Interviewed under Caution - Expired Railcard and Not Eligible for a New One

[johdai]

Hello

I bought a ticket with a 26-30 railcard and was asked to show my railcard which had expired (and i'm not eligible to renew) at Luton Airport. It had expired 8 months previously and I have made a number of train journeys since with LNER who I booked with since then. 10 of them have the railcard attached until end of 2024 and the rest from this year (incorrect) had no railcard attached (correct)

I don't have a strong defence and the 2 ticket machines I tried weren't working at Tottenham where I bought the ticket. I must have entered railcard on my app out of habit OR it was there already if I had checked fares recently for friends/family who have the railcard.

I panicked at Luton though saying I thought I had bought a new railcard - but I am not eligible for one as I'm too old now. I should have just been honest from the start that there should not have been a railcard on there so now I'm freaking out.

I was then cautioned under interview by a prosecution officer (she said isn't the police) and that I will receive a letter in the post that I need to action immediately - but I'm now out of the country for 2 weeks, back for 1 week and then away for 3 weeks.

I'm so worried I will be asked to go to a court hearing and sentenced as there are a few issues here and I'm freaking out that I have really messed up.

1. How do LNER conduct their investigation - will they simply check previous journeys made with them?

2. Do they issue a fine in the first instance or could they take me to court immediately?

3. What will the woman at Luton who stopped me report?

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

 

[WesternLancer]

Hello

I bought a ticket with a 26-30 railcard and was asked to show my railcard which had expired (and i'm not eligible to renew) at Luton Airport. It had expired 8 months previously and I have made a number of train journeys since with LNER who I booked with since then. 10 of them have the railcard attached until end of 2024 and the rest from this year (incorrect) had no railcard attached (correct)

I don't have a strong defence and the 2 ticket machines I tried weren't working at Tottenham where I bought the ticket. I must have entered railcard on my app out of habit OR it was there already if I had checked fares recently for friends/family who have the railcard.

I panicked at Luton though saying I thought I had bought a new railcard - but I am not eligible for one as I'm too old now. I should have just been honest from the start that there should not have been a railcard on there so now I'm freaking out.

I was then cautioned under interview by a prosecution officer (she said isn't the police) and that I will receive a letter in the post that I need to action immediately - but I'm now out of the country for 2 weeks, back for 1 week and then away for 3 weeks.

I'm so worried I will be asked to go to a court hearing and sentenced as there are a few issues here and I'm freaking out that I have really messed up.

1. How do LNER conduct their investigation - will they simply check previous journeys made with them?

2. Do they issue a fine in the first instance or could they take me to court immediately?

3. What will the woman at Luton who stopped me report?

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Welcome and try not to worry too much - this is possible to solve and have a look at other threads for an idea of what happens.

Your biggest immediate problem is you potentially being out of the country when they write to you as it will almost certainly be hard copy post, and the route to avoiding this being escalated to court is to reply to their letters asking to resolve the matter with an 'out of court settlement' - it may be some time before you get sent a letter - could easily be 6 to 8 weeks maybe longer -

is there someone you trust who you can give access to your post and you can rely on them to open post and scan and e-mail it to you so you can attend to it (with help from this forum advice wise) when you are abroad?

To answer your questions

1. How do LNER conduct their investigation - will they simply check previous journeys made with them?

I doubt LNER will be involved in this. What usually happens is the staff from the railway company who stopped you will deal with this investigation on behalf of any other train company involved and if the staff were at Luton that is not an LNER station - so likely to be staff from Thameslink (GTR) or East Mids railways (EMR) - do you recall who they work for and did they give you any paperwork after you were stopped?

Those investigations can (often do) involve checking with any on line ticket retailers for other instances of what has happened (either unintentionally or intentionally) so they can seek payment for those occasions when travel happened without a valid ticket / railcard


2. Do they issue a fine in the first instance or could they take me to court immediately?

Technically Neither.
They would not usually escalate this to court immediately (tho I suppose the law permits them to do this if desired but its not what we see on here as the usual approach taken) - they usually write and ask for your 'version of events' - which is your opportunity to reply, apologise and ask if they can allow you to resolve the matter without involving court action.
That would not be a fine (tho it may seem like one) but would be a sum made up of the fares owed (typically with no allowance made for the sum you did pay) and an 'admin fee' of c£150 for their costs in looking into all this. A fine only happens if it goes to court and you are found guilty (the fine being the court's punishment)


3. What will the woman at Luton who stopped me report?
Send your details to the back office so they can investigate eg look at other on line tickets for others, send you a letter asking you to explain things (see answer 2) and also look at lots of other threads for examples), tell the back office notes or any video recording of things you said when she questioned you etc

Hope this helps give you an idea of what to expect - people will happily answer any questions you might have now or as things progress.

Court prosecutions tend to happen if people fail to engage with the process the railway will now commence and ignore letters / bury head in the sand and hope things will go away - which they won't.

At this stage the single most important thing you need to do is to make sure you can get your hard copy post over coming weeks and months....

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 Jun 2025 ==

an example of the kind of letter you might be sent is in this thread post #12 - not the same circs as you but the thread might help give you an idea of things

GTR Witness Statement -No Letter Received Yet, Unsure What to Do Next, please help!

Hi everyone, thank you very much in advance for reading this post and all of your help and advices that you can offer! I was travelling from Potters Bar to London KingsCross and got caught using 16-17saver railcard for the journey, it was a genuine mistake that I select the wrong card when I...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[Haywain]

Luton that is not an LNER station - so likely to be staff from Thameslink (GTR) or East Mids railways (EMR) - do you recall who they work for and did they give you any paperwork after you were stopped?

Luton Airport Parkway and Luton are Thameslink stations. If I said that it is vanishingly rare to see EMR staff operating at either station it would be a gross exaggeration. The OP must be dealing with Thameslink.

 

[WesternLancer]

Luton Airport Parkway and Luton are Thameslink stations. If I said that it is vanishingly rare to see EMR staff operating at either station it would be a gross exaggeration. The OP must be dealing with Thameslink.

That too was my strong hunch.

 

[30907]

Luton Airport Parkway and Luton are Thameslink stations. If I said that it is vanishingly rare to see EMR staff operating at either station it would be a gross exaggeration. The OP must be dealing with Thameslink.

....and GTR (almost?) invariably settle out of court.

 

[johdai]

Thank you so much all for the responses. Could it be Greater Anglia too possibly? Just from checking other posts about Luton Airport

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you so much all for the responses. Could it be Greater Anglia too possibly? Just from checking other posts about Luton Airport

No. Greater Anglia trains do not reach Luton. Almost certain it’s Thameslink / GTR.

I think you are getting confused with Stansted Airport which Greater Anglia serve.

 

[johdai]

Thank you for confirming. They didn't give me any papers or anything and just said I will receive a letter in the post.

The woman did note that I am not eligible for a railcard and I had panicked and said I thought I had renewed but it had not gone through and that must be why - the more I am thinking about this, the worse it seems to be getting as there are a number of issues with what I have said/done. I just didn't really understand what was going on - I thought you get fined on the spot.

I tried to check my old railcard by logging into my account but I can't seem to find it. I think what I had done it alter dates slightly, as I applied to renew soon after the final day that it was possible to do so. So this is now another issue and something I shouldn't have done. I'm panicking as it feels like it is snowballing if they look into it this deeply and that I did do it - which on reflecting I think I did (just can't log in to check). I feel ashamed. I can't find any other thread quite like this and feel they could 'make an example' of me or something.

Is there anything I should do at this point or do I simply need to wait for the letter? How long usually would GTR give to action it and is it the sooner the better? Just concerned I won't receive it immediately but I am going to ask a neighbour to check so hopefully there shouldn't be much of a delay in me receiving it.

Thank you so much again everyone for your responses and advice.

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you for confirming. They didn't give me any papers or anything and just said I will receive a letter in the post.

The woman did note that I am not eligible for a railcard and I had panicked and said I thought I had renewed but it had not gone through and that must be why - the more I am thinking about this, the worse it seems to be getting as there are a number of issues with what I have said/done. I just didn't really understand what was going on - I thought you get fined on the spot.

I tried to check my old railcard by logging into my account but I can't seem to find it. I think what I had done it alter dates slightly, as I applied to renew soon after the final day that it was possible to do so. So this is now another issue and something I shouldn't have done. I'm panicking as it feels like it is snowballing if they look into it this deeply and that I did do it - which on reflecting I think I did (just can't log in to check). I feel ashamed. I can't find any other thread quite like this and feel they could 'make an example' of me or something.

Is there anything I should do at this point or do I simply need to wait for the letter? How long usually would GTR give to action it and is it the sooner the better? Just concerned I won't receive it immediately but I am going to ask a neighbour to check so hopefully there shouldn't be much of a delay in me receiving it.

Thank you so much again everyone for your responses and advice.

Your case will just be in a queue to be dealt with. Might take 4 to 8 weeks to write to you.

Altering the railcard expiry date was unwise as it’s a sign of deliberate action to evade fares. But it’s still possible for you to avoid court I would think. We have seen other cases involving altered Railcards.

This would be part of the reason you were not given a Penalty Fare on the spot because they will want to investigate how many times you have used this railcard and charge you for all those tickets not just give you a £100 spot penalty fare.

Will your neighbour check your post when you are away?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Jun 2025 ==

How old are you?

 

[Hadders]

A few things:

If you were stopped at Luton or Luton Airport Parkway then you'll almost certainly be dealing with Govia Thameslink Railway.
GTR will write to you in a few weeks (It probably won't be in the next two weeks as they do seem to have a backlog)
You normally have 14 days to reply to their letter

GTR normally offer an out of court settlement as long as you co-operate with them and haven't come to their attention before. Expect to have to pay the cost of the fare avoided at the full Anytime rate with no credit goven for the invalid ticket you purchased. They will also charge an admin fee, typically £150. They might also check your ticket purchasing history and factor in the other journeys you made since the railcard expired into the cost of the settlement.

When it arrives upload a redacted copy of the letter in this thread with your draft reply and forum members will proof read it for you.

 

[johdai]

Your case will just be in a queue to be dealt with. Might take 4 to 8 weeks to write to you.

Altering the railcard expiry date was unwise as it’s a sign of deliberate action to evade fares. But it’s still possible for you to avoid court I would think. We have seen other cases involving altered Railcards.

This would be part of the reason you were not given a Penalty Fare on the spot because they will want to investigate how many times you have used this railcard and charge you for all those tickets not just give you a £100 spot penalty fare.

Will your neighbour check your post when you are away?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Jun 2025 ==

How old are you?

Thank you for the response. The woman didn't mention penalty fare - I said I could pay whatever is required now as my railcard has expired before she had even reviewed but she said no and that I am being prosecuted. Anyway, it's happened and I need to come to terms with it / my actions. I'm 32

A few things:

If you were stopped at Luton or Luton Airport Parkway then you'll almost certainly be dealing with Govia Thameslink Railway.
GTR will write to you in a few weeks (It probably won't be in the next two weeks as they do seem to have a backlog)
You normally have 14 days to reply to their letter

GTR normally offer an out of court settlement as long as you co-operate with them and haven't come to their attention before. Expect to have to pay the cost of the fare avoided at the full Anytime rate with no credit goven for the invalid ticket you purchased. They will also charge an admin fee, typically £150. They might also check your ticket purchasing history and factor in the other journeys you made since the railcard expired into the cost of the settlement.

When it arrives upload a redacted copy of the letter in this thread with your draft reply and forum members will proof read it for you.

Thank you for this. Will share the letter one received

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you for the response. The woman didn't mention penalty fare - I said I could pay whatever is required now as my railcard has expired before she had even reviewed but she said no and that I am being prosecuted. Anyway, it's happened and I need to come to terms with it / my actions.

OK - whatever she said or you think she said you are not being prosecuted yet (not until you receive some paperwork from a court that states you are being prosecuted) - what she will have done is 'Reported you for Investigation' - that could ultimately end up with you being prosecuted but you efforts need to be directed to not being prosecuted, and you do this by seeking an out of court settlement - see other threads on here (lots of them) to see how this plays out.

People here will advise you how to achieve that when you receive a letter from them which will look like a prosecution threat but is in fact, if you read it carefully, usually a letter asking you to explain your side of things, apologise, and offer to pay them what you owe.

I'm 32

OK - unless you are disabled or have children you travel with the only Railcard you can probably get would be a 'Network Railcard' which is only valid for use in parts of London and South East England. Look it up there if you think it would save you money.

Railcards | Digital Railcard and Prices - Railcard

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