[movedx]

You raise a good point here.

There's a degree of trust here, too. Trust placed on the consumer to do the right thing and pay. I'd also say there's an additional consideration being put forward by the operator: sometimes people just need a ride every now and then. I've been Japan three times now and I've seen several incidents of the guards letting people just walk through without a ticket because they explained some situation.

[m-schuetz]

I've went through gates without ticket several times for reasons like access to coin lockers or switching to the other track when I've entered the wrong one. Gate guards usually hand you a slip that explains the situation at the other gate or when leaving again.

[Symbiote]

I've had the opposite: I entered a large station at the west entrance as a transfer from a local train run by a different company. The platform I needed was next to the east entrance. Fine. On the platform was a sign (in English!) reminding tourists they needed a seat reservation, which I hadn't purchased.

The sign said the machine to issue the seat supplements was at the east entrance — the other side of the gates from me, of course.

The guard at the gates understood me, but said I must exit back the way I came, i.e. all the way back to the west entrance. That side of the station 'belonged' to the other railway company, and there wasn't a machine to sell the ticket I needed. I could either walk the really long way around by road (not through the station) or queue at the general ticket office.

So I missed that train.

In general, I found the train ticketing system for regional or long-distance trains needlessly complicated compared to Europe, with base tickets, express supplements and seat reservations all separate fees, and coming as 1, 2 or 3 bits of paper depending on I know not what.

On one occasion a journey with a transfer came on 7 separate tickets. (Of course, the Japanese approach to this problem is not to simplify the ticketing system, but to invent a machine that can suck in all 7 tickets, cancel the relevant ones, and discharge them neatly arranged.)

[m-schuetz]

I fully agree that the base fare + whatever on top type of ticketing system is needlessly complex and confusing. We've almost missed a train because we were not aware we needed to buy base fare separately, and only found out because we asked a station employee for the way to the tracks who then informed us we're missing some tickets.

[yuye]

Same in the Taipei Metro system. Stations often have facilities(like toilets, stores and lockers) within the paid area. However, getting in and out at the same station charges you the base cost: NT$20 (About US$0.66).

For example: You'd explain to the staff that you want to use the toilets, and they'll hand you a plastic NFC token coin, limited to enter and exit at the same station. You use that to enter the paid area, go to the toilet, then deposit the coin in a special slot to exit.

>Gate guards usually hand you a slip that explains the situation at the other gate or when leaving again.

That was done in the past, but it's quite nice that they just hand you a token now.

Alternatively, train stations in the Netherlands have done away with fees for entering and exiting the same station altogether. Toilets within stations often charge a €0,70 fee, though.