Greater Anglia Penalty Fare - Contactless Mistake at Kelvedon".

[KayAli]

everyone,
I am looking for some advice on a Greater Anglia Penalty Fare that I have just had rejected at the second appeal stage. I am now preparing to take this to the Independent Appeals Panel (Stage 3), but I would really appreciate any insights, loopholes, or advice on how to structure my final appeal before I submit it.
The Situation:
I started my journey inside London at Leytonstone station, where I tapped in using my contactless card. My colleague (who regularly commutes on this route) told me that my destination, Kelvedon station, supported contactless tap-outs. Based on their advice, I assumed it was fine.
co-operated fully and immediately offered to pay. On the spot, I paid the inspector the full single fare for the journey I had just made, and I also proactively purchased a return ticket to ensure I was fully validated for my journey back. Despite paying the full fares right there and then, the inspector took my details and issued a £50 Penalty Fare. His colleague on the train noted that it was down to the inspector's "discretion."


The Appeals:
I have appealed twice and both have been rejected. I attached photographs of Kelvedon station to both appeals, but they seem to have been ignored by the automated system.
Here is the exact text of the second rejection letter I just received from the Appeals Service (AS):

The function of the Appeals Service (AS) is to examine the circumstances surrounding why a notice has been issued. As previously advised, to ensure fairness and consistency when making assessments, AS follow a Code of Practice compliant with the criteria set out in the Railways (Penalty Fares) (Amendment) Regulations 2022.
I acknowledge the points raised by yourself and this case has been fully reviewed. Being confident that AS have followed the correct procedure, I can confirm that our initial decision remains and payment of the outstanding balance of £50.00 is now due.


Whilst I acknowledge the points raised in your appeal, it remains the responsibility of the passenger to ensure they hold a valid ticket prior to travelling. As you tapped your Contactless card and travelled to a station that does not allow Contactless payments, the inspector was correct to issue a Penalty Fare on this occasion.
The National Rail Conditions of Travel (NRCoT) are also part of that agreement and they apply to all domestic (non-international) journeys by scheduled passenger train services of the train companies on the railway network of Great Britain. If you use Oyster or contactless on a National Rail service (either wholly or as part of a through journey), there are additional conditions to those in the National Rail Conditions of Travel.
I note your point in your appeal regarding contactless allowing you to enter the station. This is due to other stations along the route accepting contactless.
If you are still dissatisfied, a further appeal can be made within 14 days of the date of this letter, clearly quoting the notice number on all communications, to the Independent Appeals Panel (IAP). You may do this online at www.appealservice.co.uk, send by fax to 0844 544 8454 or by post to Independent Appeals Panel... AS will escalate the case to the Independent Appeals Panel on your behalf.

My Evidence for the IAP Appeal:

1. Confusing Infrastructure: I have photos showing that Kelvedon has prominent, pole-mounted yellow smartcard/contactless-style readers right outside the entrance doors and on the platforms. To an infrequent traveler coming from London, these look identical to TfL contactless pads and heavily imply that tapping out is supported.
2. Good Faith: I have kept the physical paper single and return tickets that I bought directly from the inspector on the spot to prove I had zero intent to evade the fare and immediately made the train operating company whole.

Does anyone have advice on how to successfully argue this at Stage 3 with the Independent Panel? Are there any known issues with the clarity of boundary signage at Kelvedon, or specific procedural regulations I should quote regarding "compelling mitigating circumstances" given that I paid the full fare immediately?
Thank you in advance for your help!

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[AlterEgo]

Please post a copy of the notice with your name and personal details removed. There may be a technical flaw with the paperwork which would render it unlawful and reuslt in a slam dunk appeal success. (It is more common than you would think!)

Regrettably, nothing you say about being confused about contactless apparatus or good faith carries much weight with the appeals panel, who basically have to decide whether the penalty fare was issued lawfully. So it is this aspect we need to look at first.

 

[John R]

I have photos showing that Kelvedon has prominent, pole-mounted yellow smartcard/contactless-style readers right outside the entrance doors and on the platforms. To an infrequent traveler coming from London, these look identical to TfL contactless pads and heavily imply that tapping out is supported.

But if an infrequent traveller starts their journey in London, they won't have actually seen those readers before making the decision to tap in. So I think it's a red herring in terms of your argument.

 

[AlterEgo]

It would be helpful if the OP could confirm how they paid the inspector for their journey. Did the inspector sell them a ticket (if so, show it to us!) or did they simply make a part payment of the penalty fare to cover the fare element?

 

[KayAli]

I paid for the ticket via card on the officers machine for the journey from Stratford to Kelvedon.My colleague travels in and out of Kelvedon and she also said they have a tap in machine. Little did she know it is not activated.

 

[jonb]

Kelvedon is my local station and I’ve lived here for over 7 years, it’s very clear you cannot use Contactless/Oyster at this station or beyond Witham towards Colchester/Braintree. There are posters throughout trains and stations with this information, the readers you refer to are for Greater Anglia Smartcards and not Oyster. I’m afraid you’re best to settle up and accept this as a mistake on this occasion.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

If the PF does remain properly due, presume it can still be paid at the reduced £50 rate if settled before the applicable deadline?

 

[AlterEgo]

I paid for the ticket via card on the officers machine for the journey from Stratford to Kelvedon.My colleague travels in and out of Kelvedon and she also said they have a tap in machine. Little did she know it is not activated.

It's simply not relevant to your appeal I'm afraid. Your issue is you took advice from people who were wrong and didn't look up an official source or ask the railway.

Ok, so you've part paid the penalty fare there (which is the important bit - it was not clear if they sold you a Stratford to Kelvedon ticket *as well as penalty faring you* which would be improper).

I'm afraid I don't see any line of appeal which would realistically result in the PF being overturned. That doesn't mean you shouldn't try, but the reality is you were obliged to have a ticket and you did not have one, and the reason for that is not the railway's fault.

 

[greaterangrier]

I will preface this post by saying I am not well versed in penalty fare law. However the following information may change the likelihood of a valid appeal.

Based on the screenshots shown, I have reason to believe that the penalty fare was issued at WITHAM, where contactless IS valid. The boundary for acceptance of contactless is Witham station itself.

In your photos the following data is visible:
Penalty fare issue date: 26 AUG 2026
Receipt for a card payment taken by "Colchester-OB" - presumably the Revenue Protection Officer at xx:23 on some date in August 2026. I believe this is the penalty fare - please confirm.

Cross-checking with train data shows that they were likely to be on train 1F08 08:36 London Liv Street to Colchester Town. At 09:23, it would have been arriving at Witham and at 09:24 it would have departed Witham. https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:P01075/2026-08-26/detailed

IF a contactless payment card was presented BEFORE Witham, in my view the customer should have been given the opportunity to exit the train at Witham, tap out and buy a ticket to their intended destination. This is because at this particular point of inspection (presumably AT or BEFORE Witham station), a tapped in contactless payment card is very likely to be valid because it was being used within the contactless payment zone which goes up to Witham station.

 

[KayAli]

Yes you are absolutely right. The officer came 2 stops before Kelvedon and he clearly stated to me " they have contact less at Witham.but not at Kelveden". I said to him when I checked last night( which i did ) it did not clearly state i had to have a ticket purchased so also assumed contactless was fine. I even approached an officer at Stratford and asked her do I need to purchase a seperate ticket to which she replied contact less is fine if that's how you always travel. Unfortunately I did not take her name because I did not know this situation would occur

 

[AlterEgo]

So the ticket check happened in the contactless zone? I'm a bit confused. Why did you pay the fare portion of the penalty fare then and why did you not just get off at Witham to tap out?

Have you mentioned any of this in your previous appeals?

 

[KayAli]

The officer stated to me "this is the fare for your journey " from Stratford. So I asked him is this the fine? and he said i am issuing the notice and took all my details and then I got off at Kelveden. The screenshot is for the fine notice and my reciept for the purchase of the ticket

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 5 Sep 2026 ==

Apologies, the check happened before in the contactless Zone. Whilst he took all details and che ked others tickets we arrived at Kelveden

 

[AlterEgo]

And did you actually present your contactless card for validation? I think you may be well served requesting any CCTV or body worn video of the encounter from Greater Anglia via a subject access request to supplement your case.

 

[KayAli]

Because this is the first.time I have travelled out and I did not know some of these stations had no contactless, and straight away he said I am giving you a fine for no ticket purchase.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 5 Sep 2026 ==

I clearly stated as soon as he asked for the tickets. I tapped with my card and will tap.out at my destination. He said no that's not allowed as you have travelled without a valid ticket. So I said I am doing contactless, whilst the.train is moving. He had a mother colleague with him.so.i said why are you finding me when I am.willing to pay for my ticket. You have just said I can pay.for my ticket and he said its my colleagues discretion

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 5 Sep 2026 ==

I took my bank card out and presented it on the card reader as I had to pay for the ticket and said this is the card I tapped in with

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 5 Sep 2026 ==

So the ticket check happened in the contactless zone? I'm a bit confused. Why did you pay the fare portion of the penalty fare then and why did you not just get off at Witham to tap out?

Have you mentioned any of this in your previous appeals?

No I have not mentioned this before.

 

[MikeWh]

I think we need to be crystal clear about exactly what happened and where on this. If a contactless card was presented within the contactless zone then it should have been checked. It's fine to ask where you were going, and on being told that it was beyond the contactless zone the correct advice would have been to tell you to alight at Witham and purchase a new ticket for the last leg of the journey. If the conversation started two stops before (Beaulieu Park) then there was plenty of time for him to explain that contactless finished at Witham and you needed to get off by that point. He should further have explained that if you didn't get off he would issue a penalty fare. It was not correct to issue a penalty fare before the train left Witham, unless you either (a) refused to touch your card against his reader when asked, or (b) the card was rejected by the reader.

So, can you confirm in as much detail as possible what happened. Did he ask you to touch your card on the reader? Did you do so? Did he say it was rejected?

Furthermore, have you got an account on the TfL website where you can check your journey history? If not, please go on there and set one up. Then check the journey history for the day. You should find an incomplete journey charge at Leytonstone. This is important evidence that you did indeed have a validated contactless payment card. After you have taken screenshots or printed a pdf of that journey history, then you can go to the section for resolving an incomplete journey. On the basis that the Greater Anglia bit is being dealt with via this penalty fare (and it sounds like you've paid the fare from Stratford) then I would state Stratford as the end of the journey from Leytonstone and the charge will be reduced to the zone 3 tube single fare of £2.30. However, you MUST get evidence of the currently incomplete journey BEFORE resolving it with TfL.

Your answers to all of this will inform how best to phrase the third appeal. On the face of what you've told us it does not appear to have been issued correctly.

 

[jonb]

It’s quite simple, Contactless is not valid beyond Witham and this is explicitly stated on the Greater Anglia website: https://www.greateranglia.co.uk/contactless

 

[KayAli]

I think we need to be crystal clear about exactly what happened and where on this. If a contactless card was presented within the contactless zone then it should have been checked. It's fine to ask where you were going, and on being told that it was beyond the contactless zone the correct advice would have been to tell you to alight at Witham and purchase a new ticket for the last leg of the journey. If the conversation started two stops before (Beaulieu Park) then there was plenty of time for him to explain that contactless finished at Witham and you needed to get off by that point. He should further have explained that if you didn't get off he would issue a penalty fare. It was not correct to issue a penalty fare before the train left Witham, unless you either (a) refused to touch your card against his reader when asked, or (b) the card was rejected by the reader.

So, can you confirm in as much detail as possible what happened. Did he ask you to touch your card on the reader? Did you do so? Did he say it was rejected?

Furthermore, have you got an account on the TfL website where you can check your journey history? If not, please go on there and set one up. Then check the journey history for the day. You should find an incomplete journey charge at Leytonstone. This is important evidence that you did indeed have a validated contactless payment card. After you have taken screenshots or printed a pdf of that journey history, then you can go to the section for resolving an incomplete journey. On the basis that the Greater Anglia bit is being dealt with via this penalty fare (and it sounds like you've paid the fare from Stratford) then I would state Stratford as the end of the journey from Leytonstone and the charge will be reduced to the zone 3 tube single fare of £2.30. However, you MUST get evidence of the currently incomplete journey BEFORE resolving it with TfL.

Your answers to all of this will inform how best to phrase the third appeal. On the face of what you've told us it does not appear to have been issued correctly.

Thank you for this. The 2 officers appeared on the train just as we left the B station(the one you mentioned above) and started asking everyone for their tickets. I stated i tapped in at Leytonstone and tapping out the end of my journey, he said that's not allowed, and you will get a fine. He asked which station are you travelling to.and I said Kelveden, the conversation whilst the train is still moving. So he checked the other passenger tickets.and returned to me. Whilst he was checking tickets I asked what's the next steps? He said pay for your journey and I will taking your details. So I said to both officers why will you take my details for the penalty if I am paying for my journey. I did not intend to evade. The other officer stated it his discretion and the one taking my details said, you discretion not have a valid ticket. Not at any time did he say you can get off at this station they have contact less etc. The othe officer then just guarded the train door.
I have got the proof already from Leytonstone for the incomplete journey. So will also submit that. Hope this information makes sense

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 5 Sep 2026 ==

There was no contact less machine on the train. The officer just had his own card machine. I even said I paid with my bank card you can check i tapped at Leytonstone. He said I dont dispute that but at this moment you dont have a valid ticket. By the time he took.all my details, I purchased the ticket, Kelveden station arrived

 

[jonb]

Thank you for this. The 2 officers appeared on the train just as we left the B station(the one you mentioned above) and started asking everyone for their tickets. I stated i tapped in at Leytonstone and tapping out the end of my journey, he said that's not allowed, and you will get a fine. He asked which station are you travelling to.and I said Kelveden, the conversation whilst the train is still moving. So he checked the other passenger tickets.and returned to me. Whilst he was checking tickets I asked what's the next steps? He said pay for your journey and I will taking your details. So I said to both officers why will you take my details for the penalty if I am paying for my journey. I did not intend to evade. The other officer stated it his discretion and the one taking my details said, you discretion not have a valid ticket. Not at any time did he say you can get off at this station they have contact less etc. The othe officer then just guarded the train door.
I have got the proof already from Leytonstone for the incomplete journey. So will also submit that. Hope this information makes sense

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 5 Sep 2026 ==

There was no contact less machine on the train. The officer just had his own card machine. I even said I paid with my bank card you can check i tapped at Leytonstone. He said I dont dispute that but at this moment you dont have a valid ticket. By the time he took.all my details, I purchased the ticket, Kelveden station arrived

They are correct, you were travelling to a station without Contactless facilities (Kelvedon), had your destination been Witham or prior then there wouldn’t have been an issue. Ultimately, you can go through the appeal process but I’m afraid to say you had no valid ticket for your journey - a lesson learnt for next time hopefully.

 

[Farigiraf]

you had no valid ticket for your journey

The OP had a valid tap-in ongoing when they encountered the staff member, so that's not fully correct. Had they alighted the train before the train departed Witham, which was definitely possible, they could've travelled with a valid ticket. The moment the train left Witham it was no longer valid, but that doesn't matter here as that's not when the penalty fare was issued. The fact that they were intending to travel to Kelvedon is technically intent to travel without a valid ticket but I don't think intent matters particularly in this case.

 

[jonb]

Yes but their intended destination was Kelvedon which is not a valid Contactless location, to be honest it’s quite frustrating the amount of fare evasion between Witham and Colchester so I’m pleased to see GA enforcing this - good luck with the appeal if the OP proceeds with the process. I’ll leave it there…

 

[KayAli]

Thank you for this. The 2 officers appeared on the train just as we left the B station(the one you mentioned above) and started asking everyone for their tickets. I stated i tapped in at Leytonstone and tapping out the end of my journey, he said that's not allowed, and you will get a fine. He asked which station are you travelling to.and I said Kelveden, the conversation whilst the train is still moving. So he checked the other passenger tickets.and returned to me. Whilst he was checking tickets I asked what's the next steps? He said pay for your journey and I will taking your details. So I said to both officers why will you take my details for the penalty if I am paying for my journey. I did not intend to evade. The other officer stated it his discretion and the one taking my details said, you discretion not have a valid ticket. Not at any time did he say you can get off at this station they have contact less etc. The othe officer then just guarded the train door.
I have got the proof already from Leytonstone for the incomplete journey. So will also submit that. Hope this information makes sense

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 5 Sep 2026 ==

There was no contact less machine on the train. The officer just had his own card machine. I even said I paid with my bank card you can check i tapped at Leytonstone. He said I dont dispute that but at this moment you dont have a valid ticket. By the time he took.all my details, I purchased the ticket, Kelveden station arrived

There was no reader on the train, the officers were on the train and he did not ask me to tap anywhere. He said pay the penalty and the fare, so.i said I will pay for the fare bit why the penalty if I am paying for the journey? He said I did not have a ticket. I said I intended to tap out at the other end. He said indont dispute that bit for now I will take your details down. Which he did and asked me to pay for the fare. Which I did.

 

[MotCO]

I think you may be well served requesting any CCTV or body worn video of the encounter from Greater Anglia via a subject access request to supplement your case.

We don't know when the incident occurred, given that two appeals have been submitted and rejected. The OP may be out of time for requesting CCTV recordings since they may have been over-written or are near to being over-written. Therefore the OP needs to apply for the video recordings as soon as possible. How does she do this?

 

[AlterEgo]

Yes but their intended destination was Kelvedon which is not a valid Contactless location, to be honest it’s quite frustrating the amount of fare evasion between Witham and Colchester so I’m pleased to see GA enforcing this - good luck with the appeal if the OP proceeds with the process. I’ll leave it there…

The OP had a valid ticket, so this is neither helpful nor correct. If they've tapped in and not out they've paid more than they ought to for their journey anyway even if they don't meet an RPI.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 5 Sep 2026 ==

We don't know when the incident occurred, given that two appeals have been submitted and rejected. The OP may be out of time for requesting CCTV recordings since they may have been over-written or are near to being over-written. Therefore the OP needs to apply for the video recordings as soon as possible. How does she do this?

It was on 26th August so should be easily available. Apply here. https://portals.dporganizer.com/4edea6e3-dfb4-4e5e-be17-472db93d59c1

 

[MotCO]

I stated i tapped in at Leytonstone and tapping out the end of my journey, he said that's not allowed, and you will get a fine.

How did he know where you were travelling to, because according to the next quote, you only told him where you were travelling to after he said it was not allowed.

He asked which station are you travelling to.and I said Kelveden, the conversation whilst the train is still moving. So he checked the other passenger tickets.and returned to me. Whilst he was checking tickets I asked what's the next steps? He said pay for your journey and I will taking your details. So I said to both officers why will you take my details for the penalty if I am paying for my journey. I did not intend to evade. The other officer stated it his discretion and the one taking my details said, you discretion not have a valid ticket. Not at any time did he say you can get off at this station they have contact less etc. The othe officer then just guarded the train door.

I suspect that your account above was not a true recollection of the timeline, and that you must have told him where you were travelling to before he said it was not allowed, unless the account above is correct, which only makes sense if you had already departed Witham. We need to know which option is correct.

 

[MikeWh]

It’s quite simple, Contactless is not valid beyond Witham and this is explicitly stated on the Greater Anglia website: https://www.greateranglia.co.uk/contactless

They are correct, you were travelling to a station without Contactless facilities (Kelvedon), had your destination been Witham or prior then there wouldn’t have been an issue. Ultimately, you can go through the appeal process but I’m afraid to say you had no valid ticket for your journey - a lesson learnt for next time hopefully.

Yes but their intended destination was Kelvedon which is not a valid Contactless location, to be honest it’s quite frustrating the amount of fare evasion between Witham and Colchester so I’m pleased to see GA enforcing this - good luck with the appeal if the OP proceeds with the process. I’ll leave it there…

To be honest I wish you'd left it before you posted anything. You clearly don't know the ins and outs of contactless PAYG. Unfortunately there are a number of staff working trains where PAYG has been added recently who also don't understand fully, hence we get situations like this. On a Southeastern train heading beyond Dartford there is a clear message saying that Oyster and contactless are not valid beyond Dartford, if you are travelling using PAYG you need to get off the train, touch out and buy a new ticket before continuing your journey.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 5 Sep 2026 ==

Thank you for this. The 2 officers appeared on the train just as we left the B station(the one you mentioned above) and started asking everyone for their tickets. I stated i tapped in at Leytonstone and tapping out the end of my journey, he said that's not allowed, and you will get a fine. He asked which station are you travelling to.and I said Kelveden, the conversation whilst the train is still moving. So he checked the other passenger tickets.and returned to me. Whilst he was checking tickets I asked what's the next steps? He said pay for your journey and I will taking your details. So I said to both officers why will you take my details for the penalty if I am paying for my journey. I did not intend to evade. The other officer stated it his discretion and the one taking my details said, you discretion not have a valid ticket. Not at any time did he say you can get off at this station they have contact less etc. The othe officer then just guarded the train door.
I have got the proof already from Leytonstone for the incomplete journey. So will also submit that. Hope this information makes sense

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 5 Sep 2026 ==

There was no contact less machine on the train. The officer just had his own card machine. I even said I paid with my bank card you can check i tapped at Leytonstone. He said I dont dispute that but at this moment you dont have a valid ticket. By the time he took.all my details, I purchased the ticket, Kelveden station arrived

Sorry to be a pain, but this is really critical. What is the time on the penalty fare notice? Was it issued before or after Witham? Did he really say that using contactless was not allowed before he actually knew where you were going? Please try and remember clearly. Was the other inspector blocking your way off the train until the penalty fare had been issued? Was this at Kelvedon or Witham?

If the inspectors did not have a reader to check your contactless card then that is their problem. If it was still possible to get off while contactless was valid then you should have been directed to do that.

 

[Chiltern 165]

I am sending screenshots of this service from Realtime trains and OpenTrainTimes here (for the Original Poster, these are tools used to show exact train times, straight from the internal railway systems).

(I am doing this RTT puts services two or more weeks ago behind a pay-wall, and OTT deletes records after approximately two weeks)

 

[MotCO]

I am sending screenshots of this service from Realtime trains and OpenTrainTimes here (for the Original Poster, these are tools used to show exact train times, straight from the internal railway systems).

(I am doing this RTT puts services two or more weeks ago behind a pay-wall, and OTT deletes records after approximately two weeks)

I'm not sure that is the train the OP used - she said she boarded at Leytonstone, but this train does not stop there. Did she change somewhere?

The other thing to point out is that the inspector charged her for a ticket from Stratford to Kelvedon, but according to RTT, that train did not stop there. Does that invalidate the Penalty Fare?


== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 5 Sep 2026 ==


I attach below the detailed RTT extract for the probable train the OP used; I've had to screen shot it in three overlapping stages






(Sorry - can't remember how to attach a screenshot as a file!)

 

[MikeWh]

I'm not sure that is the train the OP used - she said she boarded at Leytonstone, but this train does not stop there. Did she change somewhere?

It looks like the arrival log at Stratford got lost which meant that the simple display said it didn't stop. You've both screenshotted the same train.

 

[IanMac]

The OP said she boarded at Leytonstone which is on the TfL Central Line and suggests that she changed to Greater Anglia at Stratford.

However an infrequent user might be referring to Leytonstone High Road on the Suffragette Line, though this does not give handy access to Stratford.

 

[Barnsley]

If it’s any help, this is the trust log for that train