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Expired Rail Card SWR

Fastcar1fast7

Member
Joined
28 Jan 2025
Messages
11
Location
England
Hi, want to get opinions and thoughts. Will save the long atory

Travelled to uni using expired railcard unknowingly. Honest mistake, ticket officer sits down and states he will give me a penalty fare etc etc. I admit the mistake and begin to renew my railcard and apologised. He says i cant do that as its not gonna be valid. Is this true? I really wish i did but i need to know replies from people who know about this, unlike the officer who treated me like a criminal and sorry to say i feel targeted and racially profiled as he checked me but no one else sat around me. I seriously doubt renewing my railcard on the spot which takes 5 minutes wouldnt be allowed, i mean i could have done it in the morning on the same day and they wouldnt know any better. I feel unfairly treated and now i think they will charge me alot for previous tickets and ontop a fine. How is this even allowed, people who dont buy tickets get charged for a penalty or fare and can go on their way, meanwhile us who pay for tickets will have to pay everything back and a fine??? this is not fair seriously we are treated worse than the real criminals. Im 21 and never been in trouble before, i think i need to seek legal advice from professionals but please someone answer my original question about renewing railcard after he finds my expired one. I also want to report this officer for the treatment. Thanks for any replies

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==

Service is south western railway and i wont state stations to remain anonymous
 
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AndroidBango

Member
Joined
17 Sep 2022
Messages
143
Location
London
The inspector is correct - a railcard bought after you've been caught with a railcard discounted ticket would not be valid for that journey.
 

Grvrdvicdr

Member
Joined
26 Oct 2021
Messages
224
Location
London
No need to seek legal advise as from what you explained the penalty was correctly issued. But feel free to post the notice you was given incase anything on there is incorrect.

As for the feeling targeted, how do you know the people around you weren’t checked before you got on? Please don’t be someone to try hide being the profiled and targeted card, especially if someone is just doing their job. It isn’t fair
 

tram21

Member
Joined
29 Dec 2022
Messages
872
Location
Nottingham
Unfortunately you are one of many others who forget to renew their railcard. You've only been given a penalty fare, a small penalty for honest mistakes. By all means post it to see if there are grounds for appeal, but it's been issued correctly; otherwise you could just buy a railcard when challenged which wouldn't really work would it...
 

jfollows

Established Member
Joined
26 Feb 2011
Messages
8,178
Location
Wilmslow
Unfortunately you committed a criminal offence by not having a valid ticket, and a penalty fare is the least worst way of dealing with this given that you could be reported for prosecution. A penalty fare disposes of the issue and the only record is the one held by the train company, there is no criminal record resulting.

If you post it here plus details of your journey and where you were found not to have a valid ticket, we can look in case there’s a technical error, but otherwise you’ll probably best be advised to pay up at the reduced rate.

Similar to breaking the speed limit when driving, doing this by mistake is no defence.

You do not need to pay for legal advice, many people here know more than many lawyers and happily provide their advice for free.
 

WesternLancer

Established Member
Joined
12 Apr 2019
Messages
10,776
Hi, want to get opinions and thoughts. Will save the long atory

Travelled to uni using expired railcard unknowingly. Honest mistake, ticket officer sits down and states he will give me a penalty fare etc etc. I admit the mistake and begin to renew my railcard and apologised. He says i cant do that as its not gonna be valid. Is this true? I really wish i did but i need to know replies from people who know about this, unlike the officer who treated me like a criminal and sorry to say i feel targeted and racially profiled as he checked me but no one else sat around me. I seriously doubt renewing my railcard on the spot which takes 5 minutes wouldnt be allowed, i mean i could have done it in the morning on the same day and they wouldnt know any better. I feel unfairly treated and now i think they will charge me alot for previous tickets and ontop a fine. How is this even allowed, people who dont buy tickets get charged for a penalty or fare and can go on their way, meanwhile us who pay for tickets will have to pay everything back and a fine??? this is not fair seriously we are treated worse than the real criminals. Im 21 and never been in trouble before, i think i need to seek legal advice from professionals but please someone answer my original question about renewing railcard after he finds my expired one. I also want to report this officer for the treatment. Thanks for any replies

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==

Service is south western railway and i wont state stations to remain anonymous
You are very lucky. A penalty fare is the least worst sanction. Pay it quickly to get the 50% discount.

Mist people who come here in Your situation have been reported for investigation (which leads to
Potentially being prosecuted in court threats) and costs at least £150 to sort out as a basic.

I can only assume he took sympathy on you and decided to go the penalty fare route. I guess some advantages of the profiling you mentioned.

To be clear a ticket discounted with a Railcard if the Railcard is not in date is not considered a valid ticket for travel and to not have a valid ticket when you step on board a train is actually a criminal offence in England.

Sorry I can’t give you better news.
 
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Trainman40083

Established Member
Joined
29 Jan 2024
Messages
2,577
Location
Derby
So, in a nutshell. Make sure you have a valid Railcard BEFORE you buy a rail ticket. Don't rely on anyone else to tell you it has expired. Diary the date .
 

Skimpot flyer

Established Member
Joined
16 Nov 2012
Messages
1,826
“I feel unfairly treated and now i think they will charge me alot for previous tickets and ontop a fine”

How out of date was your Railcard?

I’d pay the Penalty Fare and treat the incident as a learning opportunity. If you have made multiple journeys since the expiry of the Railcard then a Penalty Fare for just the one occasion where you were caught is the least-worst outcome.
 

6Gman

Established Member
Joined
1 May 2012
Messages
8,848
Hi, want to get opinions and thoughts. Will save the long atory

Travelled to uni using expired railcard unknowingly. Honest mistake, ticket officer sits down and states he will give me a penalty fare etc etc. I admit the mistake and begin to renew my railcard and apologised. He says i cant do that as its not gonna be valid. Is this true? I really wish i did but i need to know replies from people who know about this, unlike the officer who treated me like a criminal and sorry to say i feel targeted and racially profiled as he checked me but no one else sat around me. I seriously doubt renewing my railcard on the spot which takes 5 minutes wouldnt be allowed, i mean i could have done it in the morning on the same day and they wouldnt know any better. I feel unfairly treated and now i think they will charge me alot for previous tickets and ontop a fine. How is this even allowed, people who dont buy tickets get charged for a penalty or fare and can go on their way, meanwhile us who pay for tickets will have to pay everything back and a fine??? this is not fair seriously we are treated worse than the real criminals. Im 21 and never been in trouble before, i think i need to seek legal advice from professionals but please someone answer my original question about renewing railcard after he finds my expired one. I also want to report this officer for the treatment. Thanks for any replies

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==

Service is south western railway and i wont state stations to remain anonymous
You basically bought a discounted ticket without the railcard entitling you to the discount.

As others have said, pay the penalty fare and put it down to experience.
 

Hadders

Veteran Member
Associate Staff
Senior Fares Advisor
Joined
27 Apr 2011
Messages
16,566
Welcome to the forum!

I agree with what other forum members have said. Legally speaking, you have comitted a criminal offence by travelling with an invalid ticket and a Penalty Fare is an appropriate remedy for this. I would pay it asap to benefit from the discounted rate and chalk it up to experience.

The reason a railcard purchased immediately is not acceptable is because otherwise no-one would ever buy a railcard - they would buy railcard discounted tickets and just purchase the railcard when the ticket inspector asked to see it.

The other thing to note is that although once the Penalty Fare is paid the matter is closed in respect of the journey where you were caught, some train companies will check your ticket purchasing history and if this suggests you have made other journeys sice the railcard expired they will contact you seeking recompense for these journeys. if you receive a letter or email from a train company about other journeys DO NOT REPLY to them until you have sought our advice.
 

AlterEgo

Verified Rep - Wingin' It! Paul Lucas
Joined
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Messages
24,845
Location
LBK
Hi, want to get opinions and thoughts. Will save the long atory

Travelled to uni using expired railcard unknowingly.
This is an offence under the Railway Bylaws. Under Bylaw 18 you committed a criminal offence the moment you boarded the train.
Honest mistake, ticket officer sits down and states he will give me a penalty fare etc etc.
This is exactly what a revenue protection inspector should do. They have two options which are realistically open to them: dispose of the matter using a penalty fare, which is £50 plus the fare, if paid within 21 days, or, they can report you for prosecution in the magistrates' court.

I admit the mistake and begin to renew my railcard and apologised. He says i cant do that as its not gonna be valid. Is this true?
Yes, it does not undo the offence you committed; you failed to show a valid ticket and the penalty fare is being issued properly. It surely isn't a surprise to know that if you are being penalty fared, offering to merely rectify things by buying the proper ticket or renewing your railcard doesn't get you off the hook. Otherwise, all people would ever have to do is travel with the wrong ticket and offer to rectify things on the rare occasions they come across a revenue protection inspector.

I really wish i did but i need to know replies from people who know about this, unlike the officer who treated me like a criminal
You did commit an offence, but he has decided to not, in fact, report you for prosecution.

and sorry to say i feel targeted and racially profiled as he checked me but no one else sat around me.
This is unlikely; you have been treated leniently in the circumstances.

I seriously doubt renewing my railcard on the spot which takes 5 minutes wouldnt be allowed, i mean i could have done it in the morning on the same day and they wouldnt know any better.
Yes, you could have done it before you boarded the train - and you wouldn't have committed an offence, would you?

I feel unfairly treated and now i think they will charge me alot for previous tickets
Why is that? How out of date was the railcard?

but please someone answer my original question about renewing railcard after he finds my expired one. I also want to report this officer for the treatment.
For penalty faring you, instead of reporting you? Sure, go ahead - you will find life does not work in the way you expect and you will come up against some unintended consequences.

By all means post the notice here - you will need to tell us your full journey details too - and remove your name from the penalty fare. We can then see if there have been any technical errors in issuing the notice (such as, the wrong fare made out, or wrong reason selected, for example).
 

WesternLancer

Established Member
Joined
12 Apr 2019
Messages
10,776
Hi, want to get opinions and thoughts. Will save the long atory

Travelled to uni using expired railcard unknowingly. Honest mistake, ticket officer sits down and states he will give me a penalty fare etc etc. I admit the mistake and begin to renew my railcard and apologised. He says i cant do that as its not gonna be valid. Is this true? I really wish i did but i need to know replies from people who know about this, unlike the officer who treated me like a criminal and sorry to say i feel targeted and racially profiled as he checked me but no one else sat around me. I seriously doubt renewing my railcard on the spot which takes 5 minutes wouldnt be allowed, i mean i could have done it in the morning on the same day and they wouldnt know any better. I feel unfairly treated and now i think they will charge me alot for previous tickets and ontop a fine. How is this even allowed, people who dont buy tickets get charged for a penalty or fare and can go on their way, meanwhile us who pay for tickets will have to pay everything back and a fine??? this is not fair seriously we are treated worse than the real criminals. Im 21 and never been in trouble before, i think i need to seek legal advice from professionals but please someone answer my original question about renewing railcard after he finds my expired one. I also want to report this officer for the treatment. Thanks for any replies

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==

Service is south western railway and i wont state stations to remain anonymous
Further to the advice before which I agree with, it's possible they will start looking at your on line ticket purchasing history to see if you have bought tickets with a railcard discount before you were stopped on this occasion (even if you did so by mistake) - this is because they can ask you for the money for those tickets which were incorrectly discounted - they typically ask for the money for a new ticket at the full price.

This can be routine for them but seems less likely to happen in cases where Penalty Fares are issued (it is standard procedure when people get reported for investigation) which is why you may have got a better result by being issued a penalty fare basically.

You need to prepare for this by
a) checking when your railcard expired and checking your online ticket buying records to see if you bought any railcard discounted tickets after that - make your own list and keep it private in case they ask you about this. They can access all on line ticket buying websites to see what records exist. There is no data protection exemption.

b) keep an eye on your post / e-mail and spam in case they write to you (do so for at least 6 months) - if they do you will need to consider how best to respond. Ask here before you reply.

c) buying a new railcard - you perhaps did this already - as something that shows you took active steps to prevent the problem happening again.

d) I would suggest not reporting or complaining about the officer unless they did something seriously wrong - simply because it is better not to draw attention to yourself given the above. Your best outcome is that prompt payment of the Penalty fare is the end of the matter

If you want to seek legal advice there are 2 or 3 firms that regularly get mentioned on here that have expertise in rail fares issues. Their costs will be several hundred £ if you need their help. I would not think there is any point in incurring those costs unless legal action is taken against you. Your Student Union might have access to a solicitor at a free or cheap rate for an initial discussion about this if you want to ask the SU advice service - but again you need to be wary of avoiding drawing further attention to yourself at this stage in my opinion - all the outcomes IMHO would cost you more than the £50 I assume you are currently being required to pay (+the cost of a new ticket presumably)

I'm trying to be constructive here in terms of telling you what to be aware of - hopefully it's of help. With luck nothing else will happen if you pay the Penalty Fare.
 

Fastcar1fast7

Member
Joined
28 Jan 2025
Messages
11
Location
England
Hi, want to get opinions and thoughts. Will save the long atory

Travelled to uni using expired railcard unknowingly. Honest mistake, ticket officer sits down and states he will give me a penalty fare etc etc. I admit the mistake and begin to renew my railcard and apologised. He says i cant do that as its not gonna be valid. Is this true? I really wish i did but i need to know replies from people who know about this, unlike the officer who treated me like a criminal and sorry to say i feel targeted and racially profiled as he checked me but no one else sat around me. I seriously doubt renewing my railcard on the spot which takes 5 minutes wouldnt be allowed, i mean i could have done it in the morning on the same day and they wouldnt know any better. I feel unfairly treated and now i think they will charge me alot for previous tickets and ontop a fine. How is this even allowed, people who dont buy tickets get charged for a penalty or fare and can go on their way, meanwhile us who pay for tickets will have to pay everything back and a fine??? this is not fair seriously we are treated worse than the real criminals. Im 21 and never been in trouble before, i think i need to seek legal advice from professionals but please someone answer my original question about renewing railcard after he finds my expired one. I also want to report this officer for the treatment. Thanks for any replies

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==

Service is south western railway and i wont state stations to remain anonymous
Thank you everyone for the replies, i apologise for the mistake in my writing, i have been given a reciept for report to prosecution, not penalty fare which i assumed was what i will recieve, does anyone know how long and what to expect in the prosecution report letter? sorry again for confusion
 

WesternLancer

Established Member
Joined
12 Apr 2019
Messages
10,776
Thank you everyone for the replies, i apologise for the mistake in my writing, i have been given a reciept for report to prosecution, not penalty fare which i assumed was what i will recieve, does anyone know how long and what to expect in the prosecution report letter? sorry again for confusion
Ok thanks. So that plays out in a rather different way.

Can you say which train company stoped you and did they give you any paperwork when stopped.? If so please upload a copy with your personal details and any ref numbers obscured.

Did they take your address details where you can be contacted over the coming weeks and months. It’s vital you get their letter and respond to it or this will escalate to prosecution.
 

Cuthbert

Member
Joined
4 Jul 2024
Messages
321
Location
United Kingdom
Thank you everyone for the replies, i apologise for the mistake in my writing, i have been given a reciept for report to prosecution, not penalty fare which i assumed was what i will recieve, does anyone know how long and what to expect in the prosecution report letter? sorry again for confusion
If the ticket was scanned they will check your purchasing history as well.
 

John R

Established Member
Joined
1 Jul 2013
Messages
4,722
If the ticket was scanned they will check your purchasing history as well.
And to expand on this, they will very likely identify other journeys where you have incorrectly purchased a ticket with a discount. As part of any out of court settlement they will ask you to pay again for those tickets, at the full Anytime Single fare for each journey. So it is worth doing the same exercise yourself and working out how much that is likely to be. There will also be an admin fee which is typically £150 on top, and you’ll be expected to pay it within 14 days, hence the need for you to work out how much it’s likely to be, so you can make sure you’ve some money available.
 
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30907

Veteran Member
Joined
30 Sep 2012
Messages
20,791
Location
Airedale
And to expand on this, they will very likely identify other journeys where you have incorrectly purchased a ticket with a discount. As part of any out of court settlement they will ask you to pay again for those tickets, at the full Anytime Single fare for each journey. So it is worth doing the same exercise yourself and working out how much that is likely to be.
They will probably also ask you for details of railcards you have held, including the most recent one, so find the relevant information in good time.
 

Fastcar1fast7

Member
Joined
28 Jan 2025
Messages
11
Location
England
Ok thanks. So that plays out in a rather different way.

Can you say which train company stoped you and did they give you any paperwork when stopped.? If so please upload a copy with your personal details and any ref numbers obscured.

Did they take your address details where you can be contacted over the coming weeks and months. It’s vital you get their letter and respond to it or this will escalate to prosecution.
SWR, took my name, address everything

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==

Ok thanks. So that plays out in a rather different way.

Can you say which train company stoped you and did they give you any paperwork when stopped.? If so please upload a copy with your personal details and any ref numbers obscured.

Did they take your address details where you can be contacted over the coming weeks and months. It’s vital you get their letter and respond to it or this will escalate to prosecution.
Do you know what to expect? i have read other cases where people were invited to interviews which alot of people are scarily saying “YOU NEED A SOLICTOR OR DONT ATTEND”, im panicking now, as now this small innocent mistake is gonna possibly send me to court? incriminate me? make a huge case that will last for ages? I dont understand why we deserve this or get treated like this compared to real criminal fare evaders

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No need to seek legal advise as from what you explained the penalty was correctly issued. But feel free to post the notice you was given incase anything on there is incorrect.

As for the feeling targeted, how do you know the people around you weren’t checked before you got on? Please don’t be someone to try hide being the profiled and targeted card, especially if someone is just doing their job. It isn’t fair
Because they had there tickets out ready to show and the officer just walked off

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SWR, took my name, address everything

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Do you know what to expect? i have read other cases where people were invited to interviews which alot of people are scarily saying “YOU NEED A SOLICTOR OR DONT ATTEND”, im panicking now, as now this small innocent mistake is gonna possibly send me to court? incriminate me? make a huge case that will last for ages? I dont understand why we deserve this or get treated like this compared to real criminal fare evaders

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==


Because they had there tickets out ready to show and the officer just walked off
i also forgot to add, he interviews me and did the caution stuff too, which i didnt know anything about and just stupidly answered his questions, im not sure if being honest was good or not as i remember admitting to buying tickets before not knowing about it being expired. He also mentioned that my name came up clear meaning its my first time being stopped, so i hope that helps. He also mentioned i will have to reply to the train company about facts and stuff. Im sorry i cant remember alot its just really scary. I dont wanna say i was rude but i wasnt being too nice as i was quite angry and confused why this guy wanted to cause a scene i hope this doesnt affect my report. Im so sorry everyone im really sorry about all this. I will keep updated if i can but i already told everything i can remember. Last thing, does anyone know when to expect a letter or email or both?
 

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WesternLancer

Established Member
Joined
12 Apr 2019
Messages
10,776
SWR, took my name, address everything

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==


Do you know what to expect? i have read other cases where people were invited to interviews which alot of people are scarily saying “YOU NEED A SOLICTOR OR DONT ATTEND”, im panicking now, as now this small innocent mistake is gonna possibly send me to court? incriminate me? make a huge case that will last for ages? I dont understand why we deserve this or get treated like this compared to real criminal fare evaders

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==


Because they had there tickets out ready to show and the officer just walked off

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i also forgot to add, he interviews me and did the caution stuff too, which i didnt know anything about and just stupidly answered his questions, im not sure if being honest was good or not as i remember admitting to buying tickets before not knowing about it being expired. He also mentioned that my name came up clear meaning its my first time being stopped, so i hope that helps. He also mentioned i will have to reply to the train company about facts and stuff. Im sorry i cant remember alot its just really scary. I dont wanna say i was rude but i wasnt being too nice as i was quite angry and confused why this guy wanted to cause a scene i hope this doesnt affect my report. Im so sorry everyone im really sorry about all this. I will keep updated if i can but i already told everything i can remember. Last thing, does anyone know when to expect a letter or email or both?
Ok. Thanks for pointing the further information. You are very unlikely to go to court for this if you engage with them when they contact you and follow advice from here. They aren’t likely to want to interview you about this either, if the expiry if the railcard was a genuine mistake.

What Railcard was it ?

When did it expire?

Did you buy tickets with a Railcardvdiscount on other dates after it expired as well as the day you were stopped also by mistake?

Did you give them your correct postal address where you can be contacted?

The key to avoiding prosecution is to get their letter and ensure to reply to it. It’s people who ignore the letter and hope things will go away that get prosecuted.
 

Fastcar1fast7

Member
Joined
28 Jan 2025
Messages
11
Location
England
Ok. Thanks for pointing the further information. You are very unlikely to go to court for this if you engage with them when they contact you and follow advice from here. They aren’t likely to want to interview you about this either, if the expiry if the railcard was a genuine mistake.

What Railcard was it ?

When did it expire?

Did you buy tickets with a Railcardvdiscount on other dates after it expired as well as the day you were stopped also by mistake?

Did you give them your correct postal address where you can be contacted?

The key to avoiding prosecution is to get their letter and ensure to reply to it. It’s people who ignore the letter and hope things will go away that get prosecuted.
16-25 expired 24 NOV 2024 yes i did buy tickets in other dates, yes correct details

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==

Ok. Thanks for pointing the further information. You are very unlikely to go to court for this if you engage with them when they contact you and follow advice from here. They aren’t likely to want to interview you about this either, if the expiry if the railcard was a genuine mistake.

What Railcard was it ?

When did it expire?

Did you buy tickets with a Railcardvdiscount on other dates after it expired as well as the day you were stopped also by mistake?

Did you give them your correct postal address where you can be contacted?

The key to avoiding prosecution is to get their letter and ensure to reply to it. It’s people who ignore the letter and hope things will go away that get prosecuted.
I really appreciate your kindness and help westernlancer, you have been giving some useful info, i just have one question for you or anyone else on this thread. Do you know what the letter will say or whats the format from swr, the officer mentioned something about me giving the facts and my side of the story and the same with other posts i read. So do i reply to them on the letter? online? it confuses me as then how do i just settle out of court instantly or does that come after? its just something i couldnt find an answer for online. Sorry for my poor typing its just im confused if i have to recieve and send multiple emails and letters to them back and fourth or if i can just instantly settle from the first letter i recieve. Many thanks
 
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Hadders

Veteran Member
Associate Staff
Senior Fares Advisor
Joined
27 Apr 2011
Messages
16,566
There's normally a couple of different ways SWR deal with this sort of thing:

1. They write a letter to you saying that they have received a report, are considering prosecuting you , but asking for your version of events before they decide how to proceed.
2. They write to you saying that they could prosecute but on this occasion they're prepared to offer you a settlement

Both methods will result in a settlement as long as you co-operate with them. Do be aware that SWR will probably search you onine ticket purchase history and if this indicates you've purchased other railcard discounted tickets since the railcard expired they will want to factor the cost of these tickets into the settlement.

The important thing is to check your post and respond promptly to any letters you receive. If you upload copies of the letters then we can assist on how to reply etyc.
 

Fastcar1fast7

Member
Joined
28 Jan 2025
Messages
11
Location
England
I originally made a post in january/feb time but i cannot reply or update. Feel free to check that

The questions is about the 6 month limit in regards to prosecutions and how screwed am i.

The offense happened on January 2025 and they have only emailed me in May 2025. If they dont give a decision until July. Am i safe? If so do i ignore any communications? What do i do if i get nothing after 6 months?

The email simply informed about the day of what happened, and then after that the next email now asked for my account of the highlighted journeys in my travel history which were suspected for short fairing. So from a expired railcard to investigating and finding more invalid journeys…


The other point was how bad is my situation. I was originally stopped for an expired railcard but my travel history shows further use of expired railcard and 2 cases of short fairing in 2022.

Another journey i bought my regular ticket but also for some reason bought an extra child ticket by mistake ontop of that. Surely this cant be offending as i have my full journey ticket but ontop of that a random child ticket for shorter journey.

Ontop of the expired railcard and short fairing the journeys all together are highlighted on the sheet as 85 counts of invalid journeys I deducted 2 because it was a random ticket ontop of my fully paid normal journey ticket.

I honestly dont know anymore what to do. I just want a out of court settlement so i can pay and move on from this. I can barely afford this stuff, let alone go to court and pay more ontop of this. Will i expect a settlement? I have responded to the emails same day let alone within a few hours. Ive been honest and co operated and apologised alot.

I can barely afford a settlement if its above £2000 if i go to court its just even worse, how on earth will i pay all of this. I was a stupid kid in 2022 and i am still stupid now for the expired railcard but i dont have a job, student, i have no income. All my money i saved for my future will be gone on this… Best case scenario is out of court settlement. Please, how likely or unlikely is this. My heads all over the place so if i forgot any details just ask and i will answer, no idea what else to include here tbh

Thanks
 
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30907

Veteran Member
Joined
30 Sep 2012
Messages
20,791
Location
Airedale
Can I just clarify:

The incident in January was NOT dealt with by a Penalty fare but by a Report for Prosecution.
You received a mail in May - what did you say in reply?
You have received a second mail - ditto?

Please could you upload redacted copies of both mails (and your replies).

In terms of what happens next: expect SW to agree to settle out of court (I assume you have asked for that?)

As you have engaged with the process, and provided you don't delay settling, it is very unlikely that SW would instead take you to court for the original offence.
 

Fastcar1fast7

Member
Joined
28 Jan 2025
Messages
11
Location
England
How should i respond to this letter? and should i return this letter? or just email, or do both?

I was originally stopped for an expired railcard, i have paid the ticket on this day for the full journey. So this writing confuses me. The railcard also only saved me 50p from the full price of adult ticket.

I have short faired in the past but that was 2022 and only on 2-3 occasions which i have since then not done.
Which they found from my travel history. Ontop of my expired railcard usage.
 

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John R

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When you say you have paid the ticket on this day for the full journey, what exactly do you mean? Were you made to buy a new ticket at the undiscounted rate or were you given a penalty fare which you paid?
 

Fastcar1fast7

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Joined
28 Jan 2025
Messages
11
Location
England
When you say you have paid the ticket on this day for the full journey, what exactly do you mean? Were you made to buy a new ticket at the undiscounted rate or were you given a penalty fare which you paid?
None of that, i paid for my ticket as usual with my railcard discount, ofcourse it was expired leading to this whole ordeal. No penalty fare, just straight report for prosecution.
 

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