South Western Railway Fare Evasion

[somebody148]

Hi all,

Today I was travelling on South Western Railway from Basingstoke to London Waterloo. Foolishly I had short fared this train and only bought a ticket from Clapham Junction to London Waterloo. Incredibly stupid of me and this is the first time that I have done this on South Western Railway. I’ve had a read of other people’s experiences when being caught with an invalid ticket an wanted to share my experience with hope to gain some advice or support with the next steps.

I was caught by the ticket inspector and initially tried to make a bluff story though quickly told the truth. The ticket inspector then issued me a valid ticket covering my full journey. I paid this fare and I asked whether my railcard discount would be valid on the new ticket that I was being issued. The inspector asked for my railcard (16-25), which I presented (it was a physical card - the Santander one). He then let me pay for a single price for the ticket including the railcard discount. And weirdly enough he took a picture of my railcard with his phone and then said that he may report this to the Revenue Complaints team. He then walked off and I carried on to London Waterloo. After arrival, I got off the train and approached the barriers and the same ticket inspector came up to again to tell me that he had been in contact with the revenue complaints team and that they found more suspicious activity on account with regards to fare evading and that they were going conduct an investigation , where I could be called in.

I was not requested give any personal details by this inspector and I bought the right ticket off him. I am obviously quite worried at the idea of a criminal prosecution.

Am I to expect an email? Or post? I’m not sure how I would receive these if my personal information was not taken down.

Any help is much appreciated and thank you in advanced.

 

[Kite159]

If you purchased the short ticket from Clapham Junction to Waterloo online as an eticket, then SWR will be able to gain access to your personal details & any prior purchasing history.

 

[somebody148]

If you purchased the short ticket from Clapham Junction to Waterloo online as an eticket, then SWR will be able to gain access to your personal details & any prior purchasing history.

What do you believe the next steps will be?

 

[Kite159]

The only thing you can do is wait to see if the guard did report you to the relevant team, whom might send a letter if they come across anything which looks potentially suspicious.

 

[somebody148]

The only thing you can do is wait to see if the guard did report you to the relevant team, whom might send a letter if they come across anything which looks potentially suspicious.

Thank you for this. Not sure if you will be able to vouch for this but on my trainline account everything is set to Anonymous and is masked by Apple’s login feature. So my details are all anonymous.

If they were to issue a letter or an email…how would they know where to send it if I didn’t provide the details?

 

[island]

Thank you for this. Not sure if you will be able to vouch for this but on my trainline account everything is set to Anonymous and is masked by Apple’s login feature. So my details are all anonymous.

If they were to issue a letter or an email…how would they know where to send it if I didn’t provide the details?

When you paid, you provided details that you can be traced from, such as your billing address.

 

[Knoodlepot]

Thank you for this. Not sure if you will be able to vouch for this but on my trainline account everything is set to Anonymous and is masked by Apple’s login feature. So my details are all anonymous.

If they were to issue a letter or an email…how would they know where to send it if I didn’t provide the details?

When you buy a ticket with TrainLine they attach the email used to the bank details. Anonymous does not exist on the interwebs unfortunately.

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you for this. Not sure if you will be able to vouch for this but on my trainline account everything is set to Anonymous and is masked by Apple’s login feature. So my details are all anonymous.

If they were to issue a letter or an email…how would they know where to send it if I didn’t provide the details?

So do you have your account set up like that by co incidence or as a deliberate attempt to stop them tracing things like short fares?

You say it’s the first time you have done this with sw railway. Have you short fared on other operators services?

They will interrogate all ticket purchasing for suspicious activity I expect.

But if you cooperate with them it’s likely you can avoid being prosecuted.

 

[John R]

They obviously think you have done this before, and given your comments regarding your account being anonymous, it wouldn’t take a great leap to think that you have something to hide from them.

When you do get contacted by them, it is essential that you are completely honest. (Likewise here if you want the best advice we can offer.) If they think you are not being truthful with them then it is very likely that they will proceed to prosecute you for the one offence for which you were stopped.

 

[Hadders]

Thank you for this. Not sure if you will be able to vouch for this but on my trainline account everything is set to Anonymous and is masked by Apple’s login feature. So my details are all anonymous.

If they were to issue a letter or an email…how would they know where to send it if I didn’t provide the details?

I wouldn't be so sure about this. I assume that at some point when setting up your Trainline account you've had to give some details, if not an address at least an email address. SWR have a data sharing agreement with Trainline, all perfectly compliant with GDPR as it's for the prevention of crime.

 

[chawky]

I wouldn't be so sure about this. I assume that at some point when setting up your Trainline account you've had to give some details, if not an address at least an email address. SWR have a data sharing agreement with Trainline, all perfectly compliant with GDPR as it's for the prevention of crime.

I think OP is referring to a feature on iPhone where it can enter a randomised Apple email address instead of your real one, any email sent to the random one gets forwarded to your real one without the sender learning your real address.

However, it seems likely that the investigations team will have OPs name and address anyway from their railcard that the staff member took a photo of.

 

[Class93]

I think OP is referring to a feature on iPhone where it can enter a randomised Apple email address instead of your real one, any email sent to the random one gets forwarded to your real one without the sender learning your real address.

However, it seems likely that the investigations team will have OPs name and address anyway from their railcard that the staff member took a photo of.

Unless he’s created a new account for each time he’s done it, then the private email function doesn’t really matter.

 

[somebody148]

Thank you all, I guess I have to wait and see if I do get contacted. The anonymity is not deliberate.

So do you have your account set up like that by co incidence or as a deliberate attempt to stop them tracing things like short fares?

You say it’s the first time you have done this with sw railway. Have you short fared on other operators services?

They will interrogate all ticket purchasing for suspicious activity I expect.

But if you cooperate with them it’s likely you can avoid being prosecuted.

No, this is not deliberate it just comes up that way because I set up my account with Apple ID I’m not sure why.

And no I have not short fared in other operators services. My Trainline booking history shows all my lengthy journeys which have been paid for.

I do recognise the severity of my error and do take full blame for it however what’s worrying me is that I’m not sure if the train operator actually meant what he said or if he was trying to scare me…I guess waiting and seeing is the best option.

Does anyone know the time frame of which I should expect to be contacted?

 

[Haywain]

I’m not sure if the train operator actually meant what he said or if he was trying to scare me…

If it was the latter it seems to have worked.

 

[somebody148]

If it was the latter it seems to have worked.

It definitely did

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you all, I guess I have to wait and see if I do get contacted. The anonymity is not deliberate.


No, this is not deliberate it just comes up that way because I set up my account with Apple ID I’m not sure why.

And no I have not short fared in other operators services. My Trainline booking history shows all my lengthy journeys which have been paid for.

I do recognise the severity of my error and do take full blame for it however what’s worrying me is that I’m not sure if the train operator actually meant what he said or if he was trying to scare me…I guess waiting and seeing is the best option.

Does anyone know the time frame of which I should expect to be contacted?

Thanks for explaining on those points.

It may be a few weeks before you hear from them. They have up to 6 months to put it to court if they seek to do that so that becomes a back stop.

When you hear seek advice from the forum on your response content etc if that would help you ensure you get your reply as good as it can be.

 

[RPI]

The op states that they had actually travelled from Basingstoke, how did they get through the gates there?

To add context, did the op actually a) travel from further than Basingstoke or b) did they buy a short ticket from Basingstoke in order to get through the gates there, or c) were the gates open? (SWR will be able to check this)

 

[FenMan]

The op states that they had actually travelled from Basingstoke, how did they get through the gates there?

To add context, did the op actually a) travel from further than Basingstoke or b) did they buy a short ticket from Basingstoke in order to get through the gates there, or c) were the gates open? (SWR will be able to check this)

The OP's stated location is "south western England." I may be wrong, but I doubt if any good citizens of Basingstoke would describe themselves as living in south western England.

 

[somebody148]

The OP's stated location is "south western England." I may be wrong, but I doubt if any good citizens of Basingstoke would describe themselves as living in south western England.

I don’t live in Basingstoke

The op states that they had actually travelled from Basingstoke, how did they get through the gates there?

To add context, did the op actually a) travel from further than Basingstoke or b) did they buy a short ticket from Basingstoke in order to get through the gates there, or c) were the gates open? (SWR will be able to check this)

The gates were open and I was rushing for the train. When I got on, it showed as not available to buy so I took a chance and bought a shorter fare.

 

[RPI]

I don’t live in Basingstoke


The gates were open and I was rushing for the train. When I got on, it showed as not available to buy so I took a chance and bought a shorter fare.

Whilst I'm sure you're being honest with us, if you have an address that was somewhere to the west of Basingstoke then SWR may well suspect that you travelled further, they would obviously have to prove this.

The gates being open would be logged so SWR would be aware.

 

[somebody148]

Whilst I'm sure you're being honest with us, if you have an address that was somewhere to the west of Basingstoke then SWR may well suspect that you travelled further, they would obviously have to prove this.

The gates being open would be logged so SWR would be aware.

Hmm interesting. Thanks for your point. Will just wait and see if I get a letter/email from them before worrying too much although I wouldn’t want this to escalate to court and a potential conviction as I would lose my job

 

[WesternLancer]

Hmm interesting. Thanks for your point. Will just wait and see if I get a letter/email from them before worrying too much although I wouldn’t want this to escalate to court and a potential conviction as I would lose my job

You probably would not use your job but you do need to sure about what your employment contract says. If you are in a union at work ask them about this.

If you cooperate with SWR you should be able to avoid a court conviction but advice from here will help achieve that so you get offered an out of court settlement.

Think if you can provide proof of why you got on the train at Basingstoke not your home on that day. Eg an appointment you had or a place you visited and any evidence like receipts from shops there to prove you were there that day. This will help prevent them pursuing that avenue.

 

[somebody148]

Thank you for this.

If I were to prepare a potential reply to any letter - how would I go about doing this and what would I include (to make sure an out of court settlement is reached)?

I work in healthcare and have read that this does come up in an Enhanced DBS check which would affect my career.

It’s a difficult position as I’m not even sure if I will be contacted or not.

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you for this.

If I were to prepare a potential reply to any letter - how would I go about doing this and what would I include (to make sure an out of court settlement is reached)?

I work in healthcare and have read that this does come up in an Enhanced DBS check which would affect my career.

It’s a difficult position as I’m not even sure if I will be contacted or not.

See post #2 of this thread to get an idea of the sort of structure you should use for your reply

Railway Witness Statement on Thameslink

Hi All, Just wanted some comments on this. I was recently travelling on the Thameslink and I forgot to buy a ticket, once I saw the ticket inspectors I remembered and bought a ticket for the journey. They scanned my ticket and asked why I only bought it recently. I apologised and said I forgot...

www.railforums.co.uk

Other threads have drafts of replies and comments on those drafts that may also help you.

 

[notmyrealname]

There are plenty of examples of letters that other people have written if you have a look at other threads here. Hadders also gives good advice on what to include in your letter but of course it's hard to be specific until SWR's letter arrives.

Most of the people here who manage to get an out of court settlement have asked the TOC nicely if they will allow one.

 

[somebody148]

Appreciate the replies from you both. Thank you.

 

[Hadders]

It’s likely that SWR will contact you but don’t get ahead of things at this stage.

If they do contact you post a copy of the letter in this thread, with personal details redacted, and we can assist with next steps.

If you co-operate then I’d expect SWR to offer you an out of court settlement.

 

[Pushpit]

I work in healthcare and have read that this does come up in an Enhanced DBS check which would affect my career.

I work in this area, and while healthcare is a huge area of employment, with many different sets of policies, it's unlikely you will lose your job. It may (mildly) affect career advancement. It's not about E-DBS, the document will rarely say anything about these sort of crimes, but it is role specific, so it's occasionally possible that something will appear. But it's unlikely for most healthcare workers, I've rarely seen anything show on my end as an employer. The bigger issue is that if you are on Enhanced disclosure you will usually be asked to disclose cautions and convictions in your current and any future roles - you typically won't be fired for fare evasion, but you can definitely be fired for telling lies about your criminal record, what else are you hiding? Otherwise most healthcare positions are very short of staff, so we aren't in the game of getting rid of people who have made a minor transgression.

That said it's jumping the gun here, if you engage properly with the process, stay honest and reply swiftly to any letters from SWR, you are likely to avoid going to court. If you are in an Enhanced role, it is important to be very mindful of your responsibilities to your patients and your employer.