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[yatesDELTA]

On the recent trend of fines that dont seem fair...
On saturday my son and his friends went from Stevenage to Hitchen on the train to go to a local music event.
He is 16, as are most of the group of friends.
They purchased child rail tickets (being under 18 they are children) however when arriving at hitchen the ticket machines were broken and someone checked them. They asked his age which naturally he replied was 16. Becuase of this he has been issued with a £20 penalty fare for traveliing with wrong tickets as apparantly they should have been on an adult ticket.
He wants to appeal this fine and i am wondering how to write a letter to the appeals board thingy?

I think its completely disgusting they will do this for a journe costing a few quid to be honest.

[TheBoy]

not a leg to stand on, as every point you buy a ticket, it says the age for children...

[Lizzie_Zoom]

On the recent trend of fines that dont seem fair...
On saturday my son and his friends went from Stevenage to Hitchen on the train to go to a local music event.
He is 16, as are most of the group of friends.
They purchased child rail tickets (being under 18 they are children) however when arriving at hitchen the ticket machines were broken and someone checked them. They asked his age which naturally he replied was 16. Becuase of this he has been issued with a £20 penalty fare for traveliing with wrong tickets as apparantly they should have been on an adult ticket.
He wants to appeal this fine and i am wondering how to write a letter to the appeals board thingy?

I think its completely disgusting they will do this for a journe costing a few quid to be honest.

You can try and appeal of course, but on the railways a "child" is up to and including fifteen years of age.  Over and it is a full adult fare, if no student discount or others applies.

[yatesDELTA]

oh okay then, thanks anyways

[HolyCount]

Widening this topic slightly ... why, oh why, are there so many different interpretations of "child" ?

It seems on BR (or whatever) you are an adult at 15. However, can't vote until 18.

Why can't life be simple, for those of us (me) that are equally simple ??

[yatesDELTA]

Yeah i agree, in all honesty i would agree with being under 18 and travelling on child tickets, if you cant vote or drink or other stuff then why should you have to pay more to travel.

[Lizzie_Zoom]

I agree there should be a standard age for when a child becomes an adult.

It must be remembered that with the average airline the age limit of a child is just 12, with 13 classed as an adult.  If you travel by British Airways it is worse; the limit is up to and including the age of just 11 for being a child as far as ticketing is concerned.

[yatesDELTA]

blatantly just another way to get money off people. Same with the cinema i think, 15 the age diference.

[Chris_H]

I can see no reason why the age at which you have a basic understanding of politics, and the age at which you cost a rail company money to transport you should be linked at all.

 If you take up a seat and breath the air and graffitti the walls you should pay the going rate. 

[Vamps]

Legally you are a 'Child' till the age of 18.

On public transport I am of the understanding that as a 'Child' you were expected to sit on your parents knee if there were a lack of seats, thinking buses mind where it is / was? OK to sit 3 children on a double seat. :-/

I guess that at 14 if you do not want to sit on Mummy's knee you take up a seat and should pay for it.
What there should be is a 'Students' rate covering 11 up for reduced fare given their limited income, just my thoughts.

[yatesDELTA]

well my son is going into 6th form in september and has looked inot a student rail card, this costs £25 for a year and saves about 30% on every journey.
Thing is you would have to use trains a fair bit to save money from it. Going to london a few times a year and the local towns occasionally probably wouldnt make it worth while

[Vamps]

well my son is going into 6th form in september and has looked inot a student rail card, this costs £25 for a year and saves about 30% on every journey.Thing is you would have to use trains a fair bit to save money from it. Going to london a few times a year and the local towns occasionally probably wouldnt make it worth while

These should be free, hardly encourages the young to use public transport does it......

[Lizzie_Zoom]

Legally you are a 'Child' till the age of 18.

On public transport I am of the understanding that as a 'Child' you were expected to sit on your parents knee if there were a lack of seats, thinking buses mind where it is / was? OK to sit 3 children on a double seat. :-/

I guess that at 14 if you do not want to sit on Mummy's knee you take up a seat and should pay for it.
What there should be is a 'Students' rate covering 11 up for reduced fare given their limited income, just my thoughts.

Technically you are right Mike in terms of UN law, but read this link by the NSPCC about how in fact across the UK no such legal definition applies and it is down to each "policy" to determine!!   This is in contravention as I see it of the UN convention "Rights of The Child" which the UK ratified in 1991.

http://www.nspcc.org.uk/Inform/resourcesforprofessionals/InformationBriefings/definitionofachild_wda59396.html

If you want to start something legally 'interesting' YD, then challenge Network Rail, or more correctly National Rail who are responsible for tickets, over the child age policy in view of the UN's Convention ratified by the UK.  Set a legal precedent that will shake up how Great Britain defines a child in the provisions of goods and services throughout the public and commercial spheres.   This would be quiet something to achieve 8-) 8-) 8-) 8-)

Mind you, beware, International Law has always proved to be extremely hard to enforce over another nation state!!