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My son was told to leave the train

  • 17 October 2023
  • 15 reacties
  • 695 Bekeken
J

Dear NS. 

Until now I have always praised the transport system in The Netherlands for the service and reasonable on time numbers however. Last Friday the 13th October @ approximately20.47 my son aged 13 was traveling from Gilze-Rijen to Tilburg. Half-way through his travel my son was asked to provide a ticket or proof of payment which he did as he has scanned the machine at Gilze-Rijen. The train conductor saw that my son was travelling with a paid ticket but with the 20% discount switched on but was not traveling with the person who actually had the 20% discount and ejected him from the train at the Reeshof..

I take 100%  responsibility for switching the 20% discount function on because in the past anyone travelling with the discount holder would have physically pick the ticket up at the machine at the station. I did not realise that you would travel with a discounted price without the main card holder.

 

My main argument  is that my 13 year old boy was ejected in place that he didn't know in the dark with no money and just an NS pass. At the time he called me I had already consumed alcohol and could no longer drive my car. I switched off the discount so that he could get the next train which was 30 minutes later and not direct to Tilburg. He had to travel from the Reeshof to Breda, then change trains to get back home to Tilburg. 

My reaction is this.

 

  • He wasn't traveling for free he did pay, all be it with 20% discount.
  • If this was a 13 year old girl, would she have been ejected from the train in the dark in place they didn't know without money?
  • I would rather he got a fine than being left in the dark at a place he didn't know. 

In a time when kids go missing all the time, is this really responsible, professional behaviour  from the NS, I dont think so. I am discussed.

 

As my son said to me…..”I bet he doesn't have children” I agree with him. What parent would eject a child for traveling with an illegal 20% discount?

 

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Beste antwoord door mrfreeze 17 October 2023, 16:50

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15 reacties

mrfreeze
Reputatie 7
Badge +3

Hi Jason Lawrenson,

I completely agree. I'm not sure why he wasn't just fined, because that surely is an option, probably the better one in such a case. Maybe the conductor thought he was doing him a favor by not fining him € 50.

Unfortunately this community is not meant as a place to communicate with NS directly. Here travellers try to help each other.

If you want to submit a complaint, see this page for more information.

 

Just one more note: the discount is 40%, not 20%. But that shouldn't matter.

Robert B
Badge +3

What a strange story, because since you are able switch the combined travel discount on and must have a NS Flex (Basic) subscription.

In that case, a (50 euro) correction fee should be applied, not ejecting a person off the train.

Alles hier post ik op persoonlijke titel, ben geen NS medewerker.
H
Reputatie 4

What a story. I think you could sue NS for not taking due care for minors. 
the alternative of getting a fine, is better as you as a parent are responsible for actions of your children until the age of 18. 

T

First of all better instruct your son. If your son is old enough to travel alone he should know that he needs a valid ticket and that cheating is not allowed.

O
Reputatie 7
Badge

What a story. I think you could sue NS for not taking due care for minors. 

I'm afraid you won't stand a chance here. Articles 70 and 98 of the dutch public transportation law WP2000 together specifically state that someone traveling without a valid ticket can be banned from public transport, even with the police if necessary.

M

Get a valid ticket. And make sure you have some money in your pocket. Any transport can become stranded. The age is irrelevant in this story; if you’re not old enough to travel alone then you shouldn’t do so.

J

Well some mixed reactions here. With regards to the discount its my error it was 40%. You are all correct.

 

I agree, parent’s are responsible for the actions of their children until the age of 18, however I do believe that this was a unusual situation. And again if this was a female I am sure the reactions would have been very different.

 

And I do believe the age of the child in this story does matter, this wasn't  a 17 year old trying to pull a fast one it was a 13 year old who had paid for a ticket with a discount which he wasn't aware of. Again my error for adjusting this in the app. But again my son knew nothing about this and had until this day had always paid full price.

Anyway,

I finally got in contact with NS customer service. It was a little frustrating getting to the correct “complaint” area as I could find a complaint section which related to my son's situation namely, complaints  about service on the train and their personnel. This is now being handled by the CS of the NS but unfortunately although its registered as a complaint I have been advised I will not receive any further communication.

Thanks you to the NS CS for taking this complaint on, I hope  that no other child so young will be ejected in the dark at a place he is not familiar with.

That's all I have to say 

 

 

Erryt NS
Rank

Thank yyou for submitting your complaint. It remains a very difficult situation. I don't think my colleague wanted to bring your son in danger, he probably thought he will do him a favor by not giving him a fine. In addition, I certainly understand that as a parent you would rather receive a fine than be told that your child has to get off the train somewhere where he does not know where he is.

 

That said, gender shouldn't matter in this situation.

rvdborgt
Reputatie 7
Badge +1

I finally got in contact with NS customer service. It was a little frustrating getting to the correct “complaint” area as I could find a complaint section which related to my son's situation namely, complaints  about service on the train and their personnel. This is now being handled by the CS of the NS but unfortunately although its registered as a complaint I have been advised I will not receive any further communication.

They're obliged to send a reaction to your complaint within one month, or a notification it's going to take longer, and then the reply must come within 3 months. If you don't receive any of that, you can force a reaction by reminding them about EU Regulation 2021/782 article 28.

H
Reputatie 4

What a story. I think you could sue NS for not taking due care for minors. 

I'm afraid you won't stand a chance here. Articles 70 and 98 of the dutch public transportation law WP2000 together specifically state that someone traveling without a valid ticket can be banned from public transport, even with the police if necessary.

I completely agree with you if the person in question has no valid ticket. But in this case there is a valid ticket, though perhaps an incorrect tarriff.
I would agree that if police were present to take due care for the person it would have been a better solution instead of leaving a minor on their own devices...

O
Reputatie 7
Badge

I completely agree with you if the person in question has no valid ticket. But in this case there is a valid ticket, though perhaps an incorrect tarriff.

A ticket bought for the wrong tariff is not valid (for the way it is used in). Lawfully there unfortunately is no difference between having the wrong ticket and having no ticket at all.

I completely agree with you if the person in question has no valid ticket. But in this case there is a valid ticket, though perhaps an incorrect tarriff.
I would agree that if police were present to take due care for the person it would have been a better solution

I meant to say NS can ask the police for help to remove someone from the train if they don't leave on their own when they're told to. Although a police officer or NS employee could off course decide to e.g. stay with a child afterwards, I don't think that can be expected from either of them.

instead of leaving a minor on their own devices...

I don't think you can blame this on NS. If a parent allows a child to use public transport on their own, they should ensure it is safe for them and that includes making sure they know how to get a valid ticket and/or how to deal with the consequences such as being told to leave or even removed from the train.

F
Reputatie 7

Fully agree with the worried dad. Did the son actually get a choice ?

I also immediately thought when you wrote And again if this was a female I am sure the reactions would have been very different. that this ticket controller would be equally rude to a female 13-year old.

 

And then…

 

 

That said, gender shouldn't matter in this situation.

 

Hop… confirmed !

L
Reputatie 4

Not sure why this topic came up while searching for s th completely different, but while here, I’d like to add that I wish train guards / train conductors (what’s the proper English translation?) would rather eject “young adults” who obviously abuse the system and travel without tickets (the ones that jump over or “piggy-back” through the gates).

(And I’d also like them to eject travellers with 2nd class tickets using 1rst class, esp. those with shoes on the opposite seats.)

A

Curiously this topic popped up again in my suggestions while reading another topic. Did @Jason Lawrenson got an answer from NS about this situation?

J

Thanks for the follow-up, the only reply that I received was that this would be looked into but I would never hear back from the actions that were taken. So to this day I have no idea who was involved, if they were actually followed up with and what the outcome was.

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