MerseyRail fine - can I appeal?

[ABC123ABC]

Myself and my partner used the merseyrail line for a journey. We were running late and I had hoped to buy my ticket on my phone but there was issues with the Trainline website and I could not purchase a ticket. By the time we would have gone over the bridge to the ticket station we would have missed our train.
Having not travelled by train for a long time I had assumed that you could still purchase a ticket on the train, I was wrong!
I politely explained to the conductor that I had problems purchasing the ticket online and wished to buy one from him. He then told me I had to pay a penalty fare for not purchasing before getting on the train. I apologised and said I would get off the train at the next stop and purchase a ticket and then get the next train but he blocked myself and my partner in and told us we couldn’t leave. We were made to feel very threatened by the man (and keep in mind I am only a young lady and he was a big middle aged man with very threatening body language) and accepted the fine. He then separated me from my partner to commence with the penalty. He asked permission to turn him camera on and suddenly his demeaner changed.
I appreciate that at the end of the day I did get on the train without a ticket but I never refused to pay for one and even offered to exit the train! It was a naive mistake as I would regularly purchase on the train in the past.
Do I have a chance at an appeal?

 

[Gloster]

If you received any paperwork please post an image of it in this thread. Please obscure your name, address and any identifying details, such as reference numbers.

 

[ABC123ABC]

It was a small receipt looking piece of paper stating a £50 fine and how to pay. I’m at work at the moment but can post it this evening.

 

[John R]

Unfortunately you committed an offence by boarding a train without a valid ticket at a station where ticket purchasing facilities are available, so unless there is an error in the penalty fare notice you received, it’s very unlikely an appeal will be successful.

Not leaving enough time to purchase a ticket is not considered a valid excuse, neither is an offer to pay when challenged.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

We'll be able to be more definite once we've seen the paperwork, but most likely the answer will be 'no, you can't make a successful appeal'. The rule is that you should buy (and have in your hand*) your ticket before getting on the train: almost all Merseyrail stations have a staffed ticket office (and I think those that aren't staffed have a ticket machine) so unless the station staff were away from the counter there's no excuse not to get your ticket before travelling. So the penalty fare is almost certainly valid.

*Almost uniquely, Merseyrail doesn't accept tickets on your phone#: if you buy through Trainline etc. you need to collect the paper ticket from the ticket office before getting on a train.

#Yes, the online Day Saver. I know. But not really relevant here. And I am not mentioning that tickets can be collected from non-Merseyrail machines either.

 

[JBuchananGB]

If you are now located in Merseyside, and likely to be using MerseyRail again, you should familiarise yourself with Merseyrail's ticketing situation. Most importantly, tickets bought with Trainline (which are unlikely to be best value anyway) MUST be collected from a staffed ticket office before travel. Merseyrail's ticket machines do not issue tickets bought online, through Trainline or anyone else.

 

[Watershed]

Merseyrail's ticket machines do not issue tickets bought online, through Trainline or anyone else.

Merseyrai's ticket machines don't, but their ticket offices do.

The key points for the OP to note are that:

1. For most journeys involving Merseyrail, you can't obtain digital eTickets. You can only obtain physical paper/smart tickets, which must be bought or collected at the ticket office/machine before boarding. Whilst you can buy tickets through an app such as Trainline, you will still need to collect such tickets before boarding.
2. For almost all trains across the country (Merseyrail or not), you need to buy a ticket before boarding if there is a ticket office/machine available. Failing to do is a criminal offence and can also lead to a Penalty Fare being issued. Unfortunately running late isn't considered a valid excuse - the train companies expect you to miss the train and catch the next one, if it comes to it.

 

[John R]

Unfortunately running late isn't considered a valid excuse - the train companies expect you to miss the train and catch the next one, if it comes to it.

Which in most instances on Merseyrail won't be a particularly long wait.

 

[Bletchleyite]

You have never been able to buy a ticket on board a Merseyrail train (except if travelling from one of the four unstaffed stations prior to the installation of TVMs there). The penalty for failing to purchase in advance has increased over the years, though. Even when "paying at the other end" was tolerated you'd usually be sold a full price ticket.

I think this PF will just need to be paid.

 

[ikcdab]

Because it comes up so often, it's worth reiterating that the only time you can expect an appeal to succeed is if there was a failure of process.
All other cases are at the railway company's discretion and for which you need strong mitigating circumstances. The fact that you were "running late" is not strong enough.