Caught using wrong ticket

[user89267]

Hi all,

I was caught using the wrong Thameslink ticket on 06/03/25 and gave the ticket inspector my details, but I still haven’t received any emails/letters and i’m not sure whether to just wait or not.

I had bought a thameslink ticket for a shorter journey a few times to try and save money. I now realise how stupid this was and i’ve been extremely worried about the consequences.

After looking at several posts on this forum, many others have already received their letters for incidents that happened after mine. I don’t want the issue to escalate further due to any missed letters/emails, but I defo haven’t received anything yet.

I’m basically wondering if I should contact GTR myself? I obviously don’t want to remind them of what happened, but I also want to make sure nothings been missed.

Thank you in advance for any advice

 

[WesternLancer]

Hi all,

I was caught using the wrong Thameslink ticket on 06/03/25 and gave the ticket inspector my details, but I still haven’t received any emails/letters and i’m not sure whether to just wait or not.

I had bought a thameslink ticket for a shorter journey a few times to try and save money. I now realise how stupid this was and i’ve been extremely worried about the consequences.

After looking at several posts on this forum, many others have already received their letters for incidents that happened after mine. I don’t want the issue to escalate further due to any missed letters/emails, but I defo haven’t received anything yet.

I’m basically wondering if I should contact GTR myself? I obviously don’t want to remind them of what happened, but I also want to make sure nothings been missed.

Thank you in advance for any advice

Welcome.

Usually advice is to wait.

But just to check.

Assume you gave a correct postal address and you think they recorded that correctly. ?

You have have not moved house?

You do not have problems with your post. You can test that to some degree by posting yourself a letter ideally from another town.

Of course the reason not to contact them is largely to not remind them.

 

[user89267]

Welcome.

Usually advice is to wait.

But just to check.

Assume you gave a correct postal address and you think they recorded that correctly. ?

You have have not moved house?

You do not have problems with your post. You can test that to some degree by posting yourself a letter ideally from another town.

Of course the reason not to contact them is largely to not remind them.

Hello,


Thank you for your response!

I’ve checked the witness statement receipt given to me by the ticket inspector and this has all my correct details. I receive post regularly so there shouldn’t be any issues, i’m just a big worrier

I have already drafted a brief response letter and will post in here for some advice once ive actually received the letter from GTR

Thank you again

 

[WesternLancer]

Hello,


Thank you for your response!

I’ve checked the witness statement receipt given to me by the ticket inspector and this has all my correct details. I receive post regularly so there shouldn’t be any issues, i’m just a big worrier

I have already drafted a brief response letter and will post in here for some advice once ive actually received the letter from GTR

Thank you again

Good preparation work.

 

[Same_Promo3006]

I had bought a thameslink ticket for a shorter journey a few times to try and save money. I now realise how stupid this was and i’ve been extremely worried about the consequences.

It could be they are looking into the journey history before contacting you.
I would wait until they contact you. And prepare the reply. You can always upload the reply here with the letter when you get it. And the veterans will give you sound advice regarding the reply.

 

[user89267]

Hi all,

I’ve now received the letter attached and would like to ask for some advice on my response.

For some more context, I purposely bought the wrong Thameslink ticket for Luton Airport Parkway to Luton, instead of from Farringdon to Luton. I have used the same account to do this a few times (looked at my bank statements and think i’ve done this maybe around 8 times over the course of a year). The letter references uploading any valid tickets or railcards, and I do hold a 16-25 railcard, but im not sure if i need to upload this as i’m not disputing the letter. I’m also not too sure whether to acknowledge the fact i’ve bought the wrong ticket on multiple occasions. I’m happy to pay any fine given to me, just very worried about being taken to court.

Thank you in advance



Dear Fare Evasion Manager,

Thank you for allowing me to respond to the letter dated ____ with reference ______.

On Thursday 6th March 2025 I was stopped by a ticket inspector at Luton Station, and failed to produce the correct ticket for the journey I had made.

I have no excuse for what I done, and I’m deeply regretful. I have since taken time to reflect on my actions made, and I now realise the seriousness of this, and take full responsibility. I am very sorry for the inconvenience this has caused, and will ensure I purchase the correct tickets for any journeys made in the future.

I would be very grateful if this could please be settled out of court, and if you could please give me the opportunity to pay the fare in full, along with any administration fees for pursuing this matter.

Thank you

Full Name

 

[WesternLancer]

Hi all,

I’ve now received the letter attached and would like to ask for some advice on my response.

For some more context, I purposely bought the wrong Thameslink ticket for Luton Airport Parkway to Luton, instead of from Farringdon to Luton. I have used the same account to do this a few times (looked at my bank statements and think i’ve done this maybe around 8 times over the course of a year). The letter references uploading any valid tickets or railcards, and I do hold a 16-25 railcard, but im not sure if i need to upload this as i’m not disputing the letter. I’m also not too sure whether to acknowledge the fact i’ve bought the wrong ticket on multiple occasions. I’m happy to pay any fine given to me, just very worried about being taken to court.

Thank you in advance



Dear Fare Evasion Manager,

Thank you for allowing me to respond to the letter dated ____ with reference ______.

On Thursday 6th March 2025 I was stopped by a ticket inspector at Luton Station, and failed to produce the correct ticket for the journey I had made.

I have no excuse for what I done, and I’m deeply regretful. I have since taken time to reflect on my actions made, and I now realise the seriousness of this, and take full responsibility. I am very sorry for the inconvenience this has caused, and will ensure I purchase the correct tickets for any journeys made in the future.

I would be very grateful if this could please be settled out of court, and if you could please give me the opportunity to pay the fare in full, along with any administration fees for pursuing this matter.

Thank you

Full Name

Your draft looks ok. Typo second paragraph‘what I have done’ is missing the word ‘have’

If the matter didn’t involve a railcard I don’t think you need to include it but there would be no harm in doing so.

Mentioning other occasions: you need to be aware they may check your records of buying to look for those and may ask you about it but aren’t doing so yet by looks of it.

I suppose one could argue that by not mentioning it you aren’t really taking ‘full responsibility’ as you claim in your reply…. But I think it’s up to you at this stage if you want to mention it.

 

[Pushpit]

I think it's a good letter, maybe add "Yours faithfully" at the end, but I don't think they will get excited about it. If there is anything else you can say, in one sentence, that makes it clear you won't be offending again (e.g. season or flexi-season ticket) then by all means add that. Having said that, I should point out that is a short-fare hot-spot, anyone doing the Luton Airport - Luton route will at some point be picked up, it won't need much AI processing to identify those concerned.

You were asked quite clearly about the one occasion when you were stopped, so I think it's fair to respond just to what they were asking about rather than incriminating yourself. Personally the best reason for doing that incriminating would be if the number of occasions and the amounts are relatively small, in which case you may feel it best to get it out of the way by being open about it. 8 occasions would add up to quite a bit, I guess it depends on how you feel about that now. However this isn't how GTR works in this area (West Midlands is clearly different) - though GTR can, in theory, write to you about that later on.

Railcards: it is a bog standard letter, and railcard misuse is a big feature of fare evasion on GTR. But it's relevant in your case so you can just ignore that, it's more for people who do have a good reason not to be pursued because in fact they do hold the right railcard.

 

[user89267]

Thank you guys for your responses, I will be amending my letter a little using the things you’ve mentioned.

Regarding the times i’ve short fared in the past, i’ve seen it mentioned on here before that the rail companies have 6 months to do something about this, is this correct? If I stopped short faring when I was caught in March, would they be able to take further action once 6 months is over?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: Yesterday at 11:34 ==

One more question sorry, do you know how likely it would be for me to get this sorted out of court, or how often people do end up getting taken to court for something like this?

Thank you

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you guys for your responses, I will be amending my letter a little using the things you’ve mentioned.

Regarding the times i’ve short fared in the past, i’ve seen it mentioned on here before that the rail companies have 6 months to do something about this, is this correct? If I stopped short faring when I was caught in March, would they be able to take further action once 6 months is over?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: Yesterday at 11:34 ==

One more question sorry, do you know how likely it would be for me to get this sorted out of court, or how often people do end up getting taken to court for something like this?

Thank you

Sorting out of court. Highly likely

6 months is the time they have to lay papers at court in the event of prosecution. They would do this for the occasion you were caught because they have what they need to secure a guilty verdict very simply. Thats not the case for the other 8 instances. If they are smart they will or would make the fares owed for the other cases part of the sum requested for any out of court settlement.

They may or may not do this depending on how much research on you they do. All you can do is make sure you have the funds to pay the settlement quickly and in full including those fares if they do. They don’t do payment plans.

 

[user89267]

Sorting out of court. Highly likely

6 months is the time they have to lay papers at court in the event of prosecution. They would do this for the occasion you were caught because they have what they need to secure a guilty verdict very simply. Thats not the case for the other 8 instances. If they are smart they will or would make the fares owed for the other cases part of the sum requested for any out of court settlement.

They may or may not do this depending on how much research on you they do. All you can do is make sure you have the funds to pay the settlement quickly and in full including those fares if they do. They don’t do payment plans.

Perfect, thank you for your response. I’ve been super worried about the whole thing since I was caught so have been saving up so I can pay any settlement ASAP. I will be sending my response tomorrow and will update once i’ve received the letter back from GTR.

 

[WesternLancer]

Perfect, thank you for your response. I’ve been super worried about the whole thing since I was caught so have been saving up so I can pay any settlement ASAP. I will be sending my response tomorrow and will update once i’ve received the letter back from GTR.

Thanks and good luck.