Short fared journey

[jmc354]

Hi,

I bought a ticket from a station that wasn’t the station I had got on at so didn’t cover the full journey, but got caught at the barriers at the other side by a ticket warden as they knew the station I had supposedly come from had barriers. First time I had made this journey so was unfamiliar with it, and for the journey I bought the ticket was only 90p cheaper than the full journey I actually made lol.

Didn’t have time to wait for the questioning as was needing to get on a connecting train, but the warden said I could get a letter through the door as he is going to have to report it. Does anyone know how likely it is that I will be prosecuted? Considering that this is the only time that I have done this, and my history on train line will back this up.

Thanks

 

[Cuthbert]

Hi,

I bought a ticket from a station that wasn’t the station I had got on at so didn’t cover the full journey, but got caught at the barriers at the other side by a ticket warden as they knew the station I had supposedly come from had barriers. First time I had made this journey so was unfamiliar with it, and for the journey I bought the ticket was only 90p cheaper than the full journey I actually made lol.

Didn’t have time to wait for the questioning as was needing to get on a connecting train, but the warden said I could get a letter through the door as he is going to have to report it. Does anyone know how likely it is that I will be prosecuted? Considering that this is the only time that I have done this, and my history on train line will back this up.

Thanks

Hello and Welcome to the Forum.

The gurus will be around to help. But for them to do that can you give a little more information please?

Please bear in mind the following, when asking for advice in this section:
We need to know all relevant facts in order to assist you, including, for example:
The stations* where you actually started & finished your journey
The stations* where you changed trains (if applicable);
If you presented a ticket(s), the information* stated under "Ticket type", "From", "To", "Route", and any other relevant details;

Details of any Railcard(s) held;
When and where ticket(s) were purchased, including whether this was prior to the journey commencing;
What happened in any encounter with railway staff;
Upload copies of any paperwork (with personal details redacted) with your post.
We need to know what outcome(s) you would consider satisfactory

We ask that you start your own thread as we have, in general, a one case per thread policy as we have found that every case is different even if they may appear similar at first glance.

 

[alholmes]

You give your location as Glasgow. It’s very important to tell us which stations you are travelling between and at which station were you stopped?

Scottish law is very different to England & Wales on these matters, so it’s important you provide this information so we can ensure advice is correct.

 

[jmc354]

The journey was from longbridge to Birmingham new street. And I did use a railcard and presented this when asked for it. Also did not buy a ticket until after exiting the train - wasn’t aware this was against any rules as don’t think it is in Scotland but was told that in England it is.
The encounter with the railway staff was that he told me he was going to have to ask me questions and started videoing, but I realised I might not have time to make my connecting train so left before the questioning even really started, but I was able to confirm on the video that after his clarification I knew what I had done was illegal.

 

[Hadders]

If your railcard or ticket was scanned by the inspector then the train company will be able to obtain your contact details via your online ticketing account.

The train company will probably offer you an out of court settlement if you co-operate with them, and haven't comme to their attention before. If you get a letter from them then pop back here and post a redacted copy of it in this thread, along with your draft reply and we can assist with how to respond.

 

[Haywain]

Also did not buy a ticket until after exiting the train - wasn’t aware this was against any rules as don’t think it is in Scotland but was told that in England it is.

It is an offence in both England and Scotland but prosecutions in Scotland are very difficult and almost unheard of. Because of this the treatment of the offence is very different.

 

[jmc354]

@Haywain @Hadders thanks for the help.

They have sent me a letter through the door, dated 4th June so running out of time for a response. I was away on holiday for the past two weeks so seems a bit unfair that they only give you two weeks to respond.

The letter says:
On Thursday 27th March 2025, a person giving the above name and address was questioned by a member of the revenue protection team, employed by West Midlands railway, in relation to the payment of a rail fare.

All the available evidence is being considered as to whether legal proceedings are appropriate. If you consider that there are further mitigating factors that may influence any decision that may be made about this matter you are invited to respond, within 14 days of the date of this letter…

If you do not have any mitigating circumstances regarding this incident, payment of a £175.00 settlement towards our costs incurred plus £4.80 fare avoided is requested to avoid legal proceedings. The balance of £179.80 should be received within 14 days from the date of this letter by visiting our website….
…


I am assuming that legal proceedings are very unlikely since this really does not seem significant at all?

Many thanks

 

[AlterEgo]

They're asking you to pay £179.80 to close the matter and that will be that.

 

[Haywain]

I am assuming that legal proceedings are very unlikely since this really does not seem significant at all?

Pay the £179.80 and the matter will be closed. And don't worry too much about being close to the deadline, they will be aware that the post is a bit flaky these days.

 

[pedr]

Legal proceedings, prosecuting you for the crime of boarding a train to travel without a valid ticket and/or travelling by train without paying your fare intending to avoid payment of the correct fare, are almost certain if you do not respond and do not pay the sum they are requesting.

English law and criminal procedure has a very fast-track and efficient system for prosecuting low-level crimes which cannot result in imprisonment so train companies will usually choose the most basic offence, which is committed simply by the action of stepping onto a train without a ticket (except where it was actually impossible to buy a ticket at the origin station; not the case at Longbridge). There is no allowance that avoiding paying a small fare, or paying marginally less than the fare due, or even buying the ticket at a later point in the journey, is not serious enough to count as a crime - train companies do bring prosecutions over very cheap tickets and where passengers have delayed purchasing until after boarding a train or seeing that barriers at the destination were closed.

The route to avoiding being convicted of this crime is to pay the sum they are requesting, which will mean they won't bring the prosecution they are entitled to.

 

[WesternLancer]

@Haywain @Hadders thanks for the help.

They have sent me a letter through the door, dated 4th June so running out of time for a response.

Given they are offering you the chance to pay to close the matter then key thing if still possible is to make the payment before the payment window closes via whatever payment process they are offering you. Unless you are disputing this. If the payment window has closed I suspect they would re-open it on request if you explained you had only just got the letter.

You say the fare you didn't pay was 90p and they say £4.80 but the lions share of what they want are their costs so probably not worth querying the fare (I suspect the fare they are using is the Anytime peak fare for the travel concerned perhaps)

I was away on holiday for the past two weeks so seems a bit unfair that they only give you two weeks to respond.

Well they might think it's unfair on them, and on other passengers who do pay correctly, that you decided not to pay the correct fare

The letter says:
On Thursday 27th March 2025, a person giving the above name and address was questioned by a member of the revenue protection team, employed by West Midlands railway, in relation to the payment of a rail fare.

All the available evidence is being considered as to whether legal proceedings are appropriate. If you consider that there are further mitigating factors that may influence any decision that may be made about this matter you are invited to respond, within 14 days of the date of this letter…

If you do not have any mitigating circumstances regarding this incident, payment of a £175.00 settlement towards our costs incurred plus £4.80 fare avoided is requested to avoid legal proceedings. The balance of £179.80 should be received within 14 days from the date of this letter by visiting our website….
…

I am assuming that legal proceedings are very unlikely since this really does not seem significant at all?

If you don't pay this then legal proceeding are very likely if not certain as they will just escalate it to court along with large numbers of others they send to court. But paying this should mean that legal proceedings for this offence will not happen as well. Though it is still possible they may trawl your on line ticket buying history and contact you about other anomalies if they find anything they think is suspicious.

When you pay it be sure to keep proof of payment and keep copies of all e-mails / letters and keep them long term (for more than a year at least)

 

[Hadders]

You've been offered an out of court settlement costing £179.80. If you pay that then that is the end of the matter in respect of this journey.

It is possible, that if your ticket purchasing history indicates further purchases of invalid tickets, that the train company will contact you about these at a later date. if you do get contacted then do not reply or acknowledge the letter. Instead, post a redacted copy of it in this thread and we will assist with options.