Our new ticketing site is now live! Using either this or the original site (both 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!
In the letter of response, I have heard it asks for your side of the story, but most of the responses I have seen on these threads are apologies. With my letter, since I said that it was not my intention to evade the fare to the revenue officer, should I immediately apologise for not having a valid ticket before boarding? Or, should I explain the rationale for as to why I only bought the ticket much later in the journey.
Also, do they look at CCTV? Or, simply review your purchase history?
I’m not sure we’ve heard your rationale for buying later in the journey, other than you “forgot” to buy before boarding. Which will count for nothing, as it must be the one of the most commonly used excuses heard by on board revenue staff.
So, the best way to write the letter, would be to apologise, show how I have learned from this incident, kindly ask for this to be settled out of court, and offer to pay the outstanding fare and the train company's administrative costs in dealing with the matter.
Is there no reason to explain how I forgot, just apologise, etc...
So, the best way to write the letter, would be to apologise, show how I have learned from this incident, kindly ask for this to be settled out of court, and offer to pay the outstanding fare and the train company's administrative costs in dealing with the matter.
Is there no reason to explain how I forgot, just apologise, etc...
That structure is good. You can give an explanation of why you forgot or that you forgot (perhaps supplemented with a clear statement that you ‘had no intention to evade the fare’ to make that point clearly which if true is a point worth making but in general try to keep it brief overall ).
Due to my short fare history on Trainline, I am debating not mentioning that I forgot to purchase in the letter, because they have little reason to believe me if they they are aware of my purchase history. Instead, I am debating structuring my letter in a way that takes full responsibility of my actions on that specific journey and not making any excuses about "forgetting" which they are likely to believe anyways. Do you believe this is a good idea or not?
Due to my short fare history on Trainline, I am debating not mentioning that I forgot to purchase in the letter, because they have little reason to believe me if they they are aware of my purchase history. Instead, I am debating structuring my letter in a way that takes full responsibility of my actions on that specific journey and not making any excuses about "forgetting" which they are likely to believe anyways. Do you believe this is a good idea or not?
Thanks for confirming. Also, I will only mention previous short fares if the letter directly mentions them. If not, I will take full responsibility, and talk about how this was stupid and careless of me, as it pushes the burden onto the taxpayers etc...
is there any other advice you would give me? based on my current situation. Perhaps, things I should say or mention in the letter.
Thanks for confirming. Also, I will only mention previous short fares if the letter directly mentions them. If not, I will take full responsibility, and talk about how this was stupid and careless of me, as it pushes the burden onto the taxpayers etc...
is there any other advice you would give me? based on my current situation. Perhaps, things I should say or mention in the letter.
Best to stick to the generally advised structure which is your plan. If they want to ask about other occasions they will write again to ask about that and / or make payment of them a condition of any settlement offer they choose to offer I suspect.
Best to stick to the generally advised structure which is your plan. If they want to ask about other occasions they will write again to ask about that and / or make payment of them a condition of any settlement offer they choose to offer I suspect.
The first for this incident, and the second for all previous ones. Is this what usually occurs? Also, what if the short fares were for a different company?
The first for this incident, and the second for all previous ones. Is this what usually occurs? Also, what if the short fares were for a different company?
Well. They will respond to your reply if you call that twice. And they might ask you about other stuff when they do that. Or they might not. It’s not possible to predict.
If they search your ticket buying record it won’t matter if it involves another train company as they all seem to act for each other in regards to detecting and preventing evasion.
No idea. You’d have to do the tedious task of trawling old threads for cases where people update with dates and working out the average time. But I would not bother doing that myself.
Due to my short fare history on Trainline, I am debating not mentioning that I forgot to purchase in the letter, because they have little reason to believe me if they they are aware of my purchase history. Instead, I am debating structuring my letter in a way that takes full responsibility of my actions on that specific journey and not making any excuses about "forgetting" which they are likely to believe anyways. Do you believe this is a good idea or not?
There seems to be an established view in these forums that it's worth writing these letters with apologies and promises to learn a lesson and so on, but I find it hard to believe that anyone processing hundreds of such letters cares or is influenced by this. After all they have no way of verifiying the sincerity of any of it.
Unless I disagreed with their version of events, if it was me I'd be inclined to keep it as short as possible - yes, it's true I purchased my ticket after boarding but I did not intend to evade the fare. Are you willing to consider an out of court settlement and if so what do you propose.
There seems to be an established view in these forums that it's worth writing these letters with apologies and promises to learn a lesson and so on, but I find it hard to believe that anyone processing hundreds of such letters cares or is influenced by this. After all they have no way of verifiying the sincerity of any of it.
Unless I disagreed with their version of events, if it was me I'd be inclined to keep it as short as possible - yes, it's true I purchased my ticket after boarding but I did not intend to evade the fare. Are you willing to consider an out of court settlement and if so what do you propose.
Also, would you guys recommend that i obtain evidence that i have had a valid railcard for the last few years. for reference, in the incident i had a valid railcard and i always travel with one. however, im wondering that they might ask for evidence, what do you guys think?
Also, would you guys recommend that i obtain evidence that i have had a valid railcard for the last few years. for reference, in the incident i had a valid railcard and i always travel with one. however, im wondering that they might ask for evidence, what do you guys think?
The best option is that you had a paper Railcard and that you hung onto it after it expired, so you still have it. But I am guessing that this isn't the case, as if it was you wouldn't be asking.
So in the first place, try to work out when you bought the Railcards. Now look back: do you have bank statements/credit card bills showing a purchase of the amount of the Railcard on the right date? Do you still have emails confirming the purchase? That will all help.
But if you are certain that you had a card but can't prove it, you may have to assert that. It's worth remembering that if your problem goes to court, it would be for the railway to prove that you didn't have a Railcard rather than you to prove that you did - and in court, my understanding is that sworn testimony (so you have promised to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, and you will already know that lying in court is perjury, which can land you in prison) that you had a Railcard but threw it away when it expired may well be believed.
The best option is that you had a paper Railcard and that you hung onto it after it expired, so you still have it. But I am guessing that this isn't the case, as if it was you wouldn't be asking.
So in the first place, try to work out when you bought the Railcards. Now look back: do you have bank statements/credit card bills showing a purchase of the amount of the Railcard on the right date? Do you still have emails confirming the purchase? That will all help.
But if you are certain that you had a card but can't prove it, you may have to assert that. It's worth remembering that if your problem goes to court, it would be for the railway to prove that you didn't have a Railcard rather than you to prove that you did - and in court, my understanding is that sworn testimony (so you have promised to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, and you will already know that lying in court is perjury, which can land you in prison) that you had a Railcard but threw it away when it expired may well be believed.
i would be able to get the amount on my bank statement, but do you think this is necessary? since i had a valid one at the time and it wasn’t an issue when talking to the officers. In addition, do you think i would be able to ask the station where i bought the railcard for any evidence that i did buy it
Also, would you guys recommend that i obtain evidence that i have had a valid railcard for the last few years. for reference, in the incident i had a valid railcard and i always travel with one. however, im wondering that they might ask for evidence, what do you guys think?
i agree, i have evidence in the form on emails for having a railcard between 2021 to 2023. however , for some reason i did not get an email for having a railcard between 2023 - 2024, which is really odd. usually, when my railcard is about to expire i get an email about that showing that i had one for that year, but that did not happen this year. alternatively, i had bought tickets in the last year that require a railcard be shown in person before buying them, such as unizone tickets. would this be evidence in itself? or do you recommend i ask the station where bought the ticket from?
i agree, i have evidence in the form on emails for having a railcard between 2021 to 2023. however , for some reason i did not get an email for having a railcard between 2023 - 2024, which is really odd. usually, when my railcard is about to expire i get an email about that showing that i had one for that year, but that did not happen this year. alternatively, i had bought tickets in the last year that require a railcard be shown in person before buying them, such as unizone tickets. would this be evidence in itself? or do you recommend i ask the station where bought the ticket from?
alternatively, i had bought tickets in the last year that require a railcard be shown in person before buying them, such as unizone tickets. would this be evidence in itself? or do you recommend i ask the station where bought the ticket from?
possibly, i it was in my spam it would of been deleted by now, which is unfortunate. i'll ask the station where i bought the ticket last year, i known when i roughly bought it and it the ticket would be in my name
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
it’s been just over two months since i got my witness statement, should i be concerned? i have been checking the mail regularly but i have received nothing so far, and my details are definitely correct.
it’s been just over two months since i got my witness statement, should i be concerned? i have been checking the mail regularly but i have received nothing so far, and my details are definitely correct.
I would leave off worrying until after the holiday season (even if the office doesn't shut down, many people will be on leave) but they have six months to look into things and bring charges if appropriate, so two months seems not to be an unusual wait. Some cases might take a while to investigate, but it may just be a backlog, so I wouldn't draw any inferences from the delay either.
I get you're anxious about this and all but we'll all still be here when they get round to contacting you. Try to enjoy the rest of the holidays and keep an eye on the post, but the ball is in their court and advice I've seen here is not to contact them and risk either reminding them about you or accidentally incriminating yourself regarding the short faring you mentioned earlier. It would totally weigh on my soul too (I suffer from an actual anxiety disorder and have autism, which means that I've often worried about things that others would just chalk up to experience) but as advised above, we're here whenever it does come in and until then you can only keep an eye on the post.
Obviously any short-faring is well in the past now so you won't get caught actually doing it -- but this is very much a wait and see situation. In any event, I hope the rest of your holiday season goes well and, aside from any wrangling over this issue, you have a great 2025. I have my fingers crossed that they get back to you soon and don't want to prosecute -- and that we can help you out in due course.
i agree, i have evidence in the form on emails for having a railcard between 2021 to 2023. however , for some reason i did not get an email for having a railcard between 2023 - 2024, which is really odd. usually, when my railcard is about to expire i get an email about that showing that i had one for that year, but that did not happen this year. alternatively, i had bought tickets in the last year that require a railcard be shown in person before buying them, such as unizone tickets. would this be evidence in itself? or do you recommend i ask the station where bought the ticket from?
Just got the first letter in the mail, how would you guys suggest i start with my reply.
in addition to this, i noticed that they did not mention any previous times i’ve done this. which i haven’t been caught for but would have shown on my trainline app.
Just got the first letter in the mail, how would you guys suggest i start with my reply.
in addition to this, i noticed that they did not mention any previous times i’ve done this. which i haven’t been caught for but would have shown on my trainline app.
Go all the way back to post #2 - you will find good advice there. As the railway haven't asked about previous times, you don't have to talk about the previous times - but make sure that you don't put anything that isn't true: for example, saying 'this has never happened before ' wouldn't be true.
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
Dear Sir / Madam,
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to respond to your letter that I received on the XXX, with the reference number: XXX
At just after midday on the XXX, I was stopped by a Revenue Protection Inspector on the Thameslink service, and I was unable to provide a ticket that was valid for my entire journey.
Earlier that day, I boarded the train at Farringdon station after switching from the London Underground service. However, I made the negligent decision of not buying a ticket before boarding. Despite buying a ticket later in my journey, I had still travelled without a valid one. Upon scanning my ticket, the Inspector realised this and rightfully took my details.
I want to express my most sincere apologies for my actions, they were unethical, irresponsible, and careless. I fully acknowledge the seriousness of what I have done, as I have pushed the financial burden onto the train company and other abiding passengers. Since this incident, I have made sure to purchase tickets well before boarding any trains, and I assure you I will continue to do so.
I would be extremely grateful for the opportunity to settle this misconduct out of court. I intend to make amends for my actions by paying the full correct fare and any additional administrative costs.
Again, I would like to sincerely apologise for this incident.
We are aware of an issue with emails from the Forum to Microsoft-based email accounts (hotmail/outlook/live.com email addresses). This is being looked into currently, thanks for your patience meanwhile.
