What’s gonna happen to me?

Hello all,

Yesterday night I used the wrong card from Apple Pay onto the barriers, foolishly I did realize my card had been rejected as I had my headphones in and was walking through the slow closing disabled barrier bars. I was stopped by a BTP member, I was easy with the officer, gave him my ID and address. He then told me I’m not in trouble and will have to look out for a “letter” I have been using the same card for tfl since September 2023, and I have done some research on fare evasion and I’ve seen possible criminal convictions. I am a uni student and work at a bar part-time so this would be devastating. If anyone knows, please tell me what will happen to me

Welcome to the forum!

I think we need a bit more information to help you. How were the gates closing - were you following someone through? And when you say you have used the same card since Sep 23, has it been accepted up until now, or have you been using a rejected card to try and tailgate all the time?

Even if you do get a criminal conviction it should not be devastating, especially if it was a genuine error. If you have been consistently doing this knowing it to be wrong and aspire to work in a number of professions where utmost integrity is paramount (healthcare, law, financial services) then it might however be more problematic.

It's quite normal to feel a huge weight of anxiety at this point, and to some degree that's healthy in terms of getting you to focus on resolving the issue. However it's highly unlikely to be devastating even if - as tends to happen with TfL - it does end up in court. Despite everything, you will get through this, and you will be able to move on from this in due course. In the meantime, yes it's a nuisance but follow the usual advice and that can be minimised.

The letters sent by Train Operating Companies including TfL appear to be quite accusatory and confrontational. Do not be unduly alarmed by this. This is deliberate to "encourage" the recipient to focus on responding to the letter rather than ignoring it. In fairness this is a sensible course of action followed by the Train Operating Companies as otherwise letters would be ignored but the issue would take its course resulting in much more severe consequences for the recipient.

As soon as you receive the letter please upload it here with any personal identifying details redacted (obscured). Please also provide your side of the story. Forum members can then provide advice tailored to your issue. It is essential that you are honest as this enables the best guidance to be given. If you are a repeat fare evader then you should be aware that the Train Operating Companies will research your online booking history and their actions will be guided by the level of evasion. This does not mean that a resolution is impossible but it takes more work and is more expensive.

Letters can take some weeks to arrive due to a backlog of cases at the Train Operating Companies. In the meantime if you read posts containing advice given by @Hadders and @Brissle Girl to name two of the major responders you will get a good idea of typical cases and how best to respond to them. They will also give an indication of the likely consequences. Please though note that as stated by @Pushpit if this involves TfL then it usually (but not always) ends up in court and this has more severe (but not devastating) consequences.

Brissle Girl said:

Welcome to the forum!

I think we need a bit more information to help you. How were the gates closing - were you following someone through? And when you say you have used the same card since Sep 23, has it been accepted up until now, or have you been using a rejected card to try and tailgate all the time?

Even if you do get a criminal conviction it should not be devastating, especially if it was a genuine error. If you have been consistently doing this knowing it to be wrong and aspire to work in a number of professions where utmost integrity is paramount (healthcare, law, financial services) then it might however be more problematic.

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I was a severe idiot, I just mindlessly walked through thinking my card was accepted (I have multiple cards on Apple Pay) but the one I have used for every single trip on tfl has been valid it’s a standard bank card, if they pull up my history they will see that all my trips have been under one valid card, train or bus. I have never used a faulty card to complete a trip this was just a case of me not tapping in and getting caught for it

Thanks. So just to clarify, did you “ not tap in”, or did you tap in but it was rejected,( as in your original post)?

Brissle Girl said:

Thanks. So just to clarify, did you “ not tap in”, or did you tap in but it was rejected,( as in your original post)?

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Tap in with a different card (first time ever doing this) it wasn’t accepted but the disabled barriers were still open so I foolishly thought it did work, and then BTP pulled me aside and asked for information, but they allowed me to re-tap in with my proper card that I have always used and it worked, the BTP officer seemed understanding, but I really hope this doesn’t turn in to something serious since I am currently in uni and work part-time. I am hoping for a penalty fare evasion or an out-of court settlement regardless of price

Ok, thanks for the clarification. TfL tend not to offer Out of Court settlements, but from what you have said there is some chance that they may decide not to prosecute. This might only happen after they have sent you a letter and you have explained the situation.

FWIW if open I always wait until the barrier starts closing before tapping, at either end, so I know it has registered. I know some will say that this unnecessarily reduces throughput, but I prefer to put my certainty that I am travelling with a valid ticket before that.

Brissle Girl said:

Ok, thanks for the clarification. TfL tend not to offer Out of Court settlements, but from what you have said there is some chance that they may decide not to prosecute. This might only happen after they have sent you a letter and you have explained the situation.

FWIW if open I always wait until the barrier starts closing before tapping, at either end, so I know it has registered. I know some will say that this unnecessarily reduces throughput, but I prefer to put my certainty that I am travelling with a valid ticket before that.

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Absolutely - it's actually quite easy to tailgate by accident at a busy station, surrounded by beeps and lights, thinking your tap has registered when in reality the gate is still open from the previous tapper. So I too always wait for the gate to be shutting again before tapping, irrespective of the impact on throughput.

You say you 'foolishly I did realize my card had been rejected'. This is key as this can be seen as intent to travel without a valid ticket. Are you sure you have worded this sentence correctly as the reference to the headphones infers you didn't hear any beep of rejection so is counter to any realisation.

Had you not realised then this could be something you put on any response to a letter they send - if you have no past anomalies with previous journeys then there is a good chance they'll let you off this time. What you told the officer at the time should be in their report so hopefully you were apologetic and said you didn't realise there had been a beep before going through.

Were the barriers permanently open or was it that they hadn't closed since the previous person passed through?