Used child ticket when aged 18 on GWR

[Alexsmxtttth]

hi, so this afternoon i was coming back from newton abbot forbthe weekend with a friend. Although im 18 I had bought a child ticket in order to save a bit of money because im not financially able to pay for the adult ticket (I’ve fone this a couple of times beforehand with no issues) i had been stopped by a guard who took my ticket and treated me like i had killed someone and read me rights like i was about to be arrested. Does anyone know how notices by GWR work at all?

 

[AlterEgo]

hi, so this afternoon i was coming back from newton abbot forbthe weekend with a friend. Although im 18 I had bought a child ticket in order to save a bit of money because im not financially able to pay for the adult ticket (I’ve fone this a couple of times beforehand with no issues) i had been stopped by a guard who took my ticket and treated me like i had killed someone and read me rights like i was about to be arrested. Does anyone know how notices by GWR work at all?

Sounds like you were stopped and placed under caution by the inspector. This is the same caution "you do not have to say anything but anything you do say... etc" the police will read you if you are arrested, to let you know you are under caution and the interview happening is for the purposes of collecting evidence to assist with a criminal investigation.

Buying a child ticket when you are not entitled to one is a criminal offence, which is why you were stopped. Hopefully you didn't admit to doing this before to the inspector.

GWR will be in touch with a letter in the coming weeks. Normally, for one off offences, they will seek to settle with you out of court for about £100 in administration costs plus the fare due.

 

[Fokx]

(I’ve fone this a couple of times beforehand with no issues) i had been stopped by a guard who took my ticket and treated me like i had killed someone and read me rights like i was about to be arrested.

You’ve not committed murder, but you have committed fraud.

 

[skyhigh]

(I’ve fone this a couple of times beforehand with no issues)

What you really mean is you've done this before and not got caught. That doesn't mean it was okay to do.

GWR will likely write to you and ask for your side of the story. You need to apologise and make it clear you won't do it again.

Was this a ticket you bought on your phone?

 

[Jason12]

This will be taken seriously by GWR. On the railway child tickets are for those aged under 16. As the OP is 18, they are fortunate not to have been caught on the earlier occasions they tried this.

If I were the OP I would be taking my weekend trips very, very much closer to home for the next few months in order to save up for the settlement they will be facing, even if they admit what they did was wrong, apologise profusely that they won't play the same game again - and that is accepted by the company.

The experts will be along shortly to advise the OP how to achieve that least worst outcome.

 

[Kilopylae]

As others have explained, the standard procedure is that GWR will write to you asking for your side of the story, and provided that you respond appropriately (which members here can assist with), they will usually offer an out of court settlement of ~100 quid.

Sadly, there is no real option other than paying this settlement, as the alternative is they take it to Magistrates' Court (and yes they will bother) and you will be found guilty. The fine in court will be greater than the out of court settlement and may be accompanied by a criminal record. This might feel like being threatened, but the authorities take fare evasion much more seriously than you would expect, so there isn't much you can do other than go along with it at this point.

 

[Alexsmxtttth]

Sounds like you were stopped and placed under caution by the inspector. This is the same caution "you do not have to say anything but anything you do say... etc" the police will read you if you are arrested, to let you know you are under caution and the interview happening is for the purposes of collecting evidence to assist with a criminal investigation.

Buying a child ticket when you are not entitled to one is a criminal offence, which is why you were stopped. Hopefully you didn't admit to doing this before to the inspector.

GWR will be in touch with a letter in the coming weeks. Normally, for one off offences, they will seek to settle with you out of court for about £100 in administration costs plus the fare due.

oh i see, is there a specific amount of time i need to make the payment, and will i have a criminal record to my name?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

... will i have a criminal record to my name?

Only if the matter ends up in Court and you're found guilty, which seems quite likely from what you'd told us.

As others have said upthread, you may, however, be given the opportunity to settle out of court by paying GWR a sum of money, but it's not guaranteed this will happen.

Trust you realise that if you'd bought a 16-25 Railcard, you could legitimately have saved up to a third off your fare on each journey.

Should also be noted that if, on previous journeys, tickets have been bought online, incorrectly claiming a child discount (through Trainline, for example), the GWR investigation team will be able to easily determine this.

 

[Kite159]

Was it a paper ticket or an e-ticket?

If it was an e-ticket, GWR might request purchase histories and potentially those other times might flag up (which could potentially increase the amount they request as an out of court settlement.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

(I’ve fone this a couple of times beforehand with no issues)

Not to state the obvious, but I really would not recommend telling anyone that.

 

[Wallsendmag]

Not to state the obvious, but I really would not recommend telling anyone that.

Never mind you’ve quoted it now so he can’t delete It

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Never mind you’ve quoted it now so he can’t delete It

I mean if it goes any further, he should obviously keep that quiet.

 

[WesternLancer]

hi, so this afternoon i was coming back from newton abbot forbthe weekend with a friend. Although im 18 I had bought a child ticket in order to save a bit of money because im not financially able to pay for the adult ticket (I’ve fone this a couple of times beforehand with no issues) i had been stopped by a guard who took my ticket and treated me like i had killed someone and read me rights like i was about to be arrested. Does anyone know how notices by GWR work at all?

You need to read the GWR revenue protection policy to understand the situation better (pdf download towards bottom of this page)

Penalties and enforcements | Great Western Railway

As a passenger on GWR services, you must travel with a valid train ticket. Read about our penalty and enforcement policies here.

www.gwr.com

I would strongly advise getting a railcard ASAP - so you can say you have taken steps to reduce fare costs legitimately in the letter you will need to write to them when they write to you about this incident - as this will help avoid the prospect of them taking you to court. If they decide not to take you to court for this then you will probably have to pay about £100 (or maybe more) + the fare owed, you will probably get about 10 days to make that payment if they offer it to you.

I assume you gave your correct name and address to them so they can wend you the letter? If not it will cause more problems because the case will escalate to court without you knowing and you will be found guilty and that will take more effort and cost for you to sort out.

 

[6Gman]

Was it a paper ticket or an e-ticket?

If it was an e-ticket, GWR might request purchase histories and potentially those other times might flag up (which could potentially increase the amount they request as an out of court settlement.

This is an important point.

If you normally buy online they may well trace previous incidents.

 

[Alexsmxtttth]

This is an important point.

If you normally buy online they may well trace previous incidents.

i bought it on a ticket machine on friday

i didn’t mention the fact i had done it before to them, as that probably wouldn’t have ended as it did

I mean if it goes any further, he should obviously keep that quiet

 

[gabrielhj07]

GWR might still be able to look for previous incidents, using the same email address as you gave them (assuming you did this) to have a look through trainline etc.

You needn't go out of your way to tell them about these previous occurrences, just don't lie if they bring them up.

 

[Alexsmxtttth]

they didn’t ask for an email or anything like that only my phone number and address

 

[ChewChewTrain]

i bought it on a ticket machine on friday

Did you pay using a card? And did you use the same card to buy any of the previous tickets you refer to? If so, that gives them a means of making the link (though that doesn’t mean they’ll necessarily do so).

You may not wish to actually answer my questions here, but it’s possibly worth considering them.

 

[Haywain]

If so, that gives them a means of making the link (though that doesn’t mean they’ll necessarily do so).

It would be much harder work than checking an online account. It can be done but I would say the chances of it being done are small.

 

[Feuillesmortes]

And did you use the same card to buy any of the previous tickets you refer to? If so, that gives them a means of making the link

There's no precedent for this (based on what finds its way to this part of the forum)