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Comment by michaelt | Hacker News Reader

> they also gain the ability to more precisely track the ticket’s usage across the network and minimise fraud.

Except mobile tickets make fraud trivial - getting off the train without a ticket, at a station with a ticket barrier? Just show them your powered off phone and say 'my phone died' and they'll let you out, no questions asked.

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Sure, but presumably because it's not worth the effort to verify rather than an inability to do so, no?

If their priorities change, claiming your phone is out of battery seems unlikely to allow you to avoid a fine.

Exactly. It's not like with paper tickets it was any different. If you lost your paper ticket they would either shrug and let you out, or fine you on the spot and let you cancel the fine if you can find and produce the lost ticket later.

Of course, I suppose in 2023 you can always say you have no way to pay the fine without your phone...

It's your responsibility to produce a ticket. Claiming your dog ate it or whatever will just mean they make you buy a new ticket and apply for a refund if you find your original again. They've heard these things before.

So you say - but I've repeatedly seen people allowed to exit through the ticket barriers at my local train station with nothing but a powered off phone as a 'ticket'

And arguably that's a reasonable response from a policy perspective so long as a small minority of people are actively grifting.

Sure, there exists an element of discretion, but it’s not an official exemption so the parent comment still stands correct.

NFC works on phones even if the battery is dead, as long as it's set as an express card. (Doesn't work if it's /really/ dead, but just hit 0% that day is fine.)

Do that five days a week and they will start recognising you!

That won't work with the controllers inside the train.

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