Vicky23
Member
Hi folks,
So around 2 months ago I boarded a train without a ticket for the simple reason of I didn't know where I was getting off yet. I was meeting some friends who were travelling via car and I wasn't sure of which exact station they wanted me to go so my plan was to just purchase a ticket onboard once I found out.
Along comes the train inspector before I get my friend's confirmation so I purchased a temporary ticket to one of the next couple stops planning to buy the rest of the journey once I knew where I was going. I mean pretty much every station has barriers anyway so it's not like I could get very far without a ticket! Anyway, the inspector allows the transaction and doesn't tell me off for not buying a ticket before boarding the train.
My friends still hadn't got back to me (Tried ringing but combination of friend driving and me having bad signal - you know how it is on a train) and
the train just passed the station I bought the temporary ticket to...which I'm still sitting on. Inspector comes back, I explained the situation, he assumes I'm trying to evade the fare, takes down my details, I receive a letter threatening to prosecute me. Oh and I've missed the 21 days to appeal deadline because the letter was sent to a previous address..
In hindsight, I should've got my s*** together before boarding the train and I probably should've explained the situation to the inspector when I was buying the temporary ticket but hey, everyone makes mistakes. I've even been given a penalty fare before so believe me I know all about purchasing tickets before train journeys. Don't really fancy a criminal record for this minor slip up!
So I've got myself in a sticky situation here and would appreciate any advice you guys have as to what my next steps should be.
Thanks! xx
So around 2 months ago I boarded a train without a ticket for the simple reason of I didn't know where I was getting off yet. I was meeting some friends who were travelling via car and I wasn't sure of which exact station they wanted me to go so my plan was to just purchase a ticket onboard once I found out.
Along comes the train inspector before I get my friend's confirmation so I purchased a temporary ticket to one of the next couple stops planning to buy the rest of the journey once I knew where I was going. I mean pretty much every station has barriers anyway so it's not like I could get very far without a ticket! Anyway, the inspector allows the transaction and doesn't tell me off for not buying a ticket before boarding the train.
My friends still hadn't got back to me (Tried ringing but combination of friend driving and me having bad signal - you know how it is on a train) and
the train just passed the station I bought the temporary ticket to...which I'm still sitting on. Inspector comes back, I explained the situation, he assumes I'm trying to evade the fare, takes down my details, I receive a letter threatening to prosecute me. Oh and I've missed the 21 days to appeal deadline because the letter was sent to a previous address..
In hindsight, I should've got my s*** together before boarding the train and I probably should've explained the situation to the inspector when I was buying the temporary ticket but hey, everyone makes mistakes. I've even been given a penalty fare before so believe me I know all about purchasing tickets before train journeys. Don't really fancy a criminal record for this minor slip up!
So I've got myself in a sticky situation here and would appreciate any advice you guys have as to what my next steps should be.
Thanks! xx