Professor slapped with £155 railway fine for getting off his train one stop EARLY



A professor who got off his train one stop before the destination on his ticket was ordered to pay a £155 penalty to leave the station.

Martyn Evans was told he would be fined for disembarking at Darlington, near his home, rather than waiting until Durham, where he works at the university’s philosophy department.

The state-run East Coast train company said ticketing regulations meant he could get off only at the stop he had paid for – and nowhere else.

'Disgusted': Professor Martyn Evans said he was made to feel like a 'wrongdoer' after getting off his train one stop early. He was ordered to pay £155 after being prevented from leaving the station by the automatic barrier

But transport campaigners warned the restriction risked driving passengers off trains and back into their cars.

Professor Evans said: ‘Anyone would understand that you’d be liable to pay extra if you stayed on the train too long.



'But by getting off early, you aren’t even using all of the product that you’ve paid for.’

The father of two bought three advance first-class single tickets from East Coast to cover his triangular journey from Durham to London, London to Birmingham and then back to Durham.



Train company East Coast said the policy was standard across the industry

It was nearly 8pm when he arrived back in the North-East, so he decided to disembark one stop early, at Darlington, close to his home in the village of Hurworth.

However, when he tried to leave the station, the automatic barrier would not let him out. Station staff told him his ticket was invalid because he had got off the train too early.

He was ordered to pay £155 – the price of a full first-class ticket from Birmingham to Darlington. After complaining, he was allowed to sign an invoice and told he must pay the penalty later.

Professor Evans said: ‘Like most people, it did not enter my mind that I was in default of the terms and conditions by getting off the train early.

‘The whole process made me feel like a wrongdoer from the beginning and that disgusted me more than just the money itself.



'It’s absolute madness – no-one would anticipate you’d be at fault for getting off too early.’



Alexandra Woodsworth, from the Campaign for Better Transport, said: ‘The Government has promised us fair rail fares, but being charged excessively for getting off a stop early doesn’t seem like a fair deal.

‘Passengers need greater flexibility if they are to choose the train over driving or flying, and information about ticket restrictions needs to be made much clearer.’

East Coast has cancelled Professor Evans’s penalty as a ‘goodwill gesture’, but insisted that the policy was standard across the train industry.

A spokesman said: ‘The terms and conditions of the advance purchase first-class ticket – the ticket which Professor Evans had used for his journey – clearly state that breaking a journey en route, or starting from an intermediate station, is not permitted.’

A spokesman for the Association of Train Operating Companies said: ‘Hundreds of thousands of people take advantage of cheap advance tickets every week with no problem at all.

'In return for significantly reduced prices, there are certain conditions which apply that are clearly advertised when the tickets are bought.’

Amy Bradley, from the Passenger Focus consumer group, said: ‘There are some very good deals to be had on the railway, but passengers tell us the price of flexibility is too high.’

Earlier this month, Emma Clark and her fiancé Davyd Winter-Bates were fined £57 each by South West Trains for disembarking two stops early during a £6 journey from London to Southampton.