First-time Railcard Expiry — Issued New Ticket Without Explanation, What to Expect?

[Physik]

Hi all,
I'd really appreciate your advice regarding a situation I encountered on a CrossCountry train from Manchester to Oxford.

I had purchased a return ticket using my 16–25 Railcard, which I later realised had expired a bit over a week earlier. This was my first time ever encountering such an issue, and I was completely unaware that the Railcard was no longer valid when I boarded.

During the ticket inspection, the revenue officer did not explain anything about penalties or available options. He simply asked me to fill in a form with my personal details and then handed me a new return ticket (without clarifying what would happen next). I was told I would receive a letter in the post the next round he passed us.

Immediately after that, before getting off the train, I renewed my Railcard and purchased a new single ticket for the return leg at around £30, using the newly valid Railcard. I did not use either the original Railcard-discounted ticket nor the new return ticket the officer gave me for my return trip.

I'd really like to clarify:

• What kind of letter should I expect from CrossCountry (e.g. Unpaid Fare Notice, Penalty Fare, or prosecution letter)?
• Given that I didn’t use the original ticket nor the new one issued by the officer, and instead bought a valid single fare for the return leg, is there any chance I could challenge the default assumption that I should be fined for the full return journey?
• Is there any scope for leniency or withdrawal, considering that this was a genuine first-time oversight, and that I corrected it immediately by renewing my Railcard and paying again for the rest of my travel?

Some additional context: I’m about to leave the UK at least long-term (maybe permanently) to begin a PhD in another country. My student visa expires in late October, and I’ll be leaving before next month. I’m unsure whether I’ll return to the UK any time soon.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated — especially on what kind of correspondence to expect, and how best to respond when it arrives.

Thanks in advance!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Jun 2025 ==

One thing I also noticed: both I and my friend (we are both East Asian) were the only ones who were asked to show our Railcards, even though there were other passengers around us. I’m not making any accusations, but I did find the inconsistency a little unsettling.

 

[WesternLancer]

Hi all,
I'd really appreciate your advice regarding a situation I encountered on a CrossCountry train from Manchester to Oxford.

I had purchased a return ticket using my 16–25 Railcard, which I later realised had expired a bit over a week earlier. This was my first time ever encountering such an issue, and I was completely unaware that the Railcard was no longer valid when I boarded.

During the ticket inspection, the revenue officer did not explain anything about penalties or available options. He simply asked me to fill in a form with my personal details and then handed me a new return ticket (without clarifying what would happen next). I was told I would receive a letter in the post the next round he passed us.

Immediately after that, before getting off the train, I renewed my Railcard and purchased a new single ticket for the return leg at around £30, using the newly valid Railcard. I did not use either the original Railcard-discounted ticket nor the new return ticket the officer gave me for my return trip.

I'd really like to clarify:

• What kind of letter should I expect from CrossCountry (e.g. Unpaid Fare Notice, Penalty Fare, or prosecution letter)?
• Given that I didn’t use the original ticket nor the new one issued by the officer, and instead bought a valid single fare for the return leg, is there any chance I could challenge the default assumption that I should be fined for the full return journey?
• Is there any scope for leniency or withdrawal, considering that this was a genuine first-time oversight, and that I corrected it immediately by renewing my Railcard and paying again for the rest of my travel?

Some additional context: I’m about to leave the UK at least long-term (maybe permanently) to begin a PhD in another country. My student visa expires in late October, and I’ll be leaving before next month. I’m unsure whether I’ll return to the UK any time soon.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated — especially on what kind of correspondence to expect, and how best to respond when it arrives.

Thanks in advance!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Jun 2025 ==

One thing I also noticed: both I and my friend (we are both East Asian) were the only ones who were asked to show our Railcards, even though there were other passengers around us. I’m not making any accusations, but I did find the inconsistency a little unsettling.

Welcome

Can you upload a copy of the ticket you were given on the train after you were asked for your details? That might be helpful to see.

By buying a new railcard it would have made the return portion of your original ticket valid. So if you did not actually use it you may be able to refund it. But depending on the type of ticket and that the outbound portion being used it may or may not have any refund value.

 

[Physik]

Welcome

Can you upload a copy of the ticket you were given on the train after you were asked for your details? That might be helpful to see.

By buying a new railcard it would have made the return portion of your original ticket valid. So if you did not actually use it you may be able to refund it. But depending on the type of ticket and that the outbound portion being used it may or may not have any refund value.

Thank you very much for your reply.
The return ticket I was given on board (which I have not used at all) and a screenshot of the situation on the day are shown in the images above.

Originally, I had purchased a return ticket for £56.60 using an expired 16–25 Railcard, which I hadn’t realised was no longer valid. After the officer took my details, I immediately renewed my Railcard before getting off the train, and then purchased a new single ticket for the return leg (£20.30), which I used to travel back to Manchester.

P.S. My friend had a same situation, but after repeatedly explaining that he was leaving the UK tmr and wouldn’t return until September, he was told to pay £237 (＞150£ original price) for a new ticket — which I assume was the most expensive full Anytime fare.

Do you think there’s any way I can challenge the assumption that I’ll be charged the full Anytime return fare plus a penalty, given that I didn’t use either the original return or the replacement ticket?

Thanks again for your help!

 

[WirralLine]

One thing I also noticed: both I and my friend (we are both East Asian) were the only ones who were asked to show our Railcards, even though there were other passengers around us. I’m not making any accusations, but I did find the inconsistency a little unsettling.

It is most likely those around you weren't travelling with railcard discounted tickets hence no railcard for the staff to ask for, rather than anything else.

 

[Hadders]

Welcome to the forum!

This sounds like an unfortunate incident. Legally speaking, however unintentional it was, your ticket was invalid which is a criminal offence. CrossCountry do not operate a Penalty Fares scheme so what will happen next is they will write to you threatening prosecution but asking for your version of events before they decide how to proceed.

When the letter comes, post a redacted copy of it in this thread along with your draft reply and forum members will proof read it for you. CrossCountry are entitled to prosecute you in the Magistrates Court if they want to but they will almost certainly offer you an out of court settlement which I expect will cost the value of the Anytime SIngle between Manchester and Oxford plus an admin fee, typically £150.

If your ticket purchase history shows you made other journeys after your railcard had expired then it's likely that CrossCountry will want to factor the cost of these journeys into the settlement cost.

I don't know if they still do, but CrossCountry used to use a contractor called Transport Investigations Limited to deal with some of their cases. TIL are notoriously tricky to deal with and whilst it is normally possible to obtain an out of court settlement if TIL are involved, it often requires two or three letters to be sent.

During the ticket inspection, the revenue officer did not explain anything about penalties or available options.

The member of staff should have explained what was happening, although there is a fine line to strike when dealing with these situiations. I'm not saying that this applied to you, but these situations are not an opportunity for debate and they cnn often turn ugly and even violent, which does impact how staff are trained to deal with these situations.

Given that I didn’t use the original ticket nor the new one issued by the officer, and instead bought a valid single fare for the return leg, is there any chance I could challenge the default assumption that I should be fined for the full return journey?

Looking at the ticket that was issued to you it's actually a return ticket and so there was no need for you to purchase a new ticket for you return journey. Note also that by immedialtely purchasing a new railcard this meant the return portion of your ticket was then valid.

I would mention this in your reply as the fare due should only relate to the outward journey.

Is there any scope for leniency or withdrawal, considering that this was a genuine first-time oversight, and that I corrected it immediately by renewing my Railcard and paying again for the rest of my travel?

It's highly unlikely they will simply let you off.

One thing I also noticed: both I and my friend (we are both East Asian) were the only ones who were asked to show our Railcards, even though there were other passengers around us. I’m not making any accusations, but I did find the inconsistency a little unsettling.

This isn't relevant. Those passengers might not have had railcard discounted tickets. It's a bit like getting caught speeding but then complaining that no-one else was caught.

P.S. My friend had a same situation, but after repeatedly explaining that he was leaving the UK tmr and wouldn’t return until September, he was told to pay £237 (＞150£ original price) for a new ticket — which I assume was the most expensive full Anytime fare.

£237 is the Anytime Return fare between Manchester and Oxford.

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you very much for your reply.
The return ticket I was given on board (which I have not used at all) and a screenshot of the situation on the day are shown in the images above.

Originally, I had purchased a return ticket for £56.60 using an expired 16–25 Railcard, which I hadn’t realised was no longer valid. After the officer took my details, I immediately renewed my Railcard before getting off the train, and then purchased a new single ticket for the return leg (£20.30), which I used to travel back to Manchester.

P.S. My friend had a same situation, but after repeatedly explaining that he was leaving the UK tmr and wouldn’t return until September, he was told to pay £237 (＞150£ original price) for a new ticket — which I assume was the most expensive full Anytime fare.

Do you think there’s any way I can challenge the assumption that I’ll be charged the full Anytime return fare plus a penalty, given that I didn’t use either the original return or the replacement ticket?

Thanks again for your help!View attachment 182225View attachment 182226View attachment 182228

Thanks for uploading these.

Just to add to other comments

I don't think the fact that you had a new ticket and new railcard for the return journey will make any difference (apart from impact on sum they might want you to pay). You had clearly regularised your return ticket by buying a new railcard (never mind buying a new ticket).

The problem is you did not have a valid ticket (by virtue of the Railcard being out of date) when you got on the train on your outward journey. the moment you stepped on to the train you committed a ticketing offence - which unfortunately is a criminal offence in England, allowing them to both threaten you with court action and actually take you to court if they wish to, where they would win and you would be found guilty (that then results in a court fine, costs and also a criminal record) - but the prosecution route can be avoided by engaging with them - which as explained will either be Cross Country trains directly or more likely ITAL their contractor for ticket enforcement issues.

You asked what would happen:

What I think is most likely to happen is they are going to write to you (hard copy paper as i assume you gave a name and address?) threatening prosecution but asking you what happened (so a 'prosecution letter' from your list), and / or maybe asking you then and there for a sum of money to settle this. that sum should be a single fare albeit usually at the expensive Anytime Single Fare (Oxford to Manchester Anytime Single is £118.60) plus likely an 'admin' fee as mentioned by @Hadders above.

Keep copies of the new Railcard, the old Railcard, the tickets you originally had and the new ticket you bought.

• Given that I didn’t use the original ticket nor the new one issued by the officer, and instead bought a valid single fare for the return leg, is there any chance I could challenge the default assumption that I should be fined for the full return journey?

Yes, in any reply to your letter you can explain this and they should only charge you for the single fare I have mentioned above - ie £118.60

• Is there any scope for leniency or withdrawal, considering that this was a genuine first-time oversight, and that I corrected it immediately by renewing my Railcard and paying again for the rest of my travel?

From what we see on other cases, almost certainly not I'm afraid

Some additional context: I’m about to leave the UK at least long-term (maybe permanently) to begin a PhD in another country. My student visa expires in late October, and I’ll be leaving before next month. I’m unsure whether I’ll return to the UK any time soon.

I think in practical terms this is actually your biggest problem! Because getting the letter and responding to is is key to preventing escalation to prosecution

having said that being able to reply and state you now live abroad and are unlikely to return to the UK makes me think they would be less likely (or foolish) to try to prosecute because they might realise the chances of ever getting the money from you are much reduced, better to just ask you for a sum now that you pay to close the matter.

IE not getting the letter before yo leave because it might be some weeks before they write to you (check e-mail and spam but usually these letters come by post)

So it's vital you get their letter

- Do you live in a hall of residence type building? (if so post with these places can be problematic once you leave the building)

- Is there someone at your address who will be there longer who you can trust to look out for any post for you - open it, scan it and e-mail it to you wherever you are moving to abroad

- Alternately you can set up a Royal Mail redirection so any post gets forwarded to you - but using this to redirect post abroad is probably slow and unreliable and costly. Redirecting post to an address in the UK is not so expensive - so you could potentially have post re-directed to someone you trust with a UK address? (see the Royal Mail website for info on redirections)

- If you have not heard from Cross Country trains by about 14 days before you leave the UK you could perhaps try to write / e-mail them giving them a new address abroad and asking them to contact you by e-mail. We can help with a letter about that and finding the address you will likely need

Regarding your friend
It's odd that they accepted your friend would not be worth chasing abroad so charged for a completely new ticket - but did not do the same for you. It's perhaps unfair that they were not just charged for the single fare to Manchester in my view, or that you were not given the option to get off the train, buy a railcard and a new ticket at a cheaper price than Anytime (eg Off -Peak) fare - tho this might depend on various factors like at what point in the journey your ticket was actually checked as to whether this would have made much difference to what remained of the journey that could have been undertaken with a new ticket.

What to do next
- wcth out for their letetr or possible e-mail
- keep in touch with this thread as you get closer to the date you leave the UK to get advice on what to do if you are leaving the UK and have not heard from them at that point

I hope all this is of help - feel free to come back with any questions on anything that needs clarifying, or other questions you may have

 

[Physik]

Welcome to the forum!

This sounds like an unfortunate incident. Legally speaking, however unintentional it was, your ticket was invalid which is a criminal offence. CrossCountry do not operate a Penalty Fares scheme so what will happen next is they will write to you threatening prosecution but asking for your version of events before they decide how to proceed.

When the letter comes, post a redacted copy of it in this thread along with your draft reply and forum members will proof read it for you. CrossCountry are entitled to prosecute you in the Magistrates Court if they want to but they will almost certainly offer you an out of court settlement which I expect will cost the value of the Anytime SIngle between Manchester and Oxford plus an admin fee, typically £150.

If your ticket purchase history shows you made other journeys after your railcard had expired then it's likely that CrossCountry will want to factor the cost of these journeys into the settlement cost.

I don't know if they still do, but CrossCountry used to use a contractor called Transport Investigations Limited to deal with some of their cases. TIL are notoriously tricky to deal with and whilst it is normally possible to obtain an out of court settlement if TIL are involved, it often requires two or three letters to be sent.


The member of staff should have explained what was happening, although there is a fine line to strike when dealing with these situiations. I'm not saying that this applied to you, but these situations are not an opportunity for debate and they cnn often turn ugly and even violent, which does impact how staff are trained to deal with these situations.


Looking at the ticket that was issued to you it's actually a return ticket and so there was no need for you to purchase a new ticket for you return journey. Note also that by immedialtely purchasing a new railcard this meant the return portion of your ticket was then valid.

I would mention this in your reply as the fare due should only relate to the outward journey.


It's highly unlikely they will simply let you off.


This isn't relevant. Those passengers might not have had railcard discounted tickets. It's a bit like getting caught speeding but then complaining that no-one else was caught.


£237 is the Anytime Return fare between Manchester and Oxford.

Thank you so much for your response and clear explanations.

We managed to calm down fairly quickly, though, and we started reading through posts on forums from our home country. There were all sorts of experiences shared there: some people said they were let off, others said they ended up getting an even higher fine. Now I realise that these differences probably come down to the company involved, the specific situation, and maybe just luck.

I found this forum later via Reddit, and it seems these kinds of incidents are far more common in the UK than I thought. If it's okay, I may share this forum with others, as it seems by far the most professional and helpful source I’ve found.

My friend was quite angry at first — he felt it was almost like entrapment, but I quickly understood this may just be how the UK system works. Since the Railcard system and ticketing system are separate, there’s no warning or error prompt when buying a discounted ticket with an expired Railcard. That can be genuinely confusing for people who don’t fully understand how UK railways operate. In the end, my friend chose to pay the £237 directly.

As for me, I’m still waiting for the letter. I met the officer again a third time, and I mentioned that I might be leaving the UK in a week or two (I’ve now booked my flight for July 6th). He said they could request expedited postal delivery, and I hope the letter arrives before I move out of my university accommodation on 25 June. I’ll keep this thread updated once anything arrives. Thanks again!

 

[Physik]

Thanks for uploading these.

Just to add to other comments

I don't think the fact that you had a new ticket and new railcard for the return journey will make any difference (apart from impact on sum they might want you to pay). You had clearly regularised your return ticket by buying a new railcard (never mind buying a new ticket).

The problem is you did not have a valid ticket (by virtue of the Railcard being out of date) when you got on the train on your outward journey. the moment you stepped on to the train you committed a ticketing offence - which unfortunately is a criminal offence in England, allowing them to both threaten you with court action and actually take you to court if they wish to, where they would win and you would be found guilty (that then results in a court fine, costs and also a criminal record) - but the prosecution route can be avoided by engaging with them - which as explained will either be Cross Country trains directly or more likely ITAL their contractor for ticket enforcement issues.

You asked what would happen:

What I think is most likely to happen is they are going to write to you (hard copy paper as i assume you gave a name and address?) threatening prosecution but asking you what happened (so a 'prosecution letter' from your list), and / or maybe asking you then and there for a sum of money to settle this. that sum should be a single fare albeit usually at the expensive Anytime Single Fare (Oxford to Manchester Anytime Single is £118.60) plus likely an 'admin' fee as mentioned by @Hadders above.

Keep copies of the new Railcard, the old Railcard, the tickets you originally had and the new ticket you bought.


Yes, in any reply to your letter you can explain this and they should only charge you for the single fare I have mentioned above - ie £118.60



From what we see on other cases, almost certainly not I'm afraid


I think in practical terms this is actually your biggest problem! Because getting the letter and responding to is is key to preventing escalation to prosecution

having said that being able to reply and state you now live abroad and are unlikely to return to the UK makes me think they would be less likely (or foolish) to try to prosecute because they might realise the chances of ever getting the money from you are much reduced, better to just ask you for a sum now that you pay to close the matter.

IE not getting the letter before yo leave because it might be some weeks before they write to you (check e-mail and spam but usually these letters come by post)

So it's vital you get their letter

- Do you live in a hall of residence type building? (if so post with these places can be problematic once you leave the building)

- Is there someone at your address who will be there longer who you can trust to look out for any post for you - open it, scan it and e-mail it to you wherever you are moving to abroad

- Alternately you can set up a Royal Mail redirection so any post gets forwarded to you - but using this to redirect post abroad is probably slow and unreliable and costly. Redirecting post to an address in the UK is not so expensive - so you could potentially have post re-directed to someone you trust with a UK address? (see the Royal Mail website for info on redirections)

- If you have not heard from Cross Country trains by about 14 days before you leave the UK you could perhaps try to write / e-mail them giving them a new address abroad and asking them to contact you by e-mail. We can help with a letter about that and finding the address you will likely need

Regarding your friend
It's odd that they accepted your friend would not be worth chasing abroad so charged for a completely new ticket - but did not do the same for you. It's perhaps unfair that they were not just charged for the single fare to Manchester in my view, or that you were not given the option to get off the train, buy a railcard and a new ticket at a cheaper price than Anytime (eg Off -Peak) fare - tho this might depend on various factors like at what point in the journey your ticket was actually checked as to whether this would have made much difference to what remained of the journey that could have been undertaken with a new ticket.

What to do next
- wcth out for their letetr or possible e-mail
- keep in touch with this thread as you get closer to the date you leave the UK to get advice on what to do if you are leaving the UK and have not heard from them at that point

I hope all this is of help - feel free to come back with any questions on anything that needs clarifying, or other questions you may have

Thank you very much for your detailed reply — I really appreciate the time and clarity you put into it!

Yes, after reading CrossCountry’s official policies, I also realised that it's pretty much impossible to be let off in a case like this (I now suspect some of the posts I saw online must’ve involved different operators or special circumstances).

I’m still living in university accommodation at the moment. While still on the same train, the officer passed by again later while checking other passengers’ tickets, and I took the opportunity to tell him that I might be leaving the UK in a week or two (I’ve now booked a flight for 6 July). He said they could request express postage for the letter. I gave them my correct email and address. My accommodation contract ends on 25 June, so I’ll keep checking the post regularly until then, and I’ll upload the letter here as soon as I receive it.

That said, it seems that even being charged the single fare plus the £150 admin fee would come to more than the £237 my friend paid — so in this case, paying the highest available open return ticket price upfront might actually have been the cheapest outcome？

It all happened quite early in the journey, before we reached Birmingham. I didn’t even realise that getting off the train was an option — the officer simply asked us to fill in the form and handed us new return tickets. It was only when he came back again later that we learned more details about what was happening.

It sounds like once I receive the letter, I should prepare a reply and include copies of the new and old Railcard, the ticket I used, and so on — all printed and posted. I’ve never posted anything in the UK before, and I definitely won’t still be here by early July, so I really hope the letter arrives in time. All of my Railcards and tickets are digital — would screenshots be acceptable in place of printed paper originals?

Again, thank you for your kind help. I’ll post an update here when I receive anything, and I’ll definitely be sharing this story with other international students as an example of a very unexpected final UK experience lol. Cheers!

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you very much for your detailed reply — I really appreciate the time and clarity you put into it!

Yes, after reading CrossCountry’s official policies, I also realised that it's pretty much impossible to be let off in a case like this (I now suspect some of the posts I saw online must’ve involved different operators or special circumstances).

I’m still living in university accommodation at the moment. While still on the same train, the officer passed by again later while checking other passengers’ tickets, and I took the opportunity to tell him that I might be leaving the UK in a week or two (I’ve now booked a flight for 6 July). He said they could request express postage for the letter. I gave them my correct email and address. My accommodation contract ends on 25 June, so I’ll keep checking the post regularly until then, and I’ll upload the letter here as soon as I receive it.

I doubt the front line staff will really have any influence on what type of postage the back office send out - they will just deal with hundreds of these a week in reality and it will all be standardised. They may send stuff by e-mail however, if you gave it - just to save on costs

The issue won't be the speed of the post it will be waiting for your case to get to the top of the pile to be put in the post to start with.

Personally if it gets to the 24th of June and you have not heard I'd be writing / e-mail them with a change of address info - we can help with that / help with finding the correct address for you to use for them. Other threads on here involving cross country will have uploads of letters with that address on them you may be able to find

That said, it seems that even being charged the single fare plus the £150 admin fee would come to more than the £237 my friend paid — so in this case, paying the highest available open return ticket price upfront might actually have been the cheapest outcome？

Yes, that is likely correct

It all happened quite early in the journey, before we reached Birmingham. I didn’t even realise that getting off the train was an option — the officer simply asked us to fill in the form and handed us new return tickets. It was only when he came back again later that we learned more details about what was happening.

yes, if the inspector was a bit more generous they could have said eg 'look, if you get off next stop and buy new tickets for the next train you'll be an hour later but it will be cheaper for you, and I'll sell you a new ticket to be valid to the next stop' but I'm sure that is not what they are required to say / do

It sounds like once I receive the letter, I should prepare a reply and include copies of the new and old Railcard, the ticket I used, and so on — all printed and posted. I’ve never posted anything in the UK before, and I definitely won’t still be here by early July, so I really hope the letter arrives in time. All of my Railcards and tickets are digital — would screenshots be acceptable in place of printed paper originals?

screen shots or scans would be fine - we can help you with the wording of the letter to go with them.

Again, thank you for your kind help. I’ll post an update here when I receive anything, and I’ll definitely be sharing this story with other international students as an example of a very unexpected final UK experience lol. Cheers!

 

[Roylang]

It is most likely those around you weren't travelling with railcard discounted tickets hence no railcard for the staff to ask for, rather than anything else.

I would love to be able to agree with you, but I have seen many instances of discrimination when asking for railcards, age, race etc.

Most of my journeys are using a railcard and I regularly hear some people around me asked to show theirs when I am not. Often this will be young, black or asian passengers.

I am married into a chinese family and am very aware of what are common discriminatory actions.

Roy

 

[Physik]

Hi all, just a quick update.

Unfortunately, I didn't receive any letter before moving out of my student accommodation on 25 June. Although I’ll still be in the UK until 8 July and am now staying at a new address, I’m quite doubtful whether redirection would work in time. Most of my friends are also still away and haven’t returned to the UK yet, so I don’t currently have anyone to check my new address regularly later.

Given that, I was wondering — is it possible (or advisable) to take the initiative and write a letter or send an email to try and resolve this matter, rather than waiting passively for the letter to arrive?

Any guidance would be very much appreciated!

 

[Hadders]

It's a tricky one. I'm guessing you weren't given a case reference number.

On the one hand it's not your job to remind CrossCountry that they haven't written to you yet, but on the other you don't want to miss a letter that they send after you move out.

On reflection perhaps a brief note to the Prosecutions Department brief details of the case (date, time, which train etc.) along with your new address.

 

[Physik]

It's a tricky one. I'm guessing you weren't given a case reference number.

On the one hand it's not your job to remind CrossCountry that they haven't written to you yet, but on the other you don't want to miss a letter that they send after you move out.

On reflection perhaps a brief note to the Prosecutions Department brief details of the case (date, time, which train etc.) along with your new address.

Yes, you're right — at the moment I have no case reference number or any update at all. I did provide my correct phone number, email, and the address of my student accommodation (which I’ve just moved out of today), and the officer said they would request urgent delivery… but it now seems that didn’t make much difference.

There’s also the added pressure that I’ll be leaving the UK in less than two weeks to begin my PhD, and I probably won’t be coming back for quite a long time. Most of my friends are away for the summer as well, so unfortunately I don’t really have anyone here who could check my post reliably.

That’s why I was really hoping there might be something I could do to take the initiative…

 

[Hadders]

I think in the circumstances I'd write to them. You really need to write to their prosecutions department, not customer services. We don't see many cases involving CrossCountry so I don't have contact details for them, I'm afraid.

 

[WesternLancer]

Yes, you're right — at the moment I have no case reference number or any update at all. I did provide my correct phone number, email, and the address of my student accommodation (which I’ve just moved out of today), and the officer said they would request urgent delivery… but it now seems that didn’t make much difference.

There’s also the added pressure that I’ll be leaving the UK in less than two weeks to begin my PhD, and I probably won’t be coming back for quite a long time. Most of my friends are away for the summer as well, so unfortunately I don’t really have anyone here who could check my post reliably.

That’s why I was really hoping there might be something I could do to take the initiative…

ref post #14 from @Hadders -

This thread from another person has in the first post an upload of an enforcement letter from Cross Country / ITAL with a postal address (and phone number and e-mail ) you could probably use (ITAL is the company that Cross Country - XC - often seem to use to handle things like this about ticket enforcement follow up work)

https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/crosscountry-prosecution.285904/#post-7276769

Tho if you phone I would follow up any conversation in writing to confirm what is discussed on the phone

That address is:

Cross Country Trains / ITAL
Regus Building 1000
Lakeside North Harbour
Western Road
Portsmouth
PO6 3EZ

also an e-mail address:

[email protected]

Also here is a copy of XC's revenue protection policy PDF document which also has an address that is different - see page 1

https://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/media-vnext/vsaovllk/xctl-115-prosections-policy-issue-7-aug-2023.pdf

You could send the same communication to them in case they are handling it not ITAL

That is:
Cross Country Trains
Safety Team (ref Revenue Protection, Enforcement & Prosecutions Manager)
5th Floor
Cannon House
18 Priory Queensway
Birmingham
B4 6BS

If you don't have a ref number what you could do is write clearly to both of those addresses and that e-mail along the following lines, giving as much information as possible to allow you to match their case

don't get into details of what happened - just tell then you are leaving uk and only contactable at new address and wait to see what they say to you (then head back here for more advice)

eg write something like this - if you send it as an e-mail then print off the e-mail and post it to the addresses (go to a post office and ask for 'tracked postage' not the more expensive 'guaranteed delivery' the post office will try to sell you - then track the delivery and keep a screen shot to proove it was delivered - that way if anything goes wrong and XC ignore this you can show that you took careful steps to make sure XC knew how to contact you correctly, for example if they just use the old invalid address then you are not to blame for that):
------------------------------------------------

Dear Sir / Madam

ref: Ticket incident - change of address as leaving UK
Date of incident: [insert]
Train travelling on [insert time of train / where from and to etc]

My details: [insert name, date of birth that might match what you told the staff on the train on the day]

I was questioned about my ticket and railcard on the above journey and gave my details including my postal address which at the time was: [insert your UK address of student accom you have now left ]. I explained that I have been in the UK temporarily as a student and would be leaving the UK imminently due to the expiry of my visa. I have no current plans to return to the UK..

The member of staff indicated I would receive a letter in the post but I have not done so to date and have now left the above address.

Please note I left this UK postal address on 25 June 2025. There is no provision for me to receive post from that UK address going forwards, and it will not be forwarded to me.

Please note as of xxx date my postal address will be [insert a reliable postal address in your country that will be valid for you reasonably long term -eg for 6 months or so - perhaps a family members address]

It would be better to contact me by e-mail and that is : [insert e-mail address]

Should you need to contact me further about this please use these new contact details.

Yours faithfully
[your name]

 

[Physik]

ref post #14 from @Hadders -

This thread from another person has in the first post an upload of an enforcement letter from Cross Country / ITAL with a postal address (and phone number and e-mail ) you could probably use (ITAL is the company that Cross Country - XC - often seem to use to handle things like this about ticket enforcement follow up work)

https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/crosscountry-prosecution.285904/#post-7276769

Tho if you phone I would follow up any conversation in writing to confirm what is discussed on the phone

That address is:

Cross Country Trains / ITAL
Regus Building 1000
Lakeside North Harbour
Western Road
Portsmouth
PO6 3EZ

also an e-mail address:

[email protected]

Also here is a copy of XC's revenue protection policy PDF document which also has an address that is different - see page 1

https://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/media-vnext/vsaovllk/xctl-115-prosections-policy-issue-7-aug-2023.pdf

You could send the same communication to them in case they are handling it not ITAL

That is:
Cross Country Trains
Safety Team (ref Revenue Protection, Enforcement & Prosecutions Manager)
5th Floor
Cannon House
18 Priory Queensway
Birmingham
B4 6BS

If you don't have a ref number what you could do is write clearly to both of those addresses and that e-mail along the following lines, giving as much information as possible to allow you to match their case

don't get into details of what happened - just tell then you are leaving uk and only contactable at new address and wait to see what they say to you (then head back here for more advice)

eg write something like this - if you send it as an e-mail then print off the e-mail and post it to the addresses (go to a post office and ask for 'tracked postage' not the more expensive 'guaranteed delivery' the post office will try to sell you - then track the delivery and keep a screen shot to proove it was delivered - that way if anything goes wrong and XC ignore this you can show that you took careful steps to make sure XC knew how to contact you correctly, for example if they just use the old invalid address then you are not to blame for that):
------------------------------------------------

Dear Sir / Madam

ref: Ticket incident - change of address as leaving UK
Date of incident: [insert]
Train travelling on [insert time of train / where from and to etc]

My details: [insert name, date of birth that might match what you told the staff on the train on the day]

I was questioned about my ticket and railcard on the above journey and gave my details including my postal address which at the time was: [insert your UK address of student accom you have now left ]. I explained that I have been in the UK temporarily as a student and would be leaving the UK imminently due to the expiry of my visa. I have no current plans to return to the UK..

The member of staff indicated I would receive a letter in the post but I have not done so to date and have now left the above address.

Please note I left this UK postal address on 25 June 2025. There is no provision for me to receive post from that UK address going forwards, and it will not be forwarded to me.

Please note as of xxx date my postal address will be [insert a reliable postal address in your country that will be valid for you reasonably long term -eg for 6 months or so - perhaps a family members address]

It would be better to contact me by e-mail and that is : [insert e-mail address]

Should you need to contact me further about this please use these new contact details.

Yours faithfully
[your name]

Thank you very much, I’ll follow your advice and do exactly as suggested