MRW2025
Member
My daughter has received a pre-court settlement letter, 17 months after an inspector found that she had bought a ticket with a 16-17 railcard, when what she had, at that time, was a 16-25 railcard.
The letter says that her railcard had expired, but she did have an active railcard, just not the right one (one that offered a 25% discount, rather than 33%). She had recently turned 18 at the time and she says this was a genuine mistake as the Trainline app defaults to a previously used railcard.
Anyway, having gone back and reviewed her previous ticket purchases, they have found quite a few (17!) instances where she paid for a child ticket when she was already 16 - I am not trying to justify this, but I think a high proportion of 16 year olds do this, without thinking of the possible consequences!
There are also a small number of instances where she bought a 16-17 saver ticket, in the 3 weeks between one 16-17 railcard expiring and us buying her another. All the purchases were for short journeys, but for their calculations they charge the difference between the fare she paid and what it would have cost to buy 2 x Anytime singles, so they are asking for £132 + their admin fee.
I was hoping to argue the case, but having gone through the list of purchases, I can recognise they are all for incorrect tickets. As a rule, we pay for train tickets and have valid railcards, so these are exceptions.
I don't think my daughter (or her parents!) appreciated how your train ticket record can be retrospectively checked in this way, so a valuable lesson for her, and for us, and a cautionary tale for her younger siblings.
My question is, can or will they really take someone to court for offences committed between the ages of 16-18, for a sum of £222?
I have learned that there is a statute of limitations on Railways Byelaw offences and, as summary offences, these cannot be heard in a magistrates court any later than 6 months after the date of the alleged offence. But they are also citing S5(3)a of the Regulation of Railways Act (1889) and section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006.
Should we/she just pay up? It's a lot of money to part with, but we don't want her to have to go to court or get a criminal record.
My extensive reading has led me to the recent ORR report and its Call for Evidence, as well as the ruling on train operating companies using the SJP for prosecuting fare evasion and lots of similar threads on this forum. It's all rather fascinating reading, but I am not a lawyer, so am a bit out of my depth! Any advice gratefully received.
The letter says that her railcard had expired, but she did have an active railcard, just not the right one (one that offered a 25% discount, rather than 33%). She had recently turned 18 at the time and she says this was a genuine mistake as the Trainline app defaults to a previously used railcard.
Anyway, having gone back and reviewed her previous ticket purchases, they have found quite a few (17!) instances where she paid for a child ticket when she was already 16 - I am not trying to justify this, but I think a high proportion of 16 year olds do this, without thinking of the possible consequences!
There are also a small number of instances where she bought a 16-17 saver ticket, in the 3 weeks between one 16-17 railcard expiring and us buying her another. All the purchases were for short journeys, but for their calculations they charge the difference between the fare she paid and what it would have cost to buy 2 x Anytime singles, so they are asking for £132 + their admin fee.
I was hoping to argue the case, but having gone through the list of purchases, I can recognise they are all for incorrect tickets. As a rule, we pay for train tickets and have valid railcards, so these are exceptions.
I don't think my daughter (or her parents!) appreciated how your train ticket record can be retrospectively checked in this way, so a valuable lesson for her, and for us, and a cautionary tale for her younger siblings.
My question is, can or will they really take someone to court for offences committed between the ages of 16-18, for a sum of £222?
I have learned that there is a statute of limitations on Railways Byelaw offences and, as summary offences, these cannot be heard in a magistrates court any later than 6 months after the date of the alleged offence. But they are also citing S5(3)a of the Regulation of Railways Act (1889) and section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006.
Should we/she just pay up? It's a lot of money to part with, but we don't want her to have to go to court or get a criminal record.
My extensive reading has led me to the recent ORR report and its Call for Evidence, as well as the ruling on train operating companies using the SJP for prosecuting fare evasion and lots of similar threads on this forum. It's all rather fascinating reading, but I am not a lawyer, so am a bit out of my depth! Any advice gratefully received.
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