Richard M Willis wrote:
Why had this guy "clearly worked out .. " ? You can't know what he
was doing on his other journeys, or even if he made other journeys.

There are loads of things in life where you can say "I didn't expect
that" or someone surprises you.. but the fact he had a smirk on his
face, and just handed over the £20 before anyone had said a word
suggests he might have done it before. How else would he have known it
was a £20 penalty? Maybe he saw a poster, or maybe not.

People who can't get a ticket (and I've seen a situation where someone
has stepped on a train, asked the inspector *when the doors were still
open* if he would sell a ticket and STILL been penalty fared once the
doors shut) usually argue or say SOMETHING. This is why I conclude it
has happened before. Maybe I am wrong, but it isn't unique.

On my line, the vast majority of fare evaders are still of the chav
variety (and in groups, inspectors will leave them alone unless backed
up by police) that probably don't even know what a ticket machine looks
like! Hatfield has now closed the side access door, but that hardly
forces them to stop at the ticket window before boarding!

Incurring a Penalty Fare is not a criminal offence: it is simply the
cost of a ticket when purchased on-train.

Indeed, which is why it's the easy option for TOCs. However, it's
pretty obvious that this person (or others like him, if you're so sure
he's innocent) is intentionally fare evading. I doubt he is likely to
be hunting down a member of staff at his destination, and Kings Cross
will ALWAYS be able to sell you a ticket - there's a manned office 24
hours a day!!

As the train stops at the platform, I moved to the door where the grippeurs
were, explained that I just HAD to get THAT train and was happy to pay the
22.20.
(I said all this before boarding). They issued me a PF and I paid. There was
no animosity at all.

I have no problem with that. I've boarded HEX in a hurry and not only
had to pay the surcharge but also lose my railcard discount. It's still
cheeky that they PF'd you (see my comment above about a similar
situation) when you were perfectly open about it. I guess they figured
that you might do this regularly and bank on there NOT being someone.

Do you buy a ticket at your destination or consider yourself lucky when
there isn't anyone on the train doing a check? That decides if you're a
fare evader or not, especially as the conditions of travel on FCC say
you must buy a ticket in advance or a permit to travel. Otherwise
you're effectively tresspassing!

Jonathan