I recently bought a ticket on trainline using a 16-25 savers railcard. At the gates, a ticket officer asked to see my card and pulled me aside. I said I left it at home and he filled out a form on his IPad and gave me a witness receipt. I then immediately bought a new rail card on trainline and uploaded this to an online Thames link form, as this is what he said to do. I realise that this won’t be valid but I wasn’t sure on what else to do. I know I made a mistake and just panicked in the moment and am more than willing to pay a fine, but just don’t want to go to court. What should I do from here? I know that they will send me a letter most likely, as the rail card will probably be flagged as invalid for this trip, but is there anything I can do to rectify this until then?
-
Our new ticketing site is now live! Using either this or the original site (both powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!
Lied about having a rail card
- Thread starter fredxx
- Start date
- Status
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R
RailUK Forums
Don’t panic.
Wait for them to write to you, and then follow the advice from @Hadders:
If not, expect the railway to be able to inspect your Trainline purchasing history, and ask for recompense accordingly.
The fact that you lied about having a railcard won’t be hugely significant, they’re accustomed to this.
Don’t bother trying to do anything until they write to you, it won’t help.
Wait for them to write to you, and then follow the advice from @Hadders:
If this is a one-off occurrence, expect this to be the outcome.
If not, expect the railway to be able to inspect your Trainline purchasing history, and ask for recompense accordingly.
The fact that you lied about having a railcard won’t be hugely significant, they’re accustomed to this.
Don’t bother trying to do anything until they write to you, it won’t help.
Last edited:
If it’s not one off will this make it likely that I will have to go to court, or just that the fine will be bigger
The latter, as long as you’re honest and they believe you. Don’t incriminate yourself but wait for them to contact you.
Should I express that it hasn’t been one off or just let them find out
Don’t incriminate yourself - wait for them but don’t lie when they do.
Ok thanks for the help, so most likely is it will be settled out of court, I guess going to court is more hassle for them too.
Exactly.
In general they want back payment for fares avoided plus knowledge you’re unlikely to do it again.
Plus telling them you have now bought a railcard will do no harm.
Last edited:
Yeah I’ll do that, just worried that the fact I submitted one that wasn’t valid for that fare could harm my case.
Thameslink railway, and yeah I’ve been buying them on trainline
They’re used to this, just be honest in your reply when they contact you. We’re all human and make mistakes!
Thanks
Were "the gates" before or after you had made a rail journey?
When you hear from them, if you want to, post a suitably “redacted” copy of their letter here plus your proposed response and we can probably help you with your response.
Yeah will do thanks
After otherwise it wouldn’t of been an issue if I hadn’t already travelled
Do you have any experience with Thames link specifically on matters like this
Last edited:
There are lots of posts about Thameslink/GTR on this forum and they are generally willing to settle out of court.
Have a look/search for yourself.
Others have more experience than me, personally, but I keep an eye on things! But I agree, don’t trust me alone, wait for others to add their advice/input as well. It’s the way this forum works well. Put it another way, I wouldn’t automatically trust me alone ….. it’s Saturday night after all.
Last edited:
You have been around at least as long as I have and given perfectly good advice
The only thing I would add to the OP is - don't panic, it's not the end of the world.
Thank you!You have been around at least as long as I have and given perfectly good advice
The only thing I would add to the OP is - don't panic, it's not the end of the world.
I’m human also so I like being right but on this forum I’m very happy to be corrected when I’m wrong also.
Almost certainly not. They will probably have identified that it was purchased after you were stopped, and your case is now "in the system" to be dealt with. They have around 6 months to contact you, else they lose the ability to prosecute, so from their perspective there is no rush to deal with your case.
Here is the letter they sent me:
Dear xxx
On date xxx your details were taken by a Revenue Protection Inspector at Farringdon Station.
This letter is to inform you of our intention to take this case to the magistrates court and on the reverse it provides you with the opportunity to tell us what happened from your point of view. Information should be factual and honest.
Then some stuff about how they ask the courts to impose for the maximum penalty for offenders and then how I must reply within 14 days of the above date including the reference above on the correspondence.
My response is:
Dear Fare Evasion Manager,
I am deeply sorry for any inconvenience caused by my actions, and I understand that they were completely unacceptable. I understand that travelling without the rail card was wrong of me, and I have now bought one to remedy this in the future. I’ve learnt that it’s important to be honest, and always travel with the right ticket. I am keen to settle this without the need for court action and am more than willing to pay for the outstanding fare, plus any administration costs on your end for having to deal with this. Once again, I am really sorry for putting you through this.
Kind regards, Fred.
Any suggestions for how I can edit this?
Dear xxx
On date xxx your details were taken by a Revenue Protection Inspector at Farringdon Station.
This letter is to inform you of our intention to take this case to the magistrates court and on the reverse it provides you with the opportunity to tell us what happened from your point of view. Information should be factual and honest.
Then some stuff about how they ask the courts to impose for the maximum penalty for offenders and then how I must reply within 14 days of the above date including the reference above on the correspondence.
My response is:
Dear Fare Evasion Manager,
I am deeply sorry for any inconvenience caused by my actions, and I understand that they were completely unacceptable. I understand that travelling without the rail card was wrong of me, and I have now bought one to remedy this in the future. I’ve learnt that it’s important to be honest, and always travel with the right ticket. I am keen to settle this without the need for court action and am more than willing to pay for the outstanding fare, plus any administration costs on your end for having to deal with this. Once again, I am really sorry for putting you through this.
Kind regards, Fred.
Any suggestions for how I can edit this?
Last edited:
This needs to be more formal and actually address what you did. If you read that letter would you even get the impression you realise what was wrong about what happened? You don’t mention at all.
Don’t say “I am sorry for putting you through this” - that’s what you say to a friend, not a corporation you owe money to. “I am sorry for the inconvenience and financial loss this has caused” is more formal.
Ok is this better:
Dear Fare Evasion Manager,
I am sorry for travelling with an invalid ticket and any inconvenience and financial loss this has caused. I understand that this is not acceptable and to remedy this, I have now bought a 16-25 railcard. I am keen to settle this out of court and am more than willing to pay the outstanding fare, plus any administration fees that have been incurred in dealing with this matter. Once again, I apologise for the inconvenience.
Kind regards,
Fred.
- should I also apologise for lying about having a rail card, or is it enough to apologise for travelling without a valid ticket
Dear Fare Evasion Manager,
I am sorry for travelling with an invalid ticket and any inconvenience and financial loss this has caused. I understand that this is not acceptable and to remedy this, I have now bought a 16-25 railcard. I am keen to settle this out of court and am more than willing to pay the outstanding fare, plus any administration fees that have been incurred in dealing with this matter. Once again, I apologise for the inconvenience.
Kind regards,
Fred.
- should I also apologise for lying about having a rail card, or is it enough to apologise for travelling without a valid ticket
I think you need to be clear that when you made the journey you did not possess a rail card and apologise for this. Then say that following the incident you immediately purchased a new railcard. Ask if GTR would be willing to settle the matter without court action and say you are prepared to pay the outstanding fares and their administrative costs in dealing with the incident.
Whilst apologies aren't going to do any harm, I don't think they're all that bothered to hear them to be honest. Personally I'd beef-up what you're saying about having now bought a railcard which you now use and will be careful to ensure that you use it to buy valid tickets in future. They're not all that bothered about whether or not you deliberately or accidentally claimed a railcard which you didn't have, what they're looking for now is a reassurance that you won't be doing it again in future. If they feel you've learned and will comply in future, they'll probably be happy to settle without taking you to court.
- Status