SWR - Fare evasion PLEASE HELP AND ADVICE

[wonderingcat]

Hi
Last month I got stopped by a ticket inspector as I was coming out of Waterloo

And my usual journey is Egham to Staines and then I get off the train and make my own way to Clapham and do Clapham to Waterloo

And on this day, I was having a high stress morning, I was trying to get hold of the hospital about my dad operation, I was trying to do things for work it was a mess.
I was barely paying attention to the outside world and I know this is my fault I should’ve been more careful

The train I was on this morning also just skipped a few stations and went straight to Waterloo. I was so stupidly lost in my own world that I didn’t get off at Staines and continued. I only realised as I got to near Clapham that I didn’t get off the train. I brought a ticket to Clapham to Waterloo instantly and i tapped off with that when I should’ve gotten Staines to Waterloo. Upon questioning I explained what happened and I got “report for prosecution”

Few weeks later, I received an email to explain what happened and how my Trainline account has shown “inconsistencies” and will be passed onto their case management team.


I explained what happened and I apologised and asked for an out of court settlement. I really don’t want to get a criminal conviction for this I feel so silly, I’m at uni and this would just ruin my career. I don’t have anyone that will help me.

I got an email with a spreadsheet that said this
Thank you for your email and for providing that information.



I have attached a copy of your Trainline purchase history. To assist in our investigation, can I ask that for each highlighted journey you complete columns N and O with the stations you travelled from and too please.



If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate in contacting me.

I looked at the spreadsheet they’ve highlighted “random” journeys even where I paid for Egham to Waterloo returns and where I’ve gone to Southampton from reading. There’s tickets on there that I didn’t even use and didn’t have chance to refund. I used trains for all my college years and have never done this. I always tap in and out of TfL stations even when the barriers are open, this is very unlike me and I regret it so much. I have a valid railcard as well

Please give me some advice on how I should respond and just any help in general

 

[SECR 65]

Don't panic. SWR are often happy to settle out of court. If there are journeys that you did have a valid ticket for, tell them that - they should believe you. You might need to provide some evidence if you can of car parking tickets or onward travel etc.
The out of court settlement cost is normally the cost of an anytime single for each journey plus an admin fee, often £150.

Did they give you a deadline to reply by?

Have a look through other SWR threads that are similar to your case to gain a better idea of what is likely to happen next.

The experts will be along soon to advise further.

 

[AlterEgo]

Hi
Last month I got stopped by a ticket inspector as I was coming out of Waterloo

And my usual journey is Egham to Staines and then I get off the train and make my own way to Clapham and do Clapham to Waterloo

Now I don't need to look at a map to tell me Egham and Staines are next to each other, because that is classic doughnutting.

And on this day, I was having a high stress morning, I was trying to get hold of the hospital about my dad operation, I was trying to do things for work it was a mess.
I was barely paying attention to the outside world and I know this is my fault I should’ve been more careful

The train I was on this morning also just skipped a few stations and went straight to Waterloo. I was so stupidly lost in my own world that I didn’t get off at Staines and continued. I only realised as I got to near Clapham that I didn’t get off the train. I brought a ticket to Clapham to Waterloo instantly and i tapped off with that when I should’ve gotten Staines to Waterloo. Upon questioning I explained what happened and I got “report for prosecution”

Sorry, nobody is going to believe any of this or take it into account. Least of all SWR.

Few weeks later, I received an email to explain what happened and how my Trainline account has shown “inconsistencies” and will be passed onto their case management team.

I'm sure!

I explained what happened and I apologised and asked for an out of court settlement.

Did you admit to the fares offences between Staines and Clapham, where you have been travelling without a ticket? Remember they can see all the scans, pickup locations, and the purchase times of these tickets.

I looked at the spreadsheet they’ve highlighted “random” journeys even where I paid for Egham to Waterloo returns and where I’ve gone to Southampton from reading. There’s tickets on there that I didn’t even use and didn’t have chance to refund. I used trains for all my college years and have never done this. I always tap in and out of TfL stations even when the barriers are open, this is very unlike me and I regret it so much. I have a valid railcard as well

Please give me some advice on how I should respond and just any help in general

Well the first step is to admit to the doughnutting you've been doing between Staines and Clapham Junction. And take responsibility for it. And then, if there are journeys which shouldn't have been included, tell them about the circumstances of those journeys and insist they are legitimate. If you have a record of all your railcards this will help a lot.

 

[wonderingcat]

The dad part is unfortunately true, I did have a high stressful morning. But I understand I should’ve been more careful

And no I didn’t admit to any other fare offences between Staines and Clapham apart from the one from that morning. They didn’t ask about it in the first email really so I didn’t I just explained that one instance.

What do you reccomend I do with the spreadsheet?

I’ve been reading other forums but I’m not 100% sure

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 20 Apr 2026 ==

Don't panic. SWR are often happy to settle out of court. If there are journeys that you did have a valid ticket for, tell them that - they should believe you. You might need to provide some evidence if you can of car parking tickets or onward travel etc.
The out of court settlement cost is normally the cost of an anytime single for each journey plus an admin fee, often £150.

Did they give you a deadline to reply by?

Have a look through other SWR threads that are similar to your case to gain a better idea of what is likely to happen next.

The experts will be along soon to advise further.

Hi thank you for replying!
They didnt give me a deadline for this yet

I’ve been looking through some swr threads and haven’t found much similar is there anything you had found that I can look at?
Thank you

 

[tatitiliti]

Hi
Last month I got stopped by a ticket inspector as I was coming out of Waterloo

And my usual journey is Egham to Staines and then I get off the train and make my own way to Clapham and do Clapham to Waterloo

And on this day, I was having a high stress morning, I was trying to get hold of the hospital about my dad operation, I was trying to do things for work it was a mess.
I was barely paying attention to the outside world and I know this is my fault I should’ve been more careful

The train I was on this morning also just skipped a few stations and went straight to Waterloo. I was so stupidly lost in my own world that I didn’t get off at Staines and continued. I only realised as I got to near Clapham that I didn’t get off the train. I brought a ticket to Clapham to Waterloo instantly and i tapped off with that when I should’ve gotten Staines to Waterloo. Upon questioning I explained what happened and I got “report for prosecution”

Few weeks later, I received an email to explain what happened and how my Trainline account has shown “inconsistencies” and will be passed onto their case management team.


I explained what happened and I apologised and asked for an out of court settlement. I really don’t want to get a criminal conviction for this I feel so silly, I’m at uni and this would just ruin my career. I don’t have anyone that will help me.

I got an email with a spreadsheet that said this
Thank you for your email and for providing that information.



I have attached a copy of your Trainline purchase history. To assist in our investigation, can I ask that for each highlighted journey you complete columns N and O with the stations you travelled from and too please.



If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate in contacting me.

I looked at the spreadsheet they’ve highlighted “random” journeys even where I paid for Egham to Waterloo returns and where I’ve gone to Southampton from reading. There’s tickets on there that I didn’t even use and didn’t have chance to refund. I used trains for all my college years and have never done this. I always tap in and out of TfL stations even when the barriers are open, this is very unlike me and I regret it so much. I have a valid railcard as well

Please give me some advice on how I should respond and just any help in general

How do you make your own way between Staines and Clapham Junction? Does someone drive you?

The more honest you are with us on here, the better we can help you.

 

[AlterEgo]

So they haven't asked about any of the other Egham-Staines and Clapham-London tickets on your record? It would be the first thing I would ask about if I was SWR.

 

[wonderingcat]

How do you make your own way between Staines and Clapham Junction? Does someone drive you?

The more honest you are with us on here, the better we can help you.

I’ll be honest, once in a while my friend would drop me
And most times I would just not get the tickets

 

[tatitiliti]

So they haven't asked about any of the other Egham-Staines and Clapham-London tickets on your record? It would be the first thing I would ask about if I was SWR.

Indeed - strange they haven’t

 

[wonderingcat]

So they haven't asked about any of the other Egham-Staines and Clapham-London tickets on your record? It would be the first thing I would ask about if I was SWR.

So they asked me about that morning journey in the first email
And then now just highlighted all the journeys I’ve made between Egham and Clapham basically

 

[AlterEgo]

I’ll be honest, once in a while my friend would drop me
And most times I would just not get the tickets

What do you mean by this?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 20 Apr 2026 ==

So they asked me about that morning journey in the first email
And then now just highlighted all the journeys I’ve made between Egham and Clapham basically

Well of course. So they'll want the fares for the full journey from Egham to London Waterloo. They must get quite a few students from Royal Holloway doing this to save a few quid.

Do you owe them those fares?

 

[wonderingcat]

What do you mean by this?

Some days I wouldn’t use the trains at all bcs a friend would take me but other days i wouldn’t get the tickets like that morning
Sorry I should’ve been more clear

 

[tatitiliti]

I’ll be honest, once in a while my friend would drop me
And most times I would just not get the tickets

Right, so from SWR’s point of view, we can assume that all of the sets of Egham to Staines and Clapham Junction to London Waterloo legs you purchased are short fares.

Make sure you add up all the times you’ve done it and start saving so you can be prepared to pay all the undiscounted anytime single fares between Egham and London Waterloo. This may be quite expensive but you should be able to resolve it out of court.

They will almost certainly flag this at some point but never incriminate yourself by directly referencing it - only ever refer to the specific journeys they mention when communicating with them.

 

[wonderingcat]

Right, so from SWR’s point of view, we can assume that all of the sets of Egham to Staines and Clapham Junction to London Waterloo legs you purchased are short fares.

Make sure you add up all the times you’ve done it and start saving so you can be prepared to pay all the undiscounted anytime single fares between Egham and London Waterloo. This may be quite expensive but you should be able to resolve it out of court.

They will almost certainly flag this at some point but never incriminate yourself by directly referencing it - only ever refer to the specific journeys they mention when communicating with them.

No honestly all of them are not short fares there’s full fares as well which is why I was confused as to why they highlighted those as well
That’s why I didn’t mention the other journeys in the first email

 

[tatitiliti]

No honestly all of them are not short fares there’s full fares as well which is why I was confused as to why they highlighted those as well
That’s why I didn’t mention the other journeys in the first email

Which are ‘full fares’? You mean some of the times you’ve purchased Egham to Staines and Clapham Junction to London Waterloo?

 

[wonderingcat]

Which are ‘full fares’? You mean some of the times you’ve purchased Egham to Staines and Clapham Junction to London Waterloo?

Full fares meaning - Egham to Waterloo return
Or there’s Egham to Waterloo single
Egham to Richmond return
Reading to Southampton return
Etc

There was so short fares evasion on those journeys

 

[tatitiliti]

Full fares meaning - Egham to Waterloo return
Or there’s Egham to Waterloo single
Egham to Richmond return
Reading to Southampton return
Etc

There was so short fares evasion on those journeys

I see - and they are all e-tickets (therefore should have scan data)?

 

[wonderingcat]

I see - and they are all e-tickets (therefore should have scan data)?

Yeh they’re all e-tickets
but where I live the barriers aren’t always closed so I wouldn’t scan them all the time
Especially the times I would finish work late and come back at around midnight

 

[Fawkes Cat]

No honestly all of them are not short fares there’s full fares as well which is why I was confused as to why they highlighted those as well
That’s why I didn’t mention the other journeys in the first email

It's fairly natural for railway to assume that all of your journeys will be rail throughout rather than rail-road-rail. Particularly if the time you arrived at Waterloo is the time the train from Egham got there. So to get the railway to accept that you got a lift for the Staines to Clapham pzrt of the journey, you will need to show what's different about those days from the ones where you accept that

most times I would just not get the tickets

 

[tatitiliti]

Yeh they’re all e-tickets
but where I live the barriers aren’t always closed so I wouldn’t scan them all the time
Especially the times I would finish work late and come back at around midnight

That’s fine, you’re not required to scan e-tickets for them to be valid - however, unscanned ones may arouse suspicion in stations where the gateline is invariably closed (such as Clapham Junction).

So at this stage you’ve done right - just reply truthfully with the facts about only the journeys in question.

And be prepared to pay the undercounted anytime single fare (£12.70) between Egham and London Waterloo quickly when the investigation concludes for all the times you have purchased a set of Egham to Staines and Clapham Junction to London Waterloo (even the ones you claim were genuine). There’s no way you would convince a fully impartial judge that even a single one of these is genuine, let alone SWR.

 

[wonderingcat]

That’s fine, you’re not required to scan e-tickets for them to be valid - however, unscanned ones may arouse suspicion in stations where the gateline is invariably closed (such as Clapham Junction).

So at this stage you’ve done right - just reply truthfully with the facts about only the journeys in question.

And be prepared to pay the undercounted anytime single fare between Egham and London Waterloo quickly when the investigation concludes for all the times you have purchased a set of Egham to Staines and Clapham Junction to London Waterloo (even the ones you claim were genuine). There’s no way you would convince a fully impartial judge that even a single one of these is genuine, let alone SWR

This may seem like a silly question but how should I reply to table they’ve sent me?

They’re not asking for explanations of each journeys so what’s the best way to reply would you say

Sorry I’m asking a lot I know

 

[tatitiliti]

This may seem like a silly question but how should I reply to table they’ve sent me?

They’re not asking for explanations of each journeys so what’s the best way to reply would you say

Sorry I’m asking a lot I know

Not a silly question at all and we’re happy to help you.

Just do exactly as they say for the exact tickets/journeys they refer to - no more, no less.

If they ask about a ticket where you had a valid ticket for your entire journey, just write the stations in that you started and ended your journey at (in these cases these should correspond with the start and end stations on the ticket).

And if there are tickets that you are *certain* you didn’t use as you say you can mention this (probably why they’ve been flagged as there’s no scan data).

 

[Haywain]

This may seem like a silly question but how should I reply to table they’ve sent me?

If we can't see what you've been sent it's difficult to advise on how to respond.

 

[tatitiliti]

If we can't see what you've been sent it's difficult to advise on how to respond.

OP summarised but it would be helpful to see a redacted version of the correspondence, yes.

 

[AlterEgo]

This may seem like a silly question but how should I reply to table they’ve sent me?

They’re not asking for explanations of each journeys so what’s the best way to reply would you say

Sorry I’m asking a lot I know

You need to reply as directed by completing the journey details. You need to do this truthfully so take your time and be sure about your responses. They know you habitually evade your fares and this part of the exercise is really just an honesty test on your part.

 

[wonderingcat]

OP summarised but it would be helpful to see a redacted version of the correspondence, yes.

I can upload part of it if that helps? So you can advise me properly

 

[Fawkes Cat]

I can upload part of it if that helps? So you can advise me properly

Whatever you can provide will help. But make sure you hide your name, address and so on - you probably won't want everyone on the internet to see your personal details.

 

[SECR 65]

I’ve been looking through some swr threads and haven’t found much similar is there anything you had found that I can look at?

To be honest, you're right that there aren't loads of threads quite like this with SWR. I was suprised when I did a quick search of the forum. Here are three I've found to get you started:

Fare Evasion Ticket for Prosecution.

Hi everyone. just wanted to post my story on here to get some guidance. Last year October 8th 2025 I got stopped at Vauxhall where they checked my ticket. I had bought a ticket from Clapham to Vauxhall return, when in reality my local station I boarded at was Teddington. I had got into a bad...

www.railforums.co.uk

SWR Repeated Fare Evasion — Advice Needed!

Hi everyone, I’m looking for some advice regarding a serious issue I’m currently facing with South Western Railway (SWR). Back in April 2025, I was stopped by a revenue protection officer at London Waterloo. I had a ticket from Vauxhall to Waterloo, but I had actually travelled from London...

www.railforums.co.uk

Accusation of small offence has become 5+ year investigation

Several months ago, I had my ticket checked as I left the platform at a London station. The ticket was not registered as being scanned in at the starting point. I gave my details and forgot about it, in the last few weeks they have reached out to say this is being investigated and they are...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[wonderingcat]

Whatever you can provide will help. But make sure you hide your name, address and so on - you probably won't want everyone on the internet to see your personal details.

I’ve attached part of it xx

 

[Haywain]

Without column headings or explanation it’s not clear what we are looking at. Are there more columns? And do you have a 16-25 Railcard?

 

[wonderingcat]

Without column headings or explanation it’s not clear what we are looking at. Are there more columns? And do you have a 16-25 Railcard?

I have a valid railcard and the other columns include personal details
The first column in the picture is ticket refunded (so yes or no), then day of travel, departure, origin fare leg name, destination fare leg name, total price and ticket type