Permit to travel

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Permits to Travel from the pre-privatisation (left) and post-privatisation era, showing station name, machine number, date, time and amount paid.

1 Introduction
2 History
3 Use and Operation
4 Trivia
5 Links

[edit] Introduction

In the ticketing system of the British rail network, a Permit to Travel provisionally allows a passenger to travel on a train when they have not purchased a ticket in advance and the ticket office of the station they are travelling from is closed, without incurring a penalty fare.

Since a large proportion of rail passengers travel without having their tickets checked at any point of their journey—particularly at off-peak times when stations are more likely to be unmanned—the obligation to possess a Permit to Travel allows the collection of at least some revenue from passengers who would otherwise travel for free.

Permit to Travel machine at Lichfield Trent Valley station, with the two LCD panels showing the current time (top) and the amount paid (bottom). Between these are two lights; the smaller light on the left indicates that the machine is out of order, while the other (illuminated in this picture) indicates that the machine has been deactivated because the station's ticket office is open. Photographed on 5th September 2006.

[edit] History

The system, known officially as PERTIS (Permit to Travel Issuing System), was first introduced by Network SouthEast in November 1988 on the LTS route between London Fenchurch Street and Shoeburyness. The machines, which closely resemble those found in pay and display car parks, were manufactured by Almex Information Systems. Machines were given the designation AS-9 (wall-mounted) or AS-88 (mounted on a metal base), but internal workings and tickets were identical in each case.

Penalty Fares schemes spread across Network SouthEast in subsequent years, with AS-88 machines being used exclusively; railway stations in the West Midlands and West Yorkshire PTE areas subsequently had schemes put in place, and machines were installed accordingly.

[edit] Use and Operation

The front panel of the machine has two LCD displays; one shows the current time, while the other displays the amount paid when coins have been fed in. A button is pressed to print the Permit, which shows a serial number, the station name, the date and time.

Permits to travel bear the warning that they are not fare tickets and must be exchanged for one at the first opportunity. The record of the station of issue means that a passenger travelling on a Permit cannot claim that they have only just boarded the train (allowing them to travel on a cheaper fare) if they are not reached by a ticket inspector until a few stops after boarding. Permits to travel are in any case only valid for two hours from the time shown on them.

If the holder of a Permit to Travel is asked to present their ticket by an inspector, they will be asked where they are travelling to and issued with the appropriate ticket, and will be charged the difference between the balance already paid, as stated on the Permit, and the full cost of the ticket for their journey. If they have already paid the full price of the ticket it will be exchanged for the Permit and no money will change hands. Because any amount of money on a valid Permit to Travel will ensure that a passenger cannot be charged a penalty fare, it is entirely possible (if the passenger is not encountered by an inspector, who will sell a full ticket) to make a two hour train journey for as little five pence (which is the lowest denomination coin the machine will accept) without breaching any fare regulations. However, this may occasionally be frowned upon by ticket inspectors who may regard it as an attempt to exploit a loophole which allows fare dodging.

When a station is manned and its ticket office open the machine will usually be deactivated, and a light illuminated to indicate that proper tickets should be purchased. Station staff frequently neglect to switch on Permit machines when they close the ticket office, making it impossible to travel without being technically liable for a penalty fare. The passenger's best course of action in this case may be to say that the ticket office was closed and feign ignorance of the Permit system, as many people who travel by train regularly are only vaguely aware of it, and ticket inspectors will often allow a certain leeway or give passengers the benefit of the doubt if it appears that they have not made a deliberate attempt to avoid payment. In such cases, the passenger will simply be charged the full price of the ticket they should have bought. On some Train Operating Companies, a distinction is made between ticket inspectors and "Revenue Protection Inspectors" or "Authorised Penalty Fare Officers", whereby only the latter have the authority to issue penalty fares where a ticket or Permit is not held. Many Train Operating Companies (for example Southern) have altered their penalty fare policies, and have removed Permit to Travel machines; while others, such as Southeastern and Chiltern Railways, have installed more machines recently.

[edit] Trivia

Printing mistakes are common, involving station name, date of issue or even time. Garbled, non-ASCII characters sometimes appear.
Numbering of machines is also inconsistent; the standard policy has been for the first machine at a station to be numbered 01 and any other machines to follow upwards from there, but 001 is a common variant, as is 01A. Other variants are generally caused by temporary programming errors.
The West Yorkshire PTE machines were numbered differently: two letters from the station name were followed by a one-digit number. For example, the machines at Keighley were numbered KY1 and KY2.
When automatic ticket gates were installed at Guildford, the public right of way between the "town centre" and "cathedral" sides of the station was blocked. To make it accessible to pedestrians again, the two Permit to Travel machines (one on each side of the station) were converted to print free "Gate Passes" showing the name GUILDFORD BRIDGE.