I was fined 40€ for mistakenly sitting on first class

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Train wagons are exactly same. There is no difference between them. The only difference is the numbers on them. Number 1 is first class. Number 2 is second class. But I didn’t know that thing. And I was going to travel only 2 stations, like 2-3 minutes, even less.

After the doors closed the ticket control man came near and asked me to show my ticket. I showed and I was told it was not for first class. Then booom! I got fined.
I am not complaining. I got what I deserved. I should have known the difference.

No in fact I am complaining. I am new to the city man. And I already purchased an UNLIMITED ticket. I already paid my money! Why do you charge me more! Moreover, I am student. Some sympathy please :stuck_out_tongue:

I will ask them for my 40€ back. I hope they’ll give my money back to me. I need it.

The reason I created this thread is I don’t think it is my fault. And I find 40€ too much. Make me realize it was my fault (if it really is) with your posts which are rough in nature. I want you to hit me as hard as you can!

2

Happened to me in Italy. Rick Steves told me that my train pass allowed unlimited train travel. He DIDN’T say that Eurostar wasn’t included in my train pass.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is my grudge against Rick Steves.

3

Same thing happened to me in Budapest some years ago. I don’t read or speak Hungarian and had no idea there were such things as first class cars. The local cops liked to swoop on tourists, as they know they’re easy targets. I’m pretty sure they just pocketed the money back then.

4

I was able to winge my way out of a fine in Austria. Turns out the 1 day fare is good for one calender day, not 24 hours. Ended up just having to pay the fare, not the fine.

5

I am sure they didn’t pocket the money. They gave me a bill – Fahrpreisnacherhebung.

6

I don’t understand why they didn’t just make you move back to the Second Class car…

7

I had that same thing happen in Italy, but the kind conductor let it slide when she realized our group only spoke very limited Italian and were completely ignorant of any distinction between the train cars.

My near-fluent-in-Italian brother-in-law did not fare as well when he did the same thing, and apparently got yelled at as well. Perhaps we got a soft-hearted conductor and/or he got one who thought he should definitely know better than to make that mistake.

8

Didn’t this just happen to a member of parliament in the UK?

9

What would happen if said tourists just didn’t pay the ticket? Interpol on high alert? Extradition?

10

How the heck did you get on Eurostar in Italy?

No. It wasn’t an accident. All that happened was he bought an upgrade to first class on the train and a journalist claimed he was trying to get the upgrade for free.

Trust me when I say that first class on virgin trains is not some super duper experience for the mega rich. I always travel first class when I use them.

11

I’m pretty sure the reason is that, if they did that lots of people would ride in first class on a second class ticket just hoping not to be caught, since they knew the only consequence would be to be sent back to where they were supposed to ride anyway. They need a stronger incentive not to ride in first class with a second class ticket.

12

I don’t know if you are referring to a certain IMHO thread containing a driver’s license and a BOGUS ticket, but the two situations are not even remotely alike.

13

I just appealed (and won) a parking ticket issued by my daughter’s university. We’d gone up to spend the weekend with her for Family Weekend, and parked in a small lot next to her dorm. We’d parked there in the past when dropping her off. We did pass a barricade that was moved to the side, but didn’t think anything of it.

Anywho, we returned from our walk to see a parking attendant issuing us (and about a dozen other people) a ticket. I asked her why. She said cause we were parking in a no-parking zone.

I looked around. “It is? Where’s the “No Parking” sign.”

“There’s not one because it’s not an official university parking lot to begin with.”

“What do you mean? You have painted lines to indicate where to park, and it’s on university property.”

“If it was really a parking lot, it would have a sign designating what decal is required to park there.”

“I don’t know anything about decals. All I was told is that we were free to park in any of the university lots beginning at 3pm on Friday.”

“Except construction zones.”

“This is a construction zone?”

She pointed to the grassy area in front of us that was recently seeded.

"I’m supposed to know that this is a construction zone because you just re-seeded the grass?

“Yes, that and the barricade.”

“That barricade? The one that is off to the side?”

“Yes. Someone keeps moving it?”

“Are you accusing ME of moving it?”

“No, it’s moved all the time, by students. We keep moving it back in place, and they keep moving it to the side.”

“Listen, I don’t have telepathy. And I’m not a rule breaker. We didn’t know when we arrived that a barricade was SUPPOSED to be there, and that this isn’t REALLY a parking lot even though there are parking spaces clearly marked, and that it’s a actually a construction zone even though there’s no construction going on. We don’t know what we don’t know. If you don’t want people to park here, you need to communicate that clearly to people, perhaps a sign that says “No Parking.””

“Well, I can’t do anything about it, but you can appeal it if you want.”

**

Listen up, people. We don’t know what we don’t know. If we’re not supposed to park somewhere, communicate it. If we’re not supposed to get on a First Class car without a First Class ticket, clearly mark the car as “First Class passengers ONLY.”

14

… at the Verona station? In 2003?

15

Shows what I know, I didn’t realise that some Italian high speed trains had confusingly nicked that term.

“The name Eurostar is used under license from Iveco, which owns the trademark and used the name for one of their trucks. Despite the identical name, there is no relation between this service and the Eurostar railway service that runs through the Channel Tunnel.”

16

Wow, I did this on a train ride from Amsterdam to Brussels once, and all that happened was the conductor politely told me to move. Maybe my appearance as an obvious dumb American tourist worked in my favor.

17

So what exactly is the difference between “first” and “second” class on Italian trains?

We took a little 2 car train from Bagni di Luca to Lucca and on the way there we didn’t know how on earth to purchase a ticket at the station so we figured you bought it from the conductor. We stood in the middle of the packed train and some nice British tourists explained that we were supposed to buy the ticket from a machine at the station and get it punched at said machine. Thankfully the conductor never approached us. On the way back we bought the tickets at the station and sat in “second class”.

But I didn’t see a difference between the first- and second-class cars - other than the first class seats faced forward and the second class seats faced backwards to the direction the train was moving. But on the way back it was reversed…WTF?

18

Only a few minutes between stations?

I never heard of such closely placed stations outside of urban transit systems.

19

Forty Euros apparently.

20

More fun is in the UK there are a few train services where there is first class accommodation, and it’s obviously completely different - but for one reason or another (usually to do with the silly franchising rules) it’s actually standard class technically, and if you happen to know this you can travel on it with a standard class ticket. Especially fun when it’s standing room only in standard (and it usually is cause most of these services are commuter) and you can feel smug about your secret knowledge.

[Another bit of “secret knowledge” is that if you cannot get seats in standard you are entitled to sit in first although you are supposed to tell the guard - warning: that is only an approximation of a more complex position; check the national rail conditions of carraige before relying on this]

And then there are all the routes where you can buy first class tickets, but there is only standard class avaliable…