Outcomes for an honest mistake - forgot to change train station and panicked

[forspare]

Can you give me advice for a train fine?

Hello! So I was wondering if anyone had advice regarding a train fine that I will be receiving in a few weeks. Here are the details:

I travelled from Islip to Oxford today. I usually travel from Oxford Parkway to Oxford, but I stayed at my partner's last night.

I was travelling at peak hours on a Monday.

Essentially, I got on the train this morning from Islip. Since there aren't barriers, I just walked to the platform as I was rushing. I bought a ticket in advance from Oxford parkway to Oxford and forgot to change the starting station on Trainline to Islip. The ticket inspectors came during my journey from Islip to Oxford parkway, in which I panicked and realised my mistake that I didn't actually buy a ticket for that part of the journey.

In my panic, I bought the next available ticket from Islip to Oxford parkway. However, it was after peak times so it was cheaper. The inspector said I committed 3 offences, them being:

1) boarding without a ticket
2) buying a ticket on the train to show him (I guess to evade the fine?? Idk)
3) buying a ticket that was invalid and used a 26-30 Railcard.

For context, on Trainline when you buy a ticket, my Railcard was already there so I didn't think to get rid of it to buy the off peak ticket (the Railcard didn't even cross my mind at the time).

With that, the inspector told me a few things. Not verbatim but essentially:

• if I didn't buy a ticket and said I forgot to, I would've paid the penalty fee with the ticket that didn't buy (would've been around £105)
• since it's not a penalty fee, he had to take my details and said I will be getting a letter in the post in the next few weeks. I will need to pay within 21 days
• he couldn't give me an estimate as the report needs to be sent to their "back office" for processing. He said it's because if he said it would be like £10 and it turns out to be £500, then he'd get in trouble. Idk whether he pulled random numbers from his brain or if I will have to pay £500?
• he said it's a complex situation BC I did pay for part of my journey (oxf parkway to Oxford) so idk if that helps my case or not because it shows I wasn't trying to evade paying tickets entirely

So my question is, what would the likely outcome be in this case?

I did some researching with a friend on documents and old Reddit posts and I see 3 potential outcomes:

1) get given a caution and to not do it again
2) fined and have to pay around £150-300
3) be taken to court and get a criminal record

How likely is it that I will be taken to court? I haven't had any warnings of this before.
I can't risk having a criminal record as my career will hopefully be forensic based, and it will really ruin my future career.

Any advice would be great! I just want to know what to expect. I am hoping it's either outcome 1 or 2. Paying a hundred or two would be annoying but it is much better than a criminal record and a court order.

Thanks so much for reading!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Please post the documentation you have received with all reference numbers and personal information obscured and we can advise more specifically.

However speaking generally, assuming you have not done this before, you are likely to be offered the opportunity to settle out of court for a payment of £100-150 ish plus the fare evaded*. If however you have done it before (and you're not being quite honest with us) you will likely need to pay a much higher sum to settle all previous cases of it too (they will obtain details from the retailer to do so). It is important to be honest with yourself about whether it is genuinely a one off or not, even if you don't want to tell us (and you may be better not doing as we know TOCs read here).

While you would have only saved around 50p, this will be seen as "short faring" which is generally treated more seriously than just forgetting to buy a ticket.

* Likely for the purposes of this the fare evaded will be seen to be an Anytime Day Single from Islip to Oxford at £3.70. Unfortunately it is unlikely any tickets you already had will be taken into account.

 

[Pushpit]

Well your inspector seemed to be both candid and accurate.

Yes, this is fare evasion however you look at it, and your follow up activities didn't improve matters. It is a strange twist in that a Penalty Fare would have been the best outcome really, but the precise steps you took put it out of contention here. And it has to be said, you are in short fare territory, given the ticket you did have and your efforts to avoid being done by the inspector. So you can see that the train company - presumably Chiltern - is going be both suspicious and also with their right to take you to court.

However it is unlikely. So long as you gave the inspector accurate contact information you will hear from them, perhaps several months from now, and will be offered an out of court settlement so long as you reply to the letters. Share the letter here, with personal data redacted, and we can help you to word it correctly. But whatever you do, don't blame anyone other than yourself, in that letter. You are therefore unlikely to end up in court, and equally unlikely to end up with a criminal record. If this really was a one-off occasion, then you need to budget about £200 for this settlement.

 

[father_jack]

You would have had to knowingly brought the clock forward to get an off peak ticket and to make your 26-30 railcard reduce the fare cost.

Just pay whatever they ask you for in the post.

You definitely have no previous offences ?

 

[forspare]

Please post the documentation you have received with all reference numbers and personal information obscured and we can advise more specifically.

However speaking generally, assuming you have not done this before, you are likely to be offered the opportunity to settle out of court for a payment of £100-150 ish plus the fare evaded*. If however you have done it before (and you're not being quite honest with us) you will likely need to pay a much higher sum to settle all previous cases of it too (they will obtain details from the retailer to do so). It is important to be honest with yourself about whether it is genuinely a one off or not, even if you don't want to tell us (and you may be better not doing as we know TOCs read here).

* Likely for the purposes of this the fare evaded will be seen to be an Anytime Day Single from Islip to Oxford at £3.70.

Hi there. This interaction happened this morning so I don't have any documents yet. The inspector said it will be sent to me in a couple of weeks.

That's great to know. I would like to clarify that I have no previous cases or anything of that matter. Glad to know I'd most likely have to settle this out of court

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

You would have had to knowingly brought the clock forward to get an off peak ticket and to make your 26-30 railcard reduce the fare cost.

Just pay whatever they ask you for in the post.

You definitely have no previous offences ?

Hello - yes I did it in panic when I saw the inspector which was a terrible judge of circumstances now I think of it. I should have just told him the situation straight away. I will pay of course as it no other than my mistake.

I don't have any previous offences at all - would this make it even less likely to end up in court? I'm very worried

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

Well your inspector seemed to be both candid and accurate.

Yes, this is fare evasion however you look at it, and your follow up activities didn't improve matters. It is a strange twist in that a Penalty Fare would have been the best outcome really, but the precise steps you took put it out of contention here. And it has to be said, you are in short fare territory, given the ticket you did have and your efforts to avoid being done by the inspector. So you can see that the train company - presumably Chiltern - is going be both suspicious and also with their right to take you to court.

However it is unlikely. So long as you gave the inspector accurate contact information you will hear from them, perhaps several months from now, and will be offered an out of court settlement so long as you reply to the letters. Share the letter here, with personal data redacted, and we can help you to word it correctly. But whatever you do, don't blame anyone other than yourself, in that letter. You are therefore unlikely to end up in court, and equally unlikely to end up with a criminal record. If this really was a one-off occasion, then you need to budget about £200 for this settlement.

That makes a lot of sense thank you. I realise that my panic really put me in a bad situation and that I should've just said the truth at the beginning!

I did give the inspector accurate information and did not lie to him. I will share the information once I get the letter thank you. I know completely it wasn't anyone else's mistake but mine so there's no worries in that. This is a one off occasion so I hope this makes it even more unlikely to end up in court.

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

You would have had to knowingly brought the clock forward to get an off peak ticket and to make your 26-30 railcard reduce the fare cost.

Just pay whatever they ask you for in the post.

You definitely have no previous offences ?

Just to note as well, the next train that was running (as the one I got already left when I realised I didn't have the right ticket) was an off peak one. I didn't change the times to try to get an off peak ticket.

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

I do want to ask if this is a more serious offence compared to what they usually get? I did pay for the oxf parkway to Oxford train tickets just not for he Islip to Oxford parkway. This is my first offence and won't happen again

 

[Pushpit]

I do want to ask if this is a more serious offence compared to what they usually get? I did pay for the oxf parkway to Oxford train tickets just not for he Islip to Oxford parkway. This is my first offence and won't happen again

No, it's by no means a serious offence - the fare difference is something like 50 pence. Chiltern will get dozens of cases just like this daily, some from people who do it daily, over long distances, for months or years before getting caught. Chlitern also operate the granddaddy of all short fare stations, Wembley Stedium, and I think they only bother to serve that station in order to catch all the short fare evaders. So no, if it is a first offence and you have no history of short fares then you will be offered an out of court settlement. For obvious reasons it is extremely important that from here on you always have the right fare and the right, and in date, railcard before stepping on any future rail service.

 

[forspare]

No, it's by no means a serious offence - the fare difference is something like 50 pence. Chiltern will get dozens of cases just like this daily, some from people who do it daily, over long distances, for months or years before getting caught. Chlitern also operate the granddaddy of all short fare stations, Wembley Stedium, and I think they only bother to serve that station in order to catch all the short fare evaders. So no, if it is a first offence and you have no history of short fares then you will be offered an out of court settlement. For obvious reasons it is extremely important that from here on you always have the right fare and the right, and in date, railcard before stepping on any future rail service.

Amazing thank you! I'm glad it isn't serious and that I will just be looking to pay an OOC settlement. Will make sure this doesn't happen again!

 

[AlterEgo]

Bear in mind Chiltern have your address and will audit your ticket purchasing history to see how many other short fares there are. In their experience, people don’t usually do it once.

You may be presented with a nasty invoice to settle out of court if you have lots of other short fares.

 

[Haywain]

You would have had to knowingly brought the clock forward to get an off peak ticket and to make your 26-30 railcard reduce the fare cost.

That's rather harsh - there's a big gap in services from Islip to Oxford - the 0827 would be peak time, and the next at 1050 would get the full railcard discount.

 

[forspare]

Bear in mind Chiltern have your address and will audit your ticket purchasing history to see how many other short fares there are. In their experience, people don’t usually do it once.

You may be presented with a nasty invoice to settle out of court if you have lots of other short fares.

Yeah I was thinking this might be an issue... I actually have family that I stay with often in Kidlington. The closest station from there is Oxford parkway so that's why I tend to have the Oxford parkway to Oxford as the default on Trainline. My official address is in Bicester, so I'm worried that it will look like I'm making a lot of short fares. I don't have a driver's licence so when I do travel between the two houses, I get lifts.

I just checked my purchase history and the trains are usually between Oxford parkway and Oxford, with occasions from Bicester village to those places or other places.

Im worried that they will be thinking I am evading by paying short fares from Oxford parkway to Oxford and that I'm skipping BV but most times I am coming from Kidlington. There are probably a couple of times that I didn't clock that I did it because I've been rushing so I'm not sure.

What do you think? Do you think that when they send me a letter asking for my series of events, I can provide my mother's address (which is in Kidlington) and explain that I often stay at hers and sometimes stay at my dad's in Bicester?

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

That's rather harsh - there's a big gap in services from Islip to Oxford - the 0827 would be peak time, and the next at 1050 would get the full railcard discount.

Yeah, exactly why I didn't clock the discount was going through as the gap is massive!

 

[Haywain]

Do you think that when they send me a letter asking for my series of events, I can provide my mother's address (which is in Kidlington) and explain that I often stay at hers and sometimes stay at my dad's in Bicester?

You should wait until you receive a letter before planning your response, as you don't know what it will ask. However, I think it will be necessary to mention that if there is a reference to other offences.

 

[Egg Centric]

Yeah I was thinking this might be an issue... I actually have family that I stay with often in Kidlington. The closest station from there is Oxford parkway so that's why I tend to have the Oxford parkway to Oxford as the default on Trainline. My official address is in Bicester, so I'm worried that it will look like I'm making a lot of short fares. I don't have a driver's licence so when I do travel between the two houses, I get lifts.

I just checked my purchase history and the trains are usually between Oxford parkway and Oxford, with occasions from Bicester village to those places or other places.

Im worried that they will be thinking I am evading by paying short fares from Oxford parkway to Oxford and that I'm skipping BV but most times I am coming from Kidlington. There are probably a couple of times that I didn't clock that I did it because I've been rushing so I'm not sure.

What do you think? Do you think that when they send me a letter asking for my series of events, I can provide my mother's address (which is in Kidlington) and explain that I often stay at hers and sometimes stay at my dad's in Bicester?

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


Yeah, exactly why I didn't clock the discount was going through as the gap is massive!

I think you're right to expect that they're likely to think that initially, but if you're able to evidence your mother's address it should be fine in the end. Just don't lie!

 

[forspare]

You should wait until you receive a letter before planning your response, as you don't know what it will ask. However, I think it will be necessary to mention that if there is a reference to other offences.

Okay great. I meant in response to the letter they'll give me. I can prove my mother's address but do you think they'd be harsh and order me to pay for those too?

 

[enyoueffsea]

In their experience, people don’t usually do it once.

Extremely small number of people will ever get caught on their first offence, can be applied to most offences including outside the railway.

The reason people get caught is because they get away with it the first time and carry on.

One of the reasons I’m always sceptical about a lot of posts on here.

My official address is in Bicester, so I'm worried that it will look like I'm making a lot of short fares. I don't have a driver's licence so when I do travel between the two houses, I get lifts.

I just checked my purchase history and the trains are usually between Oxford parkway and Oxford, with occasions from Bicester village to those places or other places.

Im worried that they will be thinking I am evading by paying short fares from Oxford parkway to Oxford and that I'm skipping BV but most times I am coming from Kidlington. There are probably a couple of times that I didn't clock that I did it because I've been rushing so I'm not sure.

…and right on cue, this one suddenly sounds a lot more like repeat short faring!

OP - you’re going to need to provide proof to them when they inevitably pick on this interesting trend of purchases and/or “errors in a rush”.

 

[AlterEgo]

Yeah I was thinking this might be an issue... I actually have family that I stay with often in Kidlington. The closest station from there is Oxford parkway so that's why I tend to have the Oxford parkway to Oxford as the default on Trainline. My official address is in Bicester, so I'm worried that it will look like I'm making a lot of short fares. I don't have a driver's licence so when I do travel between the two houses, I get lifts.

I just checked my purchase history and the trains are usually between Oxford parkway and Oxford, with occasions from Bicester village to those places or other places.

Im worried that they will be thinking I am evading by paying short fares from Oxford parkway to Oxford and that I'm skipping BV but most times I am coming from Kidlington. There are probably a couple of times that I didn't clock that I did it because I've been rushing so I'm not sure.

What do you think? Do you think that when they send me a letter asking for my series of events, I can provide my mother's address (which is in Kidlington) and explain that I often stay at hers and sometimes stay at my dad's in Bicester?

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


Yeah, exactly why I didn't clock the discount was going through as the gap is massive!

If you’re boarding at Oxford Parkway legitimately the company will see the ticket scans from the barriers you need to pass through to board at that station, which will satisfy them that you’ve boarded there.

They will also be able to marry up the scan data at Oxford (main) at the end of your journey to find out if you’ve been buying on board or not, too.

 

[forspare]

I think you're right to expect that they're likely to think that initially, but if you're able to evidence your mother's address it should be fine in the end. Just don't lie!

Okay great, thank you! I'm very happy to give them the address if needed.

 

[Haywain]

do you think they'd be harsh and order me to pay for those too?

Patience, not panic. Deal with it when it happens.

 

[forspare]

Extremely small number of people will ever get caught on their first offence, can be applied to most offences including outside the railway.

The reason people get caught is because they get away with it the first time and carry on.

One of the reasons I’m always sceptical about a lot of posts on here.



…and right on cue, this one suddenly sounds a lot more like repeat short faring!

OP - you’re going to need to provide proof to them when they inevitably pick on this interesting trend of purchases and/or “errors in a rush”.

That's understandable why you're sceptical. Though my mum literally lives in Kidlington and also my grandparents and I can provide both of their addresses. I also used to live in Kidlington before 2017 it isn't a coincidence, it's the truth.

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

Patience, not panic. Deal with it when it happens.

Thanks very much

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

If you’re boarding at Oxford Parkway legitimately the company will see the ticket scans from the barriers you need to pass through to board at that station, which will satisfy them that you’ve boarded there.

They will also be able to marry up the scan data at Oxford (main) at the end of your journey to find out if you’ve been buying on board or not, too.

Makes total sense. There are a lot of times the barriers are open and I go through without scanning, but now knowing this, I'm going to scan regardless if the barriers are open now to make sure theres an audit!

Thanks for the insight

 

[enyoueffsea]

I’d recommend you seek advice on here before you respond to any letter you receive because already you have said:

This is a one off occasion

Followed by:

There are probably a couple of times that I didn't clock that I did it because I've been rushing so I'm not sure.

And then the one way to evidence your version of events is shared with you and you suddenly recall:

There are a lot of times the barriers are open and I go through without scanning

I’m not sure if I was looking at your case, you sending me your mother’s, grandparent’s and partner’s addresses would convince me you live in Bicester but seemingly live or stay everywhere apart from your own house on the days you travel.

And on the one day an RPI met you on the train, you just happened to have the incorrect ticket and purchased another to try and cover it up.

You mention repeatedly how important it is that you do not get a conviction in court, I’ll refer you to the advice on here that responding honestly (without incriminating yourself unnecessarily) is the best way of going about that.

 

[forspare]

I’d recommend you seek advice on here before you respond to any letter you receive because already you have said:



Followed by:



And then the one way to evidence your version of events is shared with you and you suddenly recall:



I’m not sure if I was looking at your case, you sending me your mother’s, grandparent’s and partner’s addresses would convince me you live in Bicester but seemingly live or stay everywhere apart from your own house on the days you travel.

And on the one day an RPI met you on the train, you just happened to have the incorrect ticket and purchased another to try and cover it up.

You mention repeatedly how important it is that you do not get a conviction in court, I’ll refer you to the advice on here that responding honestly (without incriminating yourself unnecessarily) is the best way of going about that.

I've been thinking about this since this has happened this morning. I have been looking back on purchases after reading advice here and then realised that perhaps I had missed a few occasions BUT I don't know if I did because I don't recall. You can see on my history I buy tickets from BV and from Oxford parkway so it wouldn't make sense why sometimes I buy one at BV and other times I don't if I'm not coming from both places. I don't just buy the Oxford parkway ones, there's both and plenty on those occasions.

Obviously purchasing another one to try and cover up was a mistake and I claimed that in my original post. I panicked and wasn't thinking straight and that's 100% on me.

Again, I am being honest. I travel a lot between the two places because my parents are divorced and I live with them both on separate days. It's just that my official address is in Bicester, which is the one he took from my provisional drivers licence.

I will seek advice on here before sending any letter, and have stated I will anyways.

 

[SuspectUsual]

I’m not sure if I was looking at your case, you sending me your mother’s, grandparent’s and partner’s addresses would convince me you live in Bicester but seemingly live or stay everywhere apart from your own house on the days you travel.

And on the one day an RPI met you on the train, you just happened to have the incorrect ticket and purchased another to try and cover it up.

You mention repeatedly how important it is that you do not get a conviction in court, I’ll refer you to the advice on here that responding honestly (without incriminating yourself unnecessarily) is the best way of going about that.

The other thing Chiltern might need a bit of persuading on is that someone without a driving licence habitually uses a parkway station

 

[forspare]

The other thing Chiltern might need a bit of persuading on is that someone without a driving licence habitually uses a parkway station

I get the bus to the station sometimes and mostly get a lift from family members...

 

[SuspectUsual]

I get the bus to the station and sometimes I get a lift from family members... There's literally buses that pull into the station!

Fair enough - it's not an area I know well. But the broader point is that you have to think how this looks from the train company's point of view. They will deal with hundreds of people a year who repeatedly short fare, and the evidence they're seeing with you is very, very similar. I know it's said that legally you're innocent until proven guilty, but in your situation I'd be doing everything I can to collate evidence that supports what you say. For example (not an exhaustive list)

- payments for bus tickets timed and dated to match train tickets from Oxford Parkway
- whoever gives you a lift saying they're prepared to give evidence in court if necessary (whilst being fully aware of the perjury laws!!)
- evidence from Google maps or similar if you have the tracking stuff enabled
- payments for anything else that puts you at/near Oxford Parkway when you got the train from there
- anything else you can think of

 

[WesternLancer]

Reflecting on this thread - and these musing are just my hunch...

Personally I suspect that Chiltern will not investigate this in the level of detail forum members are suggesting might happen (tho potentially they could...) - looking at other recent threads their are cases where people have been stopped and had details taken by Chiltern and months have gone past and they have heard nothing at all, heading here to see what might happen etc. This suggests backlogs at Chiltern's back office.

So that probably means either they are looking at forensic detail at some cases but letting others slide and not bothering with them at all within the 6 month window to lay papers at court - or more likely I would suspect they are short staffed and don't even have time to send standard letters out to everyone as a matter of course, in prompt and timely manner.

If the latter then i doubt they are going to focus on forensic study of the OPs addresses, their bus tickets, and all the rest of it - far easier to send the standard letter, get the reply from the passenger requesting a settlement, and send them a request for a sum that covers this.

It's just a question of waiting to see what they ask when they get in touch with the passenger.

 

[forspare]

Fair enough - it's not an area I know well. But the broader point is that you have to think how this looks from the train company's point of view. They will deal with hundreds of people a year who repeatedly short fare, and the evidence they're seeing with you is very, very similar. I know it's said that legally you're innocent until proven guilty, but in your situation I'd be doing everything I can to collate evidence that supports what you say. For example (not an exhaustive list)

- payments for bus tickets timed and dated to match train tickets from Oxford Parkway
- whoever gives you a lift saying they're prepared to give evidence in court if necessary (whilst being fully aware of the perjury laws!!)
- evidence from Google maps or similar if you have the tracking stuff enabled
- payments for anything else that puts you at/near Oxford Parkway when you got the train from there
- anything else you can think of

Yeah that's true. I will collate the evidence, thank you

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

I appreciate the advice here though I'm going to end the conversation as I don't feel it to be productive anymore. I came here for advice but now I feel like I'm being interrogated. I get why people are sceptical but I don't think it's helping anyone. Thank you for everyone who provided helpful responses.

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

Reflecting on this thread - and these musing are just my hunch...

Personally I suspect that Chiltern will not investigate this in the level of detail forum members are suggesting might happen (tho potentially they could...) - looking at other recent threads their are cases where people have been stopped and had details taken by Chiltern and months have gone past and they have heard nothing at all, heading here to see what might happen etc. This suggests backlogs at Chiltern's back office.

So that probably means either they are looking at forensic detail at some cases but letting others slide and not bothering with them at all within the 6 month window to lay papers at court - or more likely I would suspect they are short staffed and don't even have time to send standard letters out to everyone as a matter of course, in prompt and timely manner.

If the latter then i doubt they are going to focus on forensic study of the OPs addresses, their bus tickets, and all the rest of it - far easier to send the standard letter, get the reply from the passenger requesting a settlement, and send them a request for a sum that covers this.

It's just a question of waiting to see what they ask when they get in touch with the passenger.

Thank you, this seems like the most reasonable response. I think this is the best reply to end it with. I very much appreciate your view and hope this is the situation otherwise it'll be a waste of everyone's time. Thank you

 

[WesternLancer]

Yeah that's true. I will collate the evidence, thank you

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

I appreciate the advice here though I'm going to end the conversation as I don't feel it to be productive anymore. I came here for advice but now I feel like I'm being interrogated. I get why people are sceptical but I don't think it's helping anyone. Thank you for everyone who provided helpful responses.

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


Thank you, this seems like the most reasonable response. I think this is the best reply to end it with. I very much appreciate your view and hope this is the situation otherwise it'll be a waste of everyone's time. Thank you

Best thing to do now is to wait until you hear from them - then head back here for advice on how to respond. I can sense your frustration but it is worth saying that when you get your letter it is important to get your response worded as best it can be to help you get the best outcome possible - and people here will help you do that in a constructive way.

 

[AlterEgo]

The main takeaway is that if you were caught short faring and your address tells them you live by a certain station, the company will suspect other shorter fares of being illegitimate.

Unfortunately, once you get caught once doing something like this you lose credibility and will have to have good evidence for all the other shorter fares. It’s also important to bear in mind that Chiltern have seen and heard it all before, all the “I get a lift to the station one stop from my destination” and “my girlfriend lives here”and “you got me fair and square this time by accident, but the other 100 shorter fares all all legit, promise”.

That doesn’t mean that what you say isn’t true, but it does mean they’ll be sceptical.

Usually they send you a letter that says along with everything else “…and we believe you have done this on other occasions” at which point you will need to enter an honest dialogue with Chiltern. So it is best to be prepared for that eventuality if it comes.

 

[SuspectUsual]

I came here for advice but now I feel like I'm being interrogated

What we’re trying to do is see things from both points of view. Your circumstances mean that it’s quite likely the train company might ask some difficult questions, and as awkward as that may be, being prepared for them because people here have anticipated them is probably the best way to get a favourable outcome

 

[Haywain]

The other thing Chiltern might need a bit of persuading on is that someone without a driving licence habitually uses a parkway station

That would be very silly, there are 'Parkway' stations all over the country that are close to significant communities and sources of traffic other than the private car.

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

I will collate the evidence, thank you

I don't think we've seen any cases here where the train company has actually requested such evidence.

 

[father_jack]

That's rather harsh - there's a big gap in services from Islip to Oxford - the 0827 would be peak time, and the next at 1050 would get the full railcard discount.

OP was buying a Oxford Parkway to Oxford ticket though to be a clever clogs............. despite actually the fares being the same.