Govia TR - short faring (farringdon) for ~ 5 months

[tsaebadizat]

Hi All,

I was one of those fools who heard about the 'Farringdon trick' and stupidly did it for around 6 months from July to december last year to save money (stupid, I know - I massively regret it).

I was caught and issued with a witness statement on December 3rd but have still not heard any correspondence from GTR. I have checked my spam email and letterbox regularly!

I am getting concerned that a letter may have got lost in the post and before I know it, I may have a court summons appear before I get the chance to cooperate.

For full transparency, i short fared 2/3 times a week during this time. Like everyone else, a criminal record would be career ending. Do you know if GTR will take kindly to my case as it wasn't a one-off (though it was my only time getting caught), and in my response to their incoming letter, should I detail all incidents where I short-fared?

Many thanks all - this seems like a great community having been reading through threads over the last few months.

 

[styles]

I'm not sure 'take kindly' is the right phrase, but if you engage promptly and honestly with them, are apologetic, assert that you have learnt your lesson and won't do it again, you stand a good chance at settlement rather than a prosecution. GTR are quite amenable to settling.

They have 6 months to start a prosecution, so if you haven't heard by May, you can sleep easier. I wouldn't count your chickens just yet though - operators often send their letters out mo the after the event. Just have to hang tight for now.

 

[Camsus]

Hi All,

I was one of those fools who heard about the 'Farringdon trick' and stupidly did it for around 6 months from July to december last year to save money (stupid, I know - I massively regret it).

I was caught and issued with a witness statement on December 3rd but have still not heard any correspondence from GTR. I have checked my spam email and letterbox regularly!

I am getting concerned that a letter may have got lost in the post and before I know it, I may have a court summons appear before I get the chance to cooperate.

For full transparency, i short fared 2/3 times a week during this time. Like everyone else, a criminal record would be career ending. Do you know if GTR will take kindly to my case as it wasn't a one-off (though it was my only time getting caught), and in my response to their incoming letter, should I detail all incidents where I short-fared?

Many thanks all - this seems like a great community having been reading through threads over the last few months.

You don't mention where you travelled from, but 2-3 journeys per week for 6 months could add up to a reasonable sum if GTR investigate your travel history. Another factor is where you purchased your tickets from, as it's appears to be pretty normal for train companies to obtain ticket information from The Trainline etc

 

[yorkie]

Just a reminder to keep this thread focussed on the matter at hand.

Any spin-off discussions must be posted in separate threads, thanks.

 

[tsaebadizat]

You don't mention where you travelled from, but 2-3 journeys per week for 6 months could add up to a reasonable sum if GTR investigate your travel history. Another factor is where you purchased your tickets from, as it's appears to be pretty normal for train companies to obtain ticket information from The Trainline etc

I'd get a radlett > Borehamwood and get off at Farringdon. as i've said, incredibly stupid and naive. I wish to fully cooperate and pay back every penny and more. I'm just wondering if anyone has had experience with GTR in these cases and knows if they are likely to escalate to court based on the length of offence.

I can show that since December I have paid full fares (and also lost a fair bit of money on paying for tickets when the trains haven't come/delayed over 15 mins but havent requested compensation) every time, will this help my case?

At what point might it be worth getting a solicitor involved?

Thanks again all, regards: this idiot

 

[John R]

I'd get a radlett > Borehamwood and get off at Farringdon. as i've

I can show that since December I have paid full fares (and also lost a fair bit of money on paying for tickets when the trains haven't come/delayed over 15 mins but havent requested compensation) every time, will this help my case?

No it won’t I’m afraid, but why haven’t you been asking for a refund if you didn’t travel, or delay/repay if you did?

 

[tsaebadizat]

No it won’t I’m afraid, but why haven’t you been asking for a refund if you didn’t travel, or delay/repay if you did?

Because I'm worried that it might look like further suspicious activity (when it absolutely wouldn't be the case)

 

[Camsus]

I'd get a radlett > Borehamwood and get off at Farringdon. as i've said, incredibly stupid and naive. I wish to fully cooperate and pay back every penny and more. I'm just wondering if anyone has had experience with GTR in these cases and knows if they are likely to escalate to court based on the length of offence.

I can show that since December I have paid full fares (and also lost a fair bit of money on paying for tickets when the trains haven't come/delayed over 15 mins but havent requested compensation) every time, will this help my case?

At what point might it be worth getting a solicitor involved?

Thanks again all, regards: this idiot

You didn't avoid a huge fare each day, so that should hopefully mean you wouldn't have to pay back too large a sum even if GTR do investigate all of your tickets.

From everything I've seen on here, GTR seem to offer settlements to those people who cooperate. I suspect as long as you do that, you'll be okay

 

[Hadders]

I would have expected GTR to have contacted you by now. Did you give them your correct address? Do you have any issues with post going missing? Have you moved house recently?

Basically there are two options:

1. Chase GTR and tell them you haven't had any contact. This would give certainty although you aren't required to do their work for them
2. Sit and wait. There's a risk that if GTR have sent a letter that has gone missing that the next letter will be a court summons. If this is the case then I expect you would still be able to settle but you need to weigh up the associated stress/hassle of dealing with this

GTR usually offer an out of court settlement for this sort of thing as long as you co-operate with them, and haven't come to their attention before. There are lots of threads involving GTR in this section of the forum which it might be worth haveing a look at.

When you do get a letter from GTR post a redacted copy in this thread along with your draft reply and we can proof read it for you.

I can show that since December I have paid full fares (and also lost a fair bit of money on paying for tickets when the trains haven't come/delayed over 15 mins but havent requested compensation) every time, will this help my case?

You can use contactless or Oyster from Radlett. Just touch in at Radlett and touch out whereever you get off (there is no need to touch on a validator at Farringdon if you're changing to the Underground or Elizabeth Line) and touch out at the end destination and you'll be charged the correct fare.

You're perfectly entitled to clai delay repay if you're delayed and I'd encourage you to do this. Don't confuse delay repay compensation with a refund. You claim delay repay if you're delayed, this is claimed from the train company that causes your delay regardless of who you purchased your ticket from. A refund shoudl only be obtained if you choose not to travel, this is claimed from the ticket retailer. In reality, if you're travelling between Radlett and London for work, I would think a delay repay claim is appropriate pretty frequently but a refund would be unusual.

 

[tsaebadizat]

I would have expected GTR to have contacted you by now. Did you give them your correct address? Do you have any issues with post going missing? Have you moved house recently?

Basically there are two options:

1. Chase GTR and tell them you haven't had any contact. This would give certainty although you aren't required to do their work for them
2. Sit and wait. There's a risk that if GTR have sent a letter that has gone missing that the next letter will be a court summons. If this is the case then I expect you would still be able to settle but you need to weigh up the associated stress/hassle of dealing with this

GTR usually offer an out of court settlement for this sort of thing as long as you co-operate with them, and haven't come to their attention before. There are lots of threads involving GTR in this section of the forum which it might be worth haveing a look at.

When you do get a letter from GTR post a redacted copy in this thread along with your draft reply and we can proof read it for you.


You can use contactless or Oyster from Radlett. Just touch in at Radlett and touch out whereever you get off (there is no need to touch on a validator at Farringdon if you're changing to the Underground or Elizabeth Line) and touch out at the end destination and you'll be charged the correct fare.

You're perfectly entitled to clai delay repay if you're delayed and I'd encourage you to do this. Don't confuse delay repay compensation with a refund. You claim delay repay if you're delayed, this is claimed from the train company that causes your delay regardless of who you purchased your ticket from. A refund shoudl only be obtained if you choose not to travel, this is claimed from the ticket retailer. In reality, if you're travelling between Radlett and London for work, I would think a delay repay claim is appropriate pretty frequently but a refund would be unusual.

Hi thanks for your reply!

I emailed GTR prosecutions asking for an update on my case and they said they were still reviewing and a letter has not been "posted as of yet".

The problem with contactless is i'm yet to find a way of linking my 16-25 savers to it, meaning I have to continually get a ticket - otherwise i would just tap in/out!

Re the last point about compensation, I hear that. I just didn't want anything else flagging as suspicious but appreciate the heads up and will claim back next time the trains are (inevitably when it comes to Thameslink) delayed

 

[Hadders]

Railcards is a separate issue. A 16-25 Railcard has a £12 minimum discounted fare before 10:00 for travel before 10:00 on weekdays (except in July and August) so looking at fares from Radlett to London, if you're travelling to work in the morning peak you're only going to get a 70p discount on an Anytime Day Return.

You cannot add a railcard to contactless but you can get it added to an Oyster card. Contactless fares work a little differently, you get charged peak or off-peak fares determinted by the time you touch in at your starting station. Generally touching in between 06:30 and 09:30 and 16:00 and 19:00 on weekdays attracts a peak fare with touch-ins at other times being charged as off-peak. If you have a railcard added to your Oyster card you get a discount on off peak fares. This can be advantageous if you can touch start your journey to work at an off-peak time.

This is starting to drift off-topic for this thread, and there are soe other potential options from Radlett, depending on your exact final destination, so if you start a thread in the Fares Policy & Advice section we can offer some different options.