Vacation trip turns into a nightmare "Heidi" instead of "Heidemarie" on ticket - SBB ticket inspector fines senior citizen and threatens her with the police

A German couple is fined during an inspection on the train. The reason: their ticket had the name "Heidi" instead of "Heidemarie".

Heidi Alt, an 81-year-old German woman, and her 85-year-old husband experienced an unpleasant surprise on their train journey through Switzerland. Although they had bought their train tickets online weeks in advance, they were treated as fare dodgers by an SBB employee.

The reason: the ticket said "Heidi", whereas their ID card said "Heidemarie", as reported by the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper. Heidemarie has always preferred the name "Heidi" and uses it both privately and on her German Bahncard. She has never had any problems traveling under this name.

But when she traveled with her husband from Freiburg im Breisgau via Switzerland to Vienna to visit her grandson, she was in for a nasty surprise. Shortly after Basel, an SBB employee checked her printed tickets and also asked to see her identity card.

Fellow traveler tries to mediate

He then explained that the ticket was invalid because the name on it did not match the name on the ID card. The elderly couple were stunned and emphasized that they had paid for their tickets properly and were not fare dodgers. Other passengers in the carriage overheard the dispute and were also outraged.

SBB companion blew his coverOfficer rides train for free with forged marching orders

According to the Tages-Anzeiger, a fellow passenger and another Swiss tried to convince the SBB employee - to no avail. According to the fellow passenger, the ticket inspector even threatened to call the police. Bauer finally offered to pay the fine of 252 francs to help the couple.

The incident shook Heidi and her husband to the core. They were unable to enjoy the rest of the train journey to Zurich and on to Vienna. After changing trains in Zurich, however, there were no further problems at the controls, either in Switzerland or later in Austria.

SBB want to apologize

SBB has announced that it will contact him and settle the matter. SBB spokesman Reto Schärli apologized on behalf of the company for the inconvenience and explained that train staff often have to decide in a fraction of a second whether goodwill is appropriate or not.

The question remains as to what this means for passengers who use short names or have several first names. According to SBB, the date of birth on Swiss e-tickets is normally sufficient to confirm identity if the name on the ticket differs from the ID. In the case of Heidi Alt, however, it was not possible to clearly identify her, which is why the SBB employee correctly pointed out the different names.

Nevertheless, Schärli conceded that the fare regulations for public transport in Switzerland do not require the name on the ticket and on the ID card to match exactly - the employee could therefore have shown goodwill.