A SENRUG Member has pointed out Northern’s Ticket Machine at Morpeth still offers as a default the peak hour return fare to Newcastle, even when a customer is entitled to an off-peak fare (after 09:30 or at any time on weekends), thereby routinely overcharging customers £1.10 per passenger journey. Following complaints from SENRUG members, we first raised this with Northern back in December 2016. For it not to be fixed over a year later is not acceptable. If a passenger is caught attempting to underpay the full fare for their journey they will be subject to a penalty fare – and rightly so. But if Northern are caught overcharging customers, what consequences do they face? None whatsoever. Time for the ORR or Transport Focus to step in with a penalty fare regime of their own – against operators.
