Thameslink notice to prosecute

[london2305]

Hi all,

I was stopped at Blackfriars after getting the overground from elephant and castle. I bought my ticket on train line, at elephant and castle there isn’t anywhere to scan your ticket so I got on. When I got to Blackfriars the inspector said I hadn’t scanned my ticket, I explained to him there aren’t QR code scanners at elephant and castle, but that wasn’t enough for him so they sent a prosecution letter

I explained all of this in my response and said there wasn’t scanners, I also explained the address the man used was my family address which is why my response was late. I also provided transaction ID of my ticket.

My actual ‘offence’ was not having a valid ticket on inspection, but I did have a ticket - from your guys experience what do you think the outcome will be?

Thank you in advance

 

[AlterEgo]

Please upload all the correspondence you have had from them and any replies you’ve sent, redacting your personal details.

They clearly don’t think you boarded there to travel only one stop.

How late was your response?

 

[london2305]

On the 7th of January, I bought a Trainline ticket for the overground from Elephant and Castle to Blackfriars. I typically use the app as I check the times in the morning and just buy the ticket on there.

Elephant and Castle does not have anywhere available to scan in the QR codes for the ticket, so I just got on the train which I had bought a ticket for - but I believe the ticket was an anytime single ticket. I bought this before boarding the train at around 7:50.

When I arrived at Blackfriars, the inspector checked my ticket and said it wasn’t scanned, I said to him that at Elephant and Castle there is nowhere to scan the code. When he asked why I was getting on at Elephant and Castle, I said I spent a night with my partner - this is where I understand it looked suspicious as I did not know his address upon inspection due to this relationship being more casual, I did offer to try find it on a map but he said this wouldn’t be necessary. I understand now my embarrassment on the situation may have been what caused this situation and I should’ve been more honest.

I understand how it looks like I was buying invalid tickets, however from my Trainline history you can see that I have bought tickets both to and from Elephant and Castle previously, but more importantly, tickets more regularly from my home address *** to Blackfriars or London Bridge for work which I have attached (and my ticket from that day).

I want to apologise for the confusion and the admin costs that this would have cost to the company. I understand ticket hopping costs a lot to companies and wouldn’t do this - equally, the difference in ticket from *** to Blackfriars compared to from Elephant and Castle is under £2, which not be worth hopping a ticket for.

Additionally, the inspector told me to tap in instead from that moment on to avoid confusion, which I have been doing since.

The inspector took my wrong address from my ID (***) however I live in Tulse Hill: *** If any further letter correspondence could be sent here, that would be appreciated.

However, I apologise for these actions and how inconvenience may have been caused, I will happily pay any settlement if you see fit.

Thank you and I appreciate your consideration. I am eager to solve this amicably and promptly without court action.

Looking forward to your response,


Response was 2 weeks late due to being sent to wrong address

 

[london2305]

I have also followed up on email with them due to my late response with the exact same details

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 29 Apr 2025 ==

On the 7th of January, I bought a Trainline ticket for the overground from Elephant and Castle to Blackfriars. I typically use the app as I check the times in the morning and just buy the ticket on there.

Elephant and Castle does not have anywhere available to scan in the QR codes for the ticket, so I just got on the train which I had bought a ticket for - but I believe the ticket was an anytime single ticket. I bought this before boarding the train at around 7:50.

When I arrived at Blackfriars, the inspector checked my ticket and said it wasn’t scanned, I said to him that at Elephant and Castle there is nowhere to scan the code. When he asked why I was getting on at Elephant and Castle, I said I spent a night with my partner - this is where I understand it looked suspicious as I did not know his address upon inspection due to this relationship being more casual, I did offer to try find it on a map but he said this wouldn’t be necessary. I understand now my embarrassment on the situation may have been what caused this situation and I should’ve been more honest.

I understand how it looks like I was buying invalid tickets, however from my Trainline history you can see that I have bought tickets both to and from Elephant and Castle previously, but more importantly, tickets more regularly from my home address *** to Blackfriars or London Bridge for work which I have attached (and my ticket from that day).

I want to apologise for the confusion and the admin costs that this would have cost to the company. I understand ticket hopping costs a lot to companies and wouldn’t do this - equally, the difference in ticket from *** to Blackfriars compared to from Elephant and Castle is under £2, which not be worth hopping a ticket for.

Additionally, the inspector told me to tap in instead from that moment on to avoid confusion, which I have been doing since.

The inspector took my wrong address from my ID (***) however I live in Tulse Hill: *** If any further letter correspondence could be sent here, that would be appreciated.

However, I apologise for these actions and how inconvenience may have been caused, I will happily pay any settlement if you see fit.

Thank you and I appreciate your consideration. I am eager to solve this amicably and promptly without court action.

Looking forward to your response,


Response was 2 weeks late due to being sent to wrong address

 

[AlterEgo]

What, exactly, are you apologising for in the correspondence if you maintain you did nothing wrong?

 

[london2305]

They said there would be admin fees and additional admin fees for late submission. So that I am happy to pay settlement for that

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 29 Apr 2025 ==

Apologising for inconvenience caused

 

[AlterEgo]

I suppose the very simple question is this: did you or did you not board at Elephant and Castle? Yes or no.

Your correspondence doesn't come across as strongly rebutting the allegation you short fared.

 

[london2305]

Yes I got on at elephant and castle

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 29 Apr 2025 ==

I would just like an opinion on what you think the response could be from here

 

[AlterEgo]

Yes I got on at elephant and castle

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 29 Apr 2025 ==

I would just like an opinion on what you think the response could be from here

I think they'll continue with the prosecution.

If you aren't guilty of the offence, you should say so plainly. Your letter reads as if you're guilty. Why would you say:

I did offer to try find it on a map but he said this wouldn’t be necessary. I understand now my embarrassment on the situation may have been what caused this situation and I should’ve been more honest.

...more honest about what? This sentence tells the investigator reading it you weren't honest with the inspector. You claim not to know the address and were not allowed to locate it on a map. Where is the "less honest" part here?

I want to apologise for the confusion and the admin costs that this would have cost to the company.

What confusion? Your story is that you boarded at Elephant and Castle. What confusion have you caused? You claim to have a perfectly valid ticket and done nothing wrong. Here, you aren't talking about the delay in response at all, you're talking about the tickets you buy, which your defence is - are entirely legitimate.

The letter reads as if a few things are true at once:

- that you did in fact travel in some sort of invalid manner and were not honest with the inspector
- that you would like to resolve the matter by paying any sum of money
- that you do not wish to admit any offences

If you travelled legitimately, a short factual response stating so would have been sufficient. In fact, had it happened to an innocent party, they would be rather cross about having a valid ticket and being pulled up for it, being questioned about their partner's address, and then threatened with criminal prosecution.

 

[london2305]

Which I am annoyed about and have explained - however I just want this sorted outside of the court and would rather pay than go through that experience so thought being apologetic about the situation would be best

 

[Fawkes Cat]

The difficulty you face here is that buying a ticket from one stop out of your destination is something that a lot of fare dodgers do. And given that a large majority of travellers in London use contactless cards or their Oyster to travel, buying a ticket on Trainline seems odd too.

While in law it's for the railway to show that you were doing something wrong, rather than you to show that you were doing everything right, you can probably see why they think your story is suspicious.

Against that, if I have read things right, Tulse Hill station (where you might have started if you were coming from home rather than having overnighted in Elephant) has barriers so it's hard to see how shortfaring from Elephant would save you money. This supports the facts as you have given them.

 

[John R]

If Elephant does not have a gateline, or they put a manned block on people accessing the platform without a scanned ticket precisely to try and catch short faring, I cannot see what evidence they have to prosecute, regardless of any suspicions they might have.

 

[london2305]

thank you for insights guys - I know it wasn’t my fault but when I was reading through the forum I saw it was best to apologise and ask for settlement out of court - perhaps has made me look more guilty but I’m new to London and the thought of going to court is very scary to me

 

[Haywain]

Yes I got on at elephant and castle

So, why buy online and not use Oyster or contactless which is rather cheaper and considerably more convenient? Buying online for a one stop journey is exactly what a fare evader would do.

equally, the difference in ticket from *** to Blackfriars compared to from Elephant and Castle is under £2, which not be worth hopping a ticket for.

Whether that would be worthwhile would depend on how many times it had been done. This is not a convincing argument.

 

[AlterEgo]

thank you for insights guys - I know it wasn’t my fault but when I was reading through the forum I saw it was best to apologise and ask for settlement out of court - perhaps has made me look more guilty but I’m new to London and the thought of going to court is very scary to me

Asking to settle out of court is something you do when you’ve done something wrong, but you say you have done nothing wrong at all. If you’re innocent you need to defend yourself robustly, but you’ve sent a letter which states you weren’t honest to the inspector and which makes you in fact look guilty to any external observer.

It would be helpful if you could clarify why you did this in the letter - I don’t understand why you’d effectively admit to being dishonest with the inspector when you weren’t, or why you’d want to pay the company for the privilege of investigating you having done nothing wrong. This makes any further correspondence problematic as you will need to walk back what was said which can be difficult.

 

[Richardr]

Response was 2 weeks late due to being sent to wrong address

Was it not sent to the address you gave them?

 

[AlterEgo]

Was it not sent to the address you gave them?

The OP says the address was taken from their ID.

 

[london2305]

Hi all. I noticed people don’t often update so thought I would. They offered to settle for £30 - guessing covering admin fees and the £1.50 difference in ticket. Thanks for all your help

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Hi all. I noticed people don’t often update so thought I would. They offered to settle for £30 - guessing covering admin fees and the £1.50 difference in ticket. Thanks for all your help

Thanks for letting us know. A lot of people would think that's a good result to bring the matter to an end.

 

[Hadders]

Thaanks for updating us. This is a decent result all things being equal.

 

[30907]

Thaanks for updating us. This is a decent result all things being equal.

In fact, the lowest settlement figure I can recall, even from GTR.