WMT Fare Evasion Letter (Railcard Technical Issue) - Appeal?

[BlueElephant80]

Hi all,
I have received a letter from West Midlands Trains. I had purchased an anytime day return from Tamworth to Bromsgrove and used my railcard (16-25). My railcard is valid until March 2026, and is a digital trainline railcard. On the train (outwards journey) I presented my ticket which was fine, but then when I tried to pull up my digital railcard it wasn't showing. I tried to sort this technical issue out, however had to get off the train at my stop shortly after and so couldn't present the digital railcard prior to leaving due to the technical fault/glitch. I managed to get the railcard back showing shortly after, though obviously after I had already disembarked. I have the ticket receipts and the receipt for my railcard (back from 2023, 3 year railcard) showing that it is valid until March 2026. As for fare evasion, this is a journey I complete regularly and have full ticket history over several months of paying for this journey with the railcard discount, and have never had an issue presenting my ticket and railcard prior to this instance, nor since, not sure if this would help any appeal or would be pointless mentioning.

The letter states:
"...questioned by a member of the Revenue Protection Team, employed by WM Trains Limited, in relation to the payment of a rail fare.
All the available evidence is being considered as to whether legal proceedings are appropriate. if you consider that there are further mitigating factors that may influence a decision that may be made about this matter you are invited to respond, within 14 days of this letter.
If you do not have any mitigating circumstances regarding this incident, payment of a £175 settlement towards our costs incurred plus £21.10 fare avoided is requested to avoid the matter being referred for prosecution consideration. The balance of £196.10 should be received within 14 days from the date of this letter..."

I plan to appeal and refute this, on the basis that this was a technical issue with my railcard. Would this be a legitimate appeal, and would I need to pay the fine simultaneously as the appeal, or await to hear if the appeal was successful or not? Is there anything specific that I should note in my letter back to WMT?

Thank you

 

[z444z]

It’s not technically an appeal, there’s no set appeals process, but you’re thinking along the right lines.

If you do not have any mitigating circumstances regarding this incident, payment of a £175 settlement towards our costs incurred plus £21.10 fare avoided is requested to avoid the matter being referred for prosecution consideration. The balance of £196.10 should be received within 14 days from the date of this letter..."

They’ve said this, and you do have mitigating circumstances, so they want you to respond with those circumstances instead of paying.

This should be as simple as saying “here’s my railcard that was valid for this journey, unfortunately due to xyz I was unable to present it at the time, let me know if you need any more information in order to close this case”.

Feel free to draft a response and post it here for us to review.

 

[WesternLancer]

You need to essentially ask for the matter to be considered under what is often known as the 'forgotten railcard policy' - essentially as set out in the FAQs for your railcard as per here

What happens if I don't have my Railcard with me and I have to buy a new ticket or pay a Penalty Fare? - 16-25 Railcard

A 16-25 Railcard costs just �30 and it'll save you 1/3 on rail fares throughout Great Britain for a whole year.

www.16-25railcard.co.uk

you need to get the wording of your response as clear as it can be before you send your reply.

You are obliged to be able to show your railcard promptly to staff on demand - so if you have tech problems that prevent that happening you need to find a solution for that as you can't use this policy as a get out more than once per year unfortunately.

 

[jumble]

You need to essentially ask for the matter to be considered under what is often known as the 'forgotten railcard policy' - essentially as set out in the FAQs for your railcard as per here

What happens if I don't have my Railcard with me and I have to buy a new ticket or pay a Penalty Fare? - 16-25 Railcard

A 16-25 Railcard costs just �30 and it'll save you 1/3 on rail fares throughout Great Britain for a whole year.

www.16-25railcard.co.uk

you need to get the wording of your response as clear as it can be before you send your reply.

You are obliged to be able to show your railcard promptly to staff on demand - so if you have tech problems that prevent that happening you need to find a solution for that as you can't use this policy as a get out more than once per year unfortunately.

It could possibly be interpreted that one can use the policy once each year at each TOC
"a train company will normally allow you to claim back this extra expense on the first occasion in each year where this happens"

 

[BlueElephant80]

It’s not technically an appeal, there’s no set appeals process, but you’re thinking along the right lines.

They’ve said this, and you do have mitigating circumstances, so they want you to respond with those circumstances instead of paying.

This should be as simple as saying “here’s my railcard that was valid for this journey, unfortunately due to xyz I was unable to present it at the time, let me know if you need any more information in order to close this case”.

Feel free to draft a response and post it here for us to review.

Hi, drafted a response as follows. Please let me know if you think this is appropriate or should be changed.

"Following your letter dated 5th February, I am writing to you with regard to this case and provide you with the mitigating factors as you have requested.
On Thursday 4th December 2025, I booked my anytime day return from Tamworth to Bromsgrove. I used my active 16-25 railcard discount for this purchase. My railcard is a digital railcard through Trainline and is valid until 04/03/2026 (my current railcard was originally purchased on 05/03/2023 for a three-year term).
On the morning of 04/12/2025, when asked to present my ticket I did so and this was scanned and accepted by the ticket officer. When trying to show my railcard, due to a technical error/temporary glitch, my digital railcard was not showing in my app.
After a few minutes of trying to sort the technical issue out, to get my railcard to show up, I had to disembark the train due to reaching my stop in Bromsgrove and having to be on time for work. This meant that I was unable to sort the issue and bring up my railcard in time for the ticket officer, as I could not spend any more time with them on the train without missing my stop and being late for my employment.
Upon leaving the train, I did manage to sort the technical issue out with my railcard and have not had an issue with this since (or prior to this event for that matter).
Along with this letter I have attached the following:

• Receipt for the purchase of my railcard from March 2023 (this details my railcard as being valid from that date until 06/03/2026).
• Screenshot of my digital railcard from the Trainline app
• Trainline expenses receipt for the purchase of my anytime day return ticket from Tamworth to Bromsgrove
• Email confirmation and receipt for the purchase of my anytime day return ticket from Tamworth to Bromsgrove (this is timed and dated prior to this journey)

I trust that this is sufficient evidence to refute the claim that I have attempted to evade any rail fare.
Please see the attached railcard and train ticket, that unfortunately due to the technical issue that I had, I was unable to present at the time.
Please let me know if you require any further information in order to close this case."

The letter from WMT also states that the payment to be made if no mitigating factors would be £175 settlement fee and the fare fee of £21.10. The journey without railcard discount is £21.20, and I have paid £14.05 with the railcard discount. As such, even if I was required to pay the settlement figure stated, would this not be the £175 + £7.05 (the difference between the standard price and discounted fare). I have not brought this up in my reply as I thought this would confuse matters, but just a thought.

 

[WesternLancer]

Hi, drafted a response as follows. Please let me know if you think this is appropriate or should be changed.

"Following your letter dated 5th February, I am writing to you with regard to this case and provide you with the mitigating factors as you have requested.
On Thursday 4th December 2025, I booked my anytime day return from Tamworth to Bromsgrove. I used my active 16-25 railcard discount for this purchase. My railcard is a digital railcard through Trainline and is valid until 04/03/2026 (my current railcard was originally purchased on 05/03/2023 for a three-year term).
On the morning of 04/12/2025, when asked to present my ticket I did so and this was scanned and accepted by the ticket officer. When trying to show my railcard, due to a technical error/temporary glitch, my digital railcard was not showing in my app.
After a few minutes of trying to sort the technical issue out, to get my railcard to show up, I had to disembark the train due to reaching my stop in Bromsgrove and having to be on time for work. This meant that I was unable to sort the issue and bring up my railcard in time for the ticket officer, as I could not spend any more time with them on the train without missing my stop and being late for my employment.
Upon leaving the train, I did manage to sort the technical issue out with my railcard and have not had an issue with this since (or prior to this event for that matter).
Along with this letter I have attached the following:

• Receipt for the purchase of my railcard from March 2023 (this details my railcard as being valid from that date until 06/03/2026).
• Screenshot of my digital railcard from the Trainline app
• Trainline expenses receipt for the purchase of my anytime day return ticket from Tamworth to Bromsgrove
• Email confirmation and receipt for the purchase of my anytime day return ticket from Tamworth to Bromsgrove (this is timed and dated prior to this journey)

I trust that this is sufficient evidence to refute the claim that I have attempted to evade any rail fare.
Please see the attached railcard and train ticket, that unfortunately due to the technical issue that I had, I was unable to present at the time.
Please let me know if you require any further information in order to close this case."

The letter from WMT also states that the payment to be made if no mitigating factors would be £175 settlement fee and the fare fee of £21.10. The journey without railcard discount is £21.20, and I have paid £14.05 with the railcard discount. As such, even if I was required to pay the settlement figure stated, would this not be the £175 + £7.05 (the difference between the standard price and discounted fare). I have not brought this up in my reply as I thought this would confuse matters, but just a thought.

Hi. If you had valid railcard I don’t think you need all of this.

Just a copy of the valid railcard and a short statement stating that politely but we’re unable to show it at the time of the inspection but you understand from the Railcard faq that you are permitted to provide a copy in order to resolve the matter.

Basically what is posted in post #2 should do the trick.

 

[z444z]

Agreed, this needs to be a lot shorter