Moving whilst waiting for prosecution letter from SWR

[karolinus99]

Hi,
On the 17th of November I was caught with a short fare from Clapham to Vauxhall at Vaxhall station on my way to Uni from Kew Bridge station. Unfortunatley this wasn't my first time doing this, the previous times I shortfared it was typically from Vauxhall to Waterloo, I have probably done it about 90 times from the past three years. I lied and said that my boyfriend lives in Vauxhall, but the officer wrote me a Report for Prosecution reciept, and asked to check my trainline account and rightly accused me of doing it regularily. I have been waiting for a letter since, but have not receieved anything. I have now just moved from Kew Bridge to Plaistow and am afraid I will miss the letter they said they would send, and unsure what type of email to write to them. The photo attached is what I received.

To add to the mess, I was out of money on my Oyster photocard and topped it up when I was on the train, whilst buying the short fare ticket on Trainline. When I was stopped in Vauxhall and they asked where I started the journey, I panicked and admited I started in Kew Bridge but lied and said I had tapped in on my Oyster but was unsure if it went through or not as I didn't have money on it, so decided to get a ticket on trainline as well (didn't not make sense but I said it anyway). Despite not having recieved a letter my Oyster Photocard has stopped working, not sure when it stopped, as it was working around the 10th of December before I left for winter holidays abroad - and only realised now that I came back two days ago that it is not working/has been stopped. Since I was caught I completely stopped using Trainline and was only using my Oyster Photocard - so I don't have any history on it since the 17th of Nov.
I haven't recieved any emails.

This is the current draft I have for the email:

Hello,
My name is ____, and on the 17th of November I was handed a Report for Prosecution receipt for a short fare. I was told that I would receive a letter, that would detail next steps. I have not received a letter yet, and yesterday I moved address. I am really regretful and ashamed of not buying the correct ticket and hope to settle this out of court.
My new address is: ____
All the best,
_____

I have read lots of the threads on this forum I hope I will be offered an out of court settlement. Not sure how much I will have to owe.
Any help would greatly be appriciated.

 

[30907]

Don't mention a settlement at this stage, just the change of address.

Write properly when you hear from SW.

 

[z444z]

Hello,
My name is ____. On the 17th of November 2025 I received a Report for Prosecution receipt at Vauxhall. The reference on this receipt is [INSERT]. I am getting in touch to inform you that my address has changed. My previous address was [ADDRESS] and my new address is [INSERT]
All the best,

I’d suggest this instead, you shouldn’t be admitting to anything at this stage.

When SWR send you the letter, come back to us for further help

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Jan 2026 ==

Not sure how much I will have to owe.

I can calculate this for you. Were your journeys from Kew Bridge to Waterloo, or Kew Bridge to Vauxhall, or a mix? And when you say 90 times, is that 90 return journeys?

 

[WesternLancer]

Hi,
On the 17th of November I was caught with a short fare from Clapham to Vauxhall at Vaxhall station on my way to Uni from Kew Bridge station. Unfortunatley this wasn't my first time doing this, the previous times I shortfared it was typically from Vauxhall to Waterloo, I have probably done it about 90 times from the past three years. I lied and said that my boyfriend lives in Vauxhall, but the officer wrote me a Report for Prosecution reciept, and asked to check my trainline account and rightly accused me of doing it regularily. I have been waiting for a letter since, but have not receieved anything. I have now just moved from Kew Bridge to Plaistow and am afraid I will miss the letter they said they would send, and unsure what type of email to write to them. The photo attached is what I received.

To add to the mess, I was out of money on my Oyster photocard and topped it up when I was on the train, whilst buying the short fare ticket on Trainline. When I was stopped in Vauxhall and they asked where I started the journey, I panicked and admited I started in Kew Bridge but lied and said I had tapped in on my Oyster but was unsure if it went through or not as I didn't have money on it, so decided to get a ticket on trainline as well (didn't not make sense but I said it anyway). Despite not having recieved a letter my Oyster Photocard has stopped working, not sure when it stopped, as it was working around the 10th of December before I left for winter holidays abroad - and only realised now that I came back two days ago that it is not working/has been stopped. Since I was caught I completely stopped using Trainline and was only using my Oyster Photocard - so I don't have any history on it since the 17th of Nov.
I haven't recieved any emails.

This is the current draft I have for the email:

Hello,
My name is ____, and on the 17th of November I was handed a Report for Prosecution receipt for a short fare. I was told that I would receive a letter, that would detail next steps. I have not received a letter yet, and yesterday I moved address. I am really regretful and ashamed of not buying the correct ticket and hope to settle this out of court.
My new address is: ____
All the best,
_____

I have read lots of the threads on this forum I hope I will be offered an out of court settlement. Not sure how much I will have to owe.
Any help would greatly be appriciated.

Keep it very brief. Quote ref number and old address and inform them of new address. That is all you should do at this stage.

I would also setup a Royal Mail postal redirect too. See Royal Mail website about that.

 

[karolinus99]

I’d suggest this instead, you shouldn’t be admitting to anything at this stage.

When SWR send you the letter, come back to us for further help

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Jan 2026 ==


I can calculate this for you. Were your journeys from Kew Bridge to Waterloo, or Kew Bridge to Vauxhall, or a mix? And when you say 90 times, is that 90 return journeys?

Thank you so much, that does sound a lot better and straightforward! It was one way tickets, no returns.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 13 Jan 2026 ==

Keep it very brief. Quote ref number and old address and inform them of new address. That is all you should do at this stage.

I would also setup a Royal Mail postal redirect too. See Royal Mail website about that.

Thank you! Shall set that up ASAP.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 13 Jan 2026 ==

I’d suggest this instead, you shouldn’t be admitting to anything at this stage.

When SWR send you the letter, come back to us for further help

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Jan 2026 ==


I can calculate this for you. Were your journeys from Kew Bridge to Waterloo, or Kew Bridge to Vauxhall, or a mix? And when you say 90 times, is that 90 return journeys?

One way no return. Usually from Barnes to Waterloo, maybe a few times from Kew Bridge to Waterloo.

 

[z444z]

One way no return. Usually from Barnes to Waterloo, maybe a few times from Kew Bridge to Waterloo.

Both are £5.90, so £5.9x90=£531+£150 admin fee = £681. Roughly.

 

[karolinus99]

Both are £5.90, so £5.9x90=£531+£150 admin fee = £681. Roughly.

ahh ok thank you!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 13 Jan 2026 ==

I’d suggest this instead, you shouldn’t be admitting to anything at this stage.

When SWR send you the letter, come back to us for further help

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Jan 2026 ==


I can calculate this for you. Were your journeys from Kew Bridge to Waterloo, or Kew Bridge to Vauxhall, or a mix? And when you say 90 times, is that 90 return journeys?

This might be a dense question but any chance you know the email I should be emailing. I tried sending it to the email listing on the reciept but keep getting this reply (see attached). I looked thorugh the SWR website but can't seem to find the email I should use for prosecutions.

 

[30907]

Try .com not .con

 

[karolinus99]

Try .com not .con

Sorry sent the wrong screenshot! That was from when I initially typed it in wrong, this is when I sent it again.

 

[_toommm_]

Sorry sent the wrong screenshot! That was from when I initially typed it in wrong, this is when I sent it again.

Try prosecutions@swrailway.com - you've done prosecution (singular)

 

[karolinus99]

Try prosecutions@swrailway.com - you've done prosecution (singular)

Jesus I am all over the place! Hahaha thank you.

 

[John R]

Hopefully .con wasn’t a Freudian slip…