Caught short Faring

[stein02]

This morning I had been caught using a ticket from reading west to reading when in actuality I had travelled from Paddington to reading.
I can appreciate I know the severity of the act that I had conducted but I was interviewed under caution which I was fully compliant to. The investigator had asked to look at my travel history on the Trainline app and saw I have multiple tickets from Earley to reading which are truthful tickets as I stay at a friends in order to be closer to work however he suspected it’s actually travel from Paddington to reading regularly.

To say I am very stressed is an understatement and have read the GWR terms of prosecution. I just don’t want to be convicted of anything that would impact my career but can would be more than willing to pay an out of court settlement.
Is there any advice that can be given, how long would it take for a letter to be received from the prosecutions department, do GWR regularly take situations like this to court.
Thank you

 

[Titfield]

GWR will write to you asking for your account of this incident.
This letter typically takes a few weeks to arrive but can be longer.
If you don't reply to GWR they will write to you again, this might be a further reminder but could be a court summons so prompt engagement is essential.
GWR are one of the more reasonable train companies to deal with and will probably offer you an out of court settlement for the fare avoided plus their administration costs if you engage.
They may look at your online history and ask for those fares too. This does put you in a tricky situation as it is up to them to prove wrong doing rather than you proving your innocence but they could then simply take the matter to court so you may be best off providing proof that these were not short faring incidents.
We do see the staying at a friends house to be closer to work reason on here from time to time. Whilst we do not judge these statements TOCS may well take a view.
When the letter arrives please post here with the personal details and reference numbers obscured. Advice to the specific issues in the letter can then be given.

 

[stein02]

Hi, thank you for your response!

Do you have any info potentially on the circumstance that they would look at my buying history and deem that I had been travelling from Paddington would that create a higher likelyhood of prosecution? Of course cannot do a lot in my power until I receive a letter

GWR will write to you asking for your account of this incident.
This letter typically takes a few weeks to arrive but can be longer.
If you don't reply to GWR they will write to you again, this might be a further reminder but could be a court summons so prompt engagement is essential.
GWR are one of the more reasonable train companies to deal with and will probably offer you an out of court settlement for the fare avoided plus their administration costs if you engage.
They may look at your online history and ask for those fares too. This does put you in a tricky situation as it is up to them to prove wrong doing rather than you proving your innocence but they could then simply take the matter to court so you may be best off providing proof that these were not short faring incidents.
We do see the staying at a friends house to be closer to work reason on here from time to time. Whilst we do not judge these statements TOCS may well take a view.
When the letter arrives please post here with the personal details and reference numbers obscured. Advice to the specific issues in the letter can then be given.

 

[Titfield]

Hi, thank you for your response!

Do you have any info potentially on the circumstance that they would look at my buying history and deem that I had been travelling from Paddington would that create a higher likelyhood of prosecution? Of course cannot do a lot in my power until I receive a letter

We are seeing far more researching of peoples online booking history and this has been reflected in the size of out of court settlements offered by the TOCs.

The cases which seem to go to court are for (1) industrial sized fare evasion* (2) failure to engage (3) fare evasion involving TfL.

*We have seen fare evasion going back many months even over a year and that has still been settled out of court.

To avoid this going to court it will be essential that you engage with GWR.

 

[John R]

Hi, thank you for your response!

Do you have any info potentially on the circumstance that they would look at my buying history and deem that I had been travelling from Paddington would that create a higher likelyhood of prosecution? Of course cannot do a lot in my power until I receive a letter

Realistically it’s likely that they will look at your account, especially as the inspector has already highlighted it. And it’s also likely that they will draw the conclusion that the journeys from Earley are short fares, and that you are going to have difficulty persuading them otherwise. Out of interest, the day you were stopped, how did you get through the gateline at Paddington. If you have a record of short fares at the other end but only on the days you also have tickets from Reading West then that might persuade them that your journeys from Earley were genuine.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

I have multiple tickets from Earley to reading which are truthful tickets as I stay at a friends in order to be closer to work

An easy thing to do is to ask your friend in Earley if they will be happy to write a letter, and if necessary appear in court, to confirm that sometimes you stay with them. You don't need to get them to write a letter yet, but if GWR do challenge you on the Earley journeys then it will be useful to know what evidence you have to hand.

 

[SuspectUsual]

An easy thing to do is to ask your friend in Earley if they will be happy to write a letter, and if necessary appear in court, to confirm that sometimes you stay with them. You don't need to get them to write a letter yet, but if GWR do challenge you on the Earley journeys then it will be useful to know what evidence you have to hand.

It would also help your position if you had other evidence that puts you in Earley on the evenings in question - for example debit / credit card being used there

 

[Cuthbert]

Can also use the google tracking thing if you have it on.
Forgot it's name.

 

[duffield]

Can also use the google tracking thing if you have it on.
Forgot it's name.

It's called Timeline, but as Google provides you with the facilities to edit it after your journey (and you typically need to edit it because it's not always accurate) in my view it's not really proper evidence.

 

[Cuthbert]

It's called Timeline, but as Google provides you with the facilities to edit it after your journey (and you typically need to edit it because it's not always accurate) in my view it's not really proper evidence.

Ah my bad sorry.