“The ticket is not valid”: she uses the diminutive of her first name on her train ticket, she is fined 250 euros

Pour un diminutif de prénom, elle écope de 250 euros d'amende. (illustration) MAXPPP - Vincent Isore

Last June, a German couple who were traveling on a train in Switzerland received a fine because of a diminutive first name.

On June 18, a couple of German tourists were traveling from Freiburg im Breisgau to Vienna while crossing Switzerland. But between Basel and Zurich, the journey does not go as planned at the time of the check. The 81-year-old woman's ticket would not be valid due to a first name problem and she was fined, reports Le Matin.

Shameful behavior

If her 85-year-old husband encounters no problems, for his wife things become complicated. Indeed, on his printed ticket, the first name "Heidi" is mentioned, which is the one used in everyday life, but on his identity papers, the first name mentioned is "Heidemarie".

Despite explanations, the controller is inflexible and does not want to know anything. "The ticket is not valid", assures the agent on board the train, who even threatened to ;call the police on this "fraudster". He therefore imposes a fine of 252 francs (around 250 euros) on the octogenarian.

But the scene did not go unnoticed on the train. A passenger was "ashamed" of such behavior for a simple diminutive first name and decided to pay the ;rsquo;fine instead of the couple. However, the two tourists decided to file a claim with the railway company so that the person could be reimbursed.

"We would like to apologize to the couple concerned for the inconvenience caused. Our colleagues on the trains are doing a good job in an increasingly difficult environment", she said.