Passenger in Zug surprised by the fine: Now he doesn't have to pay it

Alfred Heigl (81) was extremely annoyed about a fine that he initially knew nothing about.

When the Starnberg Mercury confronts the railway with the injustice, it admits its mistake.

Starnberg - The railway caused Alfred Heigl great trouble in the past few months.

An inspector had imposed a fine on him without informing the 81-year-old.

Only when the Starnberg Mercury took on the matter did the railway admit its mistake.

Now Heigl should get the money back.

On November 18, 2020, the Starnberg man got on the S-Bahn at the north station in Starnberg for the first time in 2020 to go to Munich to Marienplatz.

He bought a day pass for three zones.

However, the price for the trip seemed too low to him.

Therefore, Heigl immediately asked an inspector for advice after his description.

He kindly explained to him that a ticket for two zones with M (interior Munich) would have been correct.

The controller then issued him a ticket for the onward journey - at least that's how Heigl thought.

The inspector got off at the next station in Gauting, and Heigl stated: “This hard-to-read strip of paper said I had to pay a fine of 60 euros.

The controller didn't say a word about it. "

Very upset, Heigl ended his trip at the next station and drove back to Starnberg.

At the DB travel center there, he described his experience, and an employee confirmed that his colleague had not behaved correctly and that Heigl's mistake could easily have been corrected.

"If he had given me more information, it would not have been a problem for me to simply interrupt my journey to buy a ticket for Zone M," says the man from Starnberg.

Heigl sees his own mistake - but not that of the railway

The employee advised him to contact DB Vertrieb GmbH.

After several attempts, the railway halved the fine to 30 euros.

The company justified its approach by stating that it was the passenger's own responsibility to check the correct information on the ticket.

In addition, the passenger must be able to show a valid ticket for the entire route.

Heigl sees his own mistake.

However, he feels it is a scandal that he was not helped and that the railway did not mention in its letters to him that he did have a valid ticket at the time of the inspection.

The 81-year-old says: “In the end everything got too colorful for me and I paid.

Because I wanted to avoid further discussions.

My wish would have been for Deutsche Bahn to understand their mistake and not have to pay the fine. "

This wish came true after all - after Heigl turned to the Starnberg Mercury.

When asked by the editors, a railway spokesman confirmed that the Starnberger was able to show a ticket during the inspection at Gauting and that the "additional fare collection" was no longer applicable.

He apologizes: "We will use the case as an opportunity to review our approach and, where necessary, to sharpen it." Basically, the inspectors must point out a fine and should explain how to proceed.

Heigl is happy about the surprising outcome of the case.

“I am very grateful to Mercury, but also disappointed by the redemption agency that they are only now admitting their mistake.

I hope to get the 30 euros back soon. ”His appeal to other passengers is:“ Be careful.

I also think it's important to note that you need an M ticket within Munich.

The railway could work out this key message in greater detail.

Stefanie Pfleger

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