I%26#39;m amazed that it has to be said again, but apparently there are those who still haven%26#39;t figured it out.
Yesterday, as I made my way through Gare du Nord, I was stopped by a young woman struggling with enormous bags.
She couldn%26#39;t figure out how to activate the turnstiles to get out. When I told her to put her ticket in the turnstile, she looked shocked and said that she threw it away because she didn%26#39;t need it anymore.
Not the case.
You MUST keep your ticket with you while you are anywhere in the transit system.
Not only will you need it to activate the turnstile so you can leave, but you can be fined for not having a valid ticket on your person (and yes, they do stop people and write tickets).
|||
Hi Sunshine817,
Even I am surprised that tourists have to be reminded on this aspect - one would have thought that it is a %26quot; given %26quot; whilst travelling by metro/ bus / tram or any transit system in most parts of the world, to retain your ticket, both at %26quot; entry %26quot; AND at %26quot; exit %26quot; points.
Well, I suppose people like to learn it the hard way.
arvind
|||
I think that, at least for Americans, it%26#39;s a matter of assuming that the foreign systems are like our own. I am only familiar with the T in Boston and the BART system in San Francisco, but neither requires the ticket to exit the system.
This point should be in bolds in every guidebook.
|||
are there no inspectors or ticket checks on the T in Boston and the BART system in San Francisco? Do people not need to be able to prove they have paid?
|||
Good heavens, no, Selkie. We Americans are an honest lot :) They%26#39;re just not necessary...or is it cost effective??
|||
Merely curious - I clutch my tickets like talismans (although have not, in the rest of Europe (the bits of east and west Europe I%26#39;ve visited) ever had to use the ticket to exit the system but I%26#39;m frightened of inspectors! - if you do find yourself on the wrong side of an unopenable barrier - how Do you get out?
|||
And if you%26#39; re ever planning to visit Perth, Western Australia (particularly the main one in the central city) you will need your ticket to get through the turnstyle (and in case an inspector comes on the train).
|||
I suspect that a very high proportion, probably a majority, of American first-time visitors to Paris may never have used any form of urban mass transit prior to stepping off the plane at CDG. It is only in a very few cities that middle and upper class Americans routinely travel in anything other than a car or taxi. For the rest riding a bus or subway is as foreign a concept as being presented with a menu where the entrée is not the main course.
|||
and she wasn%26#39;t even American....from her accent, I%26#39;d wager Eastern Europe.
She spoke to me because I was talking to a British couple searching for the connection to the RER B to CDG....that one was a little bit of a diplomatic exercise, as they were literally standing right in front of an elevator bearing a large sign at eye level that said RER B and a down arrow...!
|||
I had not been checked inside a metro train in several months, but some ticket inspectors came through my train last week and verified everybody%26#39;s ticket.
|||
Oh, Sunshine...Grrrrrrrrr!
No comments:
Post a Comment