Father angry over his son’s ‘pointless’ fine

9:10am Thursday 7th August 2008

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A 13-year-old boy was fined £20 by rail officials “for not getting a ticket that would have cost nothing anyway,” his father says.

Phillip Williams, of Kidderminster, was fined for going further on a train journey than his ticket allowed but was then told there would have been no further cost for a ticket including the extra stops.

His angry father, Phil Williams, has slammed the “pointless” fine, which he said caused the boy “unnecessary distress”.

Phillip catches a London Midland train every day from Blakedown to Hagley, where he attends Haybridge High School. His mother, Julie, usually picks him up from Blakedown station on the way home. On that occasion, however, she was unable to collect him, so his father arranged at the last minute to collect his son from Kidderminster station.

As Phillip’s return train ticket was only valid to Blakedown, he was fined £20 by rail officials when he reached Kidderminster.

Mr Williams said: “There was no conductor on the train, so Phillip didn’t have an opportunity to ask anyone to extend his ticket.

“When he got off the train, the first thing he did was ask if he could pay the difference but he was told it was too late and then he was issued with this fine.

“The crazy thing is, I asked the officials how much it would have cost for him to extend his ticket and they said there’s no extra fare charge between Blakedown and Kidderminster.

London Midland responded by saying: “Kidderminster Station is within our Penalty Fare Zone, which means that all passengers must be able to produce a valid ticket for their entire journey. Failure to produce a valid ticket incurs a penalty fare of £20.

“This policy is widely advertised at our stations and on board our trains and there are several ways in which to purchase a ticket before boarding a train.

"We understand that Mr Williams has appealed against his son Phillip being issued with a penalty fare and that this has been turned down by the Independent Revenue Collection and Support (IRCAS)."

Last week, the Shuttle/Times & News reported Pete Thompson’s complaints about a fine his daughter, Sian, received for not buying a ticket before she boarded a train to Kidderminster.