Expired railcard

[myaz]

Hello,

I recently received a penalty for possessing an expired Railcard and have a question that I was hoping to get some help with. I tried to find the answer in other discussions, but with no luck.

To add context;

I was travelling with a train ticket that I bought with a railcard discount. When exiting the station at Gatwick Airport I saw there are a number of revenue officers at the ticket gates. I confidently showed my railcard and did not notice it expired until the officer pointed it out (have I known, I would definitely renew the railcard at this point - there corridor is long and I could easily have done so).

Initially, I was perplexed and mortified this would happen as I’m usually on top of these things. I looked for a renewed card, in case it was not loaded on the app, while also trying to explain it was a genuine mistake. I asked if I can renew the railcard there and then, but it was too late (the other officer spoke to someone else with an expired railcard at the same time, and they let them go with a warning - which makes this sting a bit more).

I completely understand that I was travelling with an invalid ticket and that it’s my duty to have the required documentation on me when traveling. I’m also very happy to accept my shortcomings and pay the fine.

However, I wanted to check one thing: I renewed the railcard straight after receiving the penalty. Should I decide to appeal, could it be argued that I renewed the railcard before travel, but was unable to load it in the app at Gatwick Airport, hence unable to show it to the revenue officer? Or would they be able to see at what time of the day the railcard was renewed e.g. after the penalty was issued.

I'm attaching the penalty notice.

Thank you for any advice.

 

[jfollows]

The offence was of being unable to show a valid ticket when requested, which included a valid railcard in your case. Any appeal couldn’t change this, you couldn’t show a valid ticket and so were issued a Penalty Fare. Pay at the discounted rate and it’s done with.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 20 Nov 2024 ==

And, yes, there’s the “lost railcard” rule but when you produce a railcard bought on the day they will check further and see when you bought it, or simply just assume that you did what you did. I suggest you don’t want to go down that path which leads to court and more expense for you.

 

[John R]

I renewed the railcard straight after receiving the penalty. Should I decide to appeal, could it be argued that I renewed the railcard before travel,

No, because it would not be true.

 

[Hadders]

There'snothing wrong with appealing the Penalty Fare but ordinarily I would not expect an appeal to succeed. While it is frustrating to be given a Penalty Fare this is actually far less harsh - you could've had your details taken for further investigation which could've resulted in an out of court settlement costing much ore than the Penalty Fare or even prosecution.

It's like getting a speeding or parking ticket, incredibly frustrating but probably best to pay it and chalk it up to experience.

 

[reb0118]

With regards to the other person being "let off" so to speak. All situations are subtlety different. Some inspectors will be more lenient regarding railcards that have only recently expired (within a day or so); others won't be so accommodating.

However, generally, how others are dealt with has no real bearing on your case.

 

[island]

As others mention, it appears that you were dealt with more leniently than you might otherwise have been, and that the inspector considered it was a genuine mistake.

Any appeal would only be based on technicalities, such as inadequate signage or missing wording from the penalty fare notice. For example, many notices we see omit the wording that you are entitled to a receipt if you pay the penalty fare. As not all of the notice has been attached we cannot say if wording is missing.

 

[myaz]

Thank you all for the insight and advice, it's very much appreciated. I went ahead and paid the fine - and added railcard expiration date in my diary