Metcard /FS Station sunday

[Mick Stock <mzs@bigpond.com>]

Just for the record....

On Sunday morning, I entered Flinders St station (main entrance) just
before 7:30am.  My train normally departs at 7.32am (but this w/e it
departed at 7.42 due to signal works in the loop).  The problem was that
the ATMs were all 'Out of Service", and all the barriers were turned off
and wde open!  

On this particular occassion, I had a 'scratchie', as well as a few
unused metcards, but what I'd like to know is that if I only had an
unvalidated metcard, would the storm troupers be able to book me for not
having a validated ticket, even though the barriers/validators were
turned off?

Buying ANOTHER ticket from the ticket office wouldn't have been an
option, as  it was closed when I went past.

Surprisingly, the gestapo weren't on my train on this trip - they are
usually on it most Sundays, and have usually booked as many as 50% of
passengers for not having valid tickets by the time I get off! (Moral
is: if you catch the 7.32am FS to Lilydale train on a Sunday, make sure
you have a valid ticket!).

On a related (more or less) note:
 Whenever I've rung the metcard hotline to report validator/ATM
problems, the standard reply is 'take note of exact date/time the
machine isn't working, and get a ticket at the other end'. This is all
well & good, but if the gestapo try to fine me for not having a valid
ticket in this situation, where do I stand legally? Can I just tell them
what the metcard people said & not worry about getting fined, or can
they be a*holes and book me anyway?

Mick.
mzs@bigpond.com