Why is everyone so keen to get their train tickets scanned?

Posted by JeffSergeant@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 14 comments

Sitting on the train with nothing to do except ponder the foibles of other passengers. I've seen a few people calling back the ticket inspector who clearly wasn't going to ask to see their ticket, just so they could show off the fact they have one. Is this automatic conformity, a vain hope at fleeting social interaction, or because they really think it matters that their ticket has been scanned?

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14 Comments

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A-Light-That-Warms@reddit

Seem fairly logical to me. If you get your ticket checked when the inspector is around you won't have to worry about being disturbed at some later point in the journey to have it checked. So get it checked early and then hunker down doing whatever for the journey.

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JeffSergeant@reddit (OP)

But they never come back.... if they walk past you once isnt it because they think your ticket has been checked already?

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A-Light-That-Warms@reddit

Of course they come back, people get on at other stations and need to have their tickets checked.

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Trailer_Of_Failure@reddit

That's doesn't change if revenue protection come on to check later

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A-Light-That-Warms@reddit

"If" being the key word there. No reasoning for anything is 100% fool proof, I'm merely offering a logical reason for what OP is seeing.

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tmstms@reddit

Lots of people think of getting the ticket out and putting it back (or, I suppose, these days, finding the right 'page' on their phones) as being a minor inconvenience, and once it's done they then kind of relax. Lots of people do this kind of things unnecessarily in advance, or for very marginal benefit, when travelling - it is a kind of fidgeting, oif you like e.g. standing up in the train or bus to prepare to alight, before one needs to do so. e.g. getting the house keys out before the car arrives at the house.

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sheerness84@reddit

I got the train with my daughter yesterday, the ticket inspector recognised a guy, asked if he actually had a ticket this time, then asked how many more times he was going to do this. He didn’t get fined. Or thrown off. Rode the same journey I did for nothing, consequence free. I’d rather people make a fuss about having a ticket then not have one.

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Ok_Idea_8986@reddit

I've only ever seen people expressing mild but polite annoyance at the inconvenience of having to get their ticket out.

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Sloppypoopypoppy@reddit

Because I paid for the damn ticket. If I don’t get it scanned I feel like I’ve been robbed.

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Vegetable_Avocado497@reddit

At some point it may matter. People have been accused of not following their itinerary (on an advance ticket where you must do so) because they didn't scan it at ticket barriers which were open. If you ever get suspected of not having a ticket, perhaps because you lost it or your phone died, or having the wrong ticket, the train companies may look through your purchase history and see whether tickets were scanned. 99.9% of people may be fine even if they didn't scan their tickets but a few people may have something that flags as suspicious even if they did nothing wrong. On the other hand, I find that if I don't look at the train guards when they walk past, they don't bother asking me for my ticket 70-80% of the time. Exceptions: very few people boarded at my stop so they recognise me, I got on at the first stop, they made an announcement saying they are checking all tickets

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Miraclefish@reddit

Why are you so against or bemused by people having their tickets scanned on a train?

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SlickAstley_@reddit

The quicker he can inspect you, the quicker he can go and fine a dodger. It's the Roman DNA of watching a gladiator get mauled by a lion.

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just_a_girl_23@reddit

I've kind of been that person. I spotted an inspector enter the carriage but I really needed a wee. I went off to the loo (was other direction from them but not far from me) thinking I'd be back in time, but when I came out they'd already passed my seat. I went into the next carriage to show them my ticket as I knew it looked a bit sketchy and I was on a long trip and didn't want awkwardness. She probably thought it was a little weird but she was very nice about it.

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