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Kootvela · Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Posts: 513 Location: Lithuania

Hello!

Last week I was doing a vocabulary lesson and we stumbled upon three things: ticket inspector, ticket collector and ticket conductor. A dictionary synonymous explanations. I was wondering is there a specific connotation in these words or they are all the same? Thanks!

fluffyhamster · Posted: Sun Feb 22, 2009 1:23 pm Post subject:

I'm not sure that 'ticket conductor' is natural (but 'ticket inspector' and 'ticket collector' are fine in my book). Anyway, a conductor used to be the person on buses (in London, say) who went around checking that people had paid their fare, selling tickets to those who hadn't, and answering queries and keeping order generally (which made the buses generally safer, if not more efficient, because people could get on and off quicker if they weren't having to queue and deal with just the driver); on trains, the conductor (also called the guard) was the guy at the rear of the train who wasn't involved with ticket-checking at all, but rather just ensuring that everyone was clear of the doors before the train was due to pull away. Nowadays all these duties are the driver's responsibility (in the UK). As for ticket inspectors, they seem to prowl especially trains, levying on-the-spot fines on people who had probably been struggling to get tickets from the one working machine (the ticket office had long since shut) prior to boarding, whilst ticket collectors used to be those guys at destination platform exits who'd check and collect tickets or collect unpaid fares from those without (without fining them), but they seem to nowadays be absent and/or have been replaced by the dreaded inspectors mentioned above. Ah, the joys of commuting in London - happy memories!

Kootvela · Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Posts: 513 Location: Lithuania

Thanks a bunch! BTW, love your avatar.

SueH · Joined: 01 Feb 2003 Posts: 1022 Location: Northern Italy

I'd agree that ticket conductor is not a term I'm familiar with. I'd like to add
ticket machine: a machine that often doesn't work at all (at least on Network Southeast) and doesn't take your money. More advanced versions take your money and leave you with nothing. There is also a machine that gives you a right-to-travel ticket which specifies your station of departure and how much you have paid following which you have to contact a conductor q.v. to get a proper ticket. If you have any sense you only put in 10 pence in case the train never turns up at all and to avoid the hassle of getting your money back.