• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (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!

Not able to produce a ticket

Status
Not open for further replies.

iamsher17

Member
Joined
31 Mar 2016
Messages
7
Hi there
So my story starts by travelling to work on the train from bethnal green to wood street. Inspectors came on and asked for my ticket. Believing my ticket was on me as its always in my pocket, it wasn't there. I have a record of penalty fares within the year, total of 3 so this time round it has now it has gone to prosecution and i am very worried about the outcome. I am a podiatry student and cannot afford a record. I'am eager to sort this as early as possible without it going to court. Any Advice?

Sher
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

mikeg

Established Member
Joined
20 Apr 2010
Messages
1,743
Location
Selby
First of all, have you received any correspondence yet.
Secondly, what offence does it accuse you of?

Whilst it is a criminal offence to either not produce a ticket for inspection or travel without a valid ticket, these are byelaw offences and are non recordable.

If you are accused of intentionally avoiding paying the correct fare then it is a recordable criminal offence.

I'd say the first offence is the most likely one of which you are being accused, however we need more details to say for certain. It may be worthwhile offering to pay the company's costs and the full fare for the journey undertaken, they will likely but far from definitely accept this. The key to this is be truthful, apologise, don't make excuses and promise it won't happen again. But we need to know what if any correspondence has been received if anything. If you haven't received any yet the best thing to do is wait for it.
 

najaB

Veteran Member
Joined
28 Aug 2011
Messages
30,691
Location
Scotland
So my story starts by travelling to work on the train from bethnal green to wood street. Inspectors came on and asked for my ticket. Believing my ticket was on me as its always in my pocket, it wasn't there.
What ticket was it - a season ticket, a return or a single?
I have a record of penalty fares within the year, total of 3 so this time round it has now it has gone to prosecution and i am very worried about the outcome.
What were the circumstances of the previous penalty fares?
I am a podiatry student and cannot afford a record. I'am eager to sort this as early as possible without it going to court.
As mikeg says, not all ticketing prosecutions would leave you with a record.
 

iamsher17

Member
Joined
31 Mar 2016
Messages
7
Hi there
So my story starts by travelling to work on the train from bethnal green to wood street. Inspectors came on and asked for my ticket. Believing my ticket was on me as its always in my pocket, it wasn't there. I have a record of penalty fares within the year, total of 3 so this time round it has now it has gone to prosecution and i am very worried about the outcome. I am a podiatry student and cannot afford a record. I'am eager to sort this as early as possible without it going to court. Any Advice?

Sher

Also i was offered to pay £40 but said i don't think i have that kind of money in my account. So they called it in and stated to them i will pay the £40 at risk of my bank calling or rejecting the payment. I didn't even have the £5, only £3 at the time. Proper bad luck.
 

iamsher17

Member
Joined
31 Mar 2016
Messages
7
First of all, have you received any correspondence yet.
Secondly, what offence does it accuse you of?

Whilst it is a criminal offence to either not produce a ticket for inspection or travel without a valid ticket, these are byelaw offences and are non recordable.

If you are accused of intentionally avoiding paying the correct fare then it is a recordable criminal offence.

I'd say the first offence is the most likely one of which you are being accused, however we need more details to say for certain. It may be worthwhile offering to pay the company's costs and the full fare for the journey undertaken, they will likely but far from definitely accept this. The key to this is be truthful, apologise, don't make excuses and promise it won't happen again. But we need to know what if any correspondence has been received if anything. If you haven't received any yet the best thing to do is wait for it.

I Have not received a letter yet as this happened yesterday so iam awaiting the response. My issue is that even though i stated i couldn't pay the £40, after calling it in, i offered to try to pay the £40 at risk of the payment being declined, frustrating as they could have tried further.
 

bb21

Emeritus Moderator
Joined
4 Feb 2010
Messages
24,151
What do you mean by "calling it in"? Who did they/you call?
 

Deepgreen

Established Member
Joined
12 Jun 2013
Messages
6,340
Location
Betchworth, Surrey
Hi there
So my story starts by travelling to work on the train from bethnal green to wood street. Inspectors came on and asked for my ticket. Believing my ticket was on me as its always in my pocket, it wasn't there. I have a record of penalty fares within the year, total of 3 so this time round it has now it has gone to prosecution and i am very worried about the outcome. I am a podiatry student and cannot afford a record. I'am eager to sort this as early as possible without it going to court. Any Advice?

Sher

So this is your fourth fares 'offence' "within the year" - do you mean 2016 or since this time last year?
 

Merseysider

Established Member
Fares Advisor
Joined
22 Jan 2014
Messages
5,388
Location
Birmingham
More information is needed. When did this specific incident happen, and was the '£40' an offer of a LO penalty fare halved for prompt payment?

Don't take offence, but you really cannot continue to forget your ticket. Continued transgressions will have serious consequences as, alluding to the 3 prior events you mention, it's only a matter of time before you end up in court, even if you don't intend to avoid paying the fare.
 

iamsher17

Member
Joined
31 Mar 2016
Messages
7
So this is your fourth fares 'offence' "within the year" - do you mean 2016 or since this time last year?

Starting from April 2015 to Now. The thing is i actually paid for my journey, just seems like I've dropped my pass without realising. Ive called the station to see if the pass has been recovered but no such luck
 

iamsher17

Member
Joined
31 Mar 2016
Messages
7
More information is needed. When did this specific incident happen, and was the '£40' an offer of a LO penalty fare halved for prompt payment?

Don't take offence, but you really cannot continue to forget your ticket. Continued transgressions will have serious consequences as, alluding to the 3 prior events you mention, it's only a matter of time before you end up in court, even if you don't intend to avoid paying the fare.

£40 was an offer of LO. However i did pay for my journey, just seems like my pass fell out of my pocket, Ive called the station to see if it was recovered but no luck. Worse thing is its a paper ticket. So I have no proof of purchase on me as this was kept together with my pass
 

Deepgreen

Established Member
Joined
12 Jun 2013
Messages
6,340
Location
Betchworth, Surrey
Starting from April 2015 to Now, however i understand this. The thing is i actually paid for my journey, just seems like I've dropped my pass without realising. Ive called the station to see if the pass has been recovered but no such luck

Yes, this time, but what were the previous three incidents?
 

gray1404

Established Member
Joined
3 Mar 2014
Messages
6,574
Location
Merseyside
I am confused by the detail that has been provided by the OP and what actually happened here. Has the OP been offered the change to pay £40 to settle this matter? If so, pay it.

If they have a season ticket which they left at home/lost on the day. They could ask customer service if they would be willing to refund the £40 as a goodwill gesture.
 

najaB

Veteran Member
Joined
28 Aug 2011
Messages
30,691
Location
Scotland
I am confused by the detail that has been provided by the OP and what actually happened here. Has the OP been offered the change to pay £40 to settle this matter? If so, pay it.
My understanding is that the OP wasn't able to pay the £40 on the spot Penalty Fare and so the matter has been sent for further investigation.
If they have a season ticket which they left at home/lost on the day. They could ask customer service if they would be willing to refund the £40 as a goodwill gesture.
That would have been an option if they had paid the PF, but I don't think it's on the table any more.
 

gray1404

Established Member
Joined
3 Mar 2014
Messages
6,574
Location
Merseyside
My understanding is that the OP wasn't able to pay the £40 on the spot Penalty Fare and so the matter has been sent for further investigation.
That would have been an option if they had paid the PF, but I don't think it's on the table any more.

£40 on the spot PF - don't you have time to pay a PF afterwards. Subject to being able to pay the standard single fare at the time, but even then the TOCs have discretion. If the OP was told that they must pay the full £40 now, that sounds wrong to me.
 

najaB

Veteran Member
Joined
28 Aug 2011
Messages
30,691
Location
Scotland
If the OP was told that they must pay the full £40 now, that sounds wrong to me.
I may have got my words out of order there - they weren't able to pay the £40 penalty fare on the spot.

There's a very fine distinction between "I can't pay." and "I'm not paying." - if the RPI believes that the passenger is refusing the PF then reporting for prosecution is the logical next step. Especially if when it was 'called in' the OP's name flagged up on the system.
 

gray1404

Established Member
Joined
3 Mar 2014
Messages
6,574
Location
Merseyside
I may have got my words out of order there - they weren't able to pay the £40 penalty fare on the spot.

There's a very fine distinction between "I can't pay." and "I'm not paying." - if the RPI believes that the passenger is refusing the PF then reporting for prosecution is the logical next step. Especially if when it was 'called in' the OP's name flagged up on the system.

Its a real shame then that the OP wasn't given the option to, as is standard with a PF, pay the remaining balance at a later date :(

I do accept your point though that some people refuse to accept a PF and I do not think that the RPIs are always the best at explaining the implications of this.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top