Can't buy a ticket

[Thomas Ralph]

We already know that at unstaffed stations or stations with no facility open from which to buy a ticket you can board a train and buy a ticket at the earliest opportunity, and at staffed stations you don't have any excuse for not getting a ticket. But what if it's possible to buy a ticket, but not the ticket you want?

Examples:

• If there is a vending machine but no ticket office active and:
  • You want a Faircard/Weekender/family ticket
  • You want a monthly ticket
  • You want a ticket to a station that isn't on the machine (e.g. Cork to Wexford)
• You don't have enough money to buy the ticket you want and the station doesn't accept cards
• The ticket office guy doesn't know how to issue the ticket you want
• You want to buy a Faircard/Weekender card at the station but the station doesn't have any

They've made this very simple in the UK — you just buy a ticket that allows you to make part of your journey and then pay the difference on the train or on arrival, or in some cases buy a Permit to Travel which involves paying a part of your fare in coins and getting a voucher which states the station you boarded at, again this is counted against the cost of your ticket.