Commuter's relief as ticket error case dropped

Sam Williamson said he wanted rail firms to make railcard rules clearer

A man who faced potential prosecution for paying £1.85 less for a train ticket has said he was "delighted" the rail operator has stopped pursuing the case.

Sam Williamson's experience drew widespread attention after he used his railcard with a £3.65 anytime day single for travel on 5 September.

However a Northern conductor told the 22-year-old, who was on a service before 10:00, his ticket was invalid because the railcard could not be used for discounts on peak-time fares under £12.

In a social media post earlier this week, seen by millions of users, Mr Williamson called on the operator to make it clearer "an anytime ticket is not any time with a railcard".

Earlier this week, a Northern spokesman said everyone had "a duty to buy a valid ticket" before boarding, adding that 96% of customers "do just that".

Mr Williamson purchased a £3.65 ticket with his young person's railcard for a local 10:29 BST service from Broadbottom to Manchester, but believed he could board an earlier train – where the same journey costs £5.50 - because it was an anytime single.

He said the 10:00 restriction was not made clear when he bought the ticket on the Northern app.

Mr Williamson also said he offered to buy a new ticket for the journey but was told he could not purchase another one nor pay a penalty.

The government said it was "committed to simplifying" the purchase of train tickets

The conductor later filed a travel incident report and Northern sent a letter to Mr Williamson, asking for an explanation of the circumstances in writing within two weeks.

Mr Williamson said Northern had sent another letter notifying him of a potential prosecution.

Earlier he posted on X he had been contacted again by Northern, who were "confirming that they will 'be taking no further steps against [me]'".

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Mr Williamson said he hoped customers in the future would not be "caught out by obscure railcard terms and conditions" and that the government would "step in to stop train operators bringing cases like mine through the courts".

The Department for Transport said earlier in the week: "Ticketing has become far too complicated, which is why we have committed to simplifying it for customers, as part of the biggest overhaul of our railways in a generation."

They added they expected Northern "to ensure their policy on ticketing is clear and fair".