it was a one off, or perhaps we are also being brought into line with the rest of the network as we have been with new ticket prices.