Erie-Lackawanna wrote: If they think they can get one over on a conductor ....To me this attitude is unwarranted. It's not about people trying to get over but instead simply get transportation. Remember, 'memory schedules'? People go to a train station and when a train comes in they get on it. When I heard an NH conductor begin announcing over the IC, "No passengers at Fordham, we don't pick up," the people getting on looked baffled but they got off.
Out in Illinois I can see the reason why at, say Kensington on Metra Electric, you can't get on a South Shore train to go to Randolph Street. I don't think that makes a whole lot of sense either (couldn't South Shore simply credit the fare revenue to the charges they pay Metra?) but at least I understand the reasoning. (South Shore, an Indiana operation, DOES service at least one station in Illinois, though.)
One nice example of putting convenience to the public first is in Philadelphia with Amtrak and Septa. Septa will carry you between 30th Street and Center City stations upon presentation of an Amtrak ticket stub reading Philadelphia. They could bust people's chops and make you buy a City Ticket (plus an onboard charge) but Septa doesn't do that.