Traveling with a musical instrument on public transport is not always easy, especially if it is a large one like the double bass. A reflection of this is what happened to a musician from Paris, who had a bad experience on a tram when he received a fine.
The musician was on the T3a tram – which crosses the 15th, 14th, 13th and 12th districts – of the capital of France when he was fined, according to the media. . After a controller checked his ticket, his string instrument was deemed a “dangerous or inconvenient object.”
The musician was stunned, since it is his work instrument and does not bother anyone, as he told the French press. But the auditor did not give in and the cost of the fine reached 150 euros, which he paid immediately, but he did not stop there.
The musician filed a complaint with the Parisian Autonomous Administration of Transport (RATP), but it was rejected. Then he decided to write to the French Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati. And he received a response: they informed him that his letter had been sent to Jean Castex, head of the RATP, pointing out that the minister drew attention “to the precariousness of musicians.”
The letter forwarded by the minister, the musician assumes, must have reached the desk of the RATP mediator, since shortly after they informed him that they would reimburse him for the fine.
