GTR Witness Statement, very nervous

HST_enjoyer · 12 Mar 2026

I received a witness statement on saturday last week. I was travelling from Arlesey to St Pancras, and as I was in a hurry rushed to the platform and boarded the train, only realising I hadn't bought a ticket once I had boarded the train and was asked to produce a ticket by the ticket inspector. This has happened to me once before in summer 2025 and while on that occasion I received a penalty fare, on this occasion I was given a witness statement. I have also had a penalty fare in summer 2024 as a result of forgetting to renew my railcard, this fare while travelling through harlington.

I have read a lot of information on this forum regarding an upcoming letter, and would be very grateful for advice as I am awaiting a letter and am very nervous and ashamed. I have been travelling to work by train almost every day for the last three years outside of holidays, and these three errors were all honest mistakes. I hope that my history of reliably bought tickets would show in my favour, but the fact that I have forgotten to buy a ticket twice and received a penalty for a non renewed railcard worry me quite a lot and I would be grateful for any opinions on likeliness of coming to a settlement, as opposed to a criminal record which would be very bad for my employment prospects.

Thanks

RailUK Forums

jfollows · 12 Mar 2026

I think the consensus here is that they will still settle out of court if you engage with them.
I don’t want to appear judgmental, you are where you are, but I suggest you think why “honest mistakes” have led to two penalty fares and a potential report for prosecution. Is there some way you can change the way you buy tickets to prevent this from happening again?

HST_enjoyer · 12 Mar 2026

jfollows said:
I think the consensus here is that they will still settle out of court if you engage with them.
I don’t want to appear judgmental, you are where you are, but I suggest you think why “honest mistakes” have led to two penalty fares and a potential report for prosecution. Is there some way you can change the way you buy tickets to prevent this from happening again?

Thank you for your response, I am glad to hear a court settlement is likely as my greatest worry is that they may not give me one. thank you also for pointing out that my statement of “honest mistakes” is quite problematic, I hadn’t noticed that but you are absolutely right. The way this has been happening is because I would by tickets once I got out of the car and before entering the station which is quite last minute and leaves me room for mistakes like that to happen, going forward I will make sure to buy these at least a day in advance as this is what friends and family around me make sure to do.

jfollows · 12 Mar 2026

Note also that if you change to buying in advance, you can get the ticket price refunded if you decide not to travel if you do so before the end of the previous day (but not for advance tickets).

Refunds Change | National Rail

From 1 April 2026 the refund conditions for some National Rail train tickets including Anytime tickets, Off-Peak tickets and Day Travelcards are changing.

www.nationalrail.co.uk

From 1 April 2026, if you have one of the above tickets and decide not to use it, you will have until 23:59 the day before it becomes valid to request a refund from the retailer who sold it to you. After that you will only be able to claim a refund if your train service has been delayed or cancelled.

z444z · 13 Mar 2026

Also just so you're aware, you must hold a valid ticket before you board the train, and a ticket bought after the train departs won't be considered valid at all.

GTR will settle. Just wait for the letter and come back here for help when it arrives

HST_enjoyer · 2 Jun 2026

Hello everyone, after three months of intense waiting I have received the letter from GTR with notice of intention to prosecute. I have once again read through many posts on this forum to help writing my response back. I would be deeply grateful for any thoughts or advice on how to make sure this letter is sincere, appropriate and gives me the best chance of settling the matter without it escalating to court.

Draft:

Dear Fare Evasion Manager,

I am writing in response to the notice of intention to prosecute letter dated on 29th May 2026.

I would first like to apologise to Govia Thameslink Railway and take full responsibility for not travelling with a ticket on the 7th of March. I am greatly ashamed and deeply grateful for the opportunity that I have been provided with to address this.

I now understand the consequences of behaviour such as this has for the rail industry and for other passengers and I am regretful and truly sorry for my actions. This has been a much needed wake-up call and I will not repeat this mistake. Since this incident on the 7th of March I have made sure to always buy the correct tickets for every journey I have taken and will not do this again.

I would be very grateful if you would consider settling this matter with Govia Thameslink Railway without the need for court action and I am ready to pay what I owe promptly in full along with costs arising from your investigation.

I would like to apologise again for my poor judgment, and assure you of my full cooperation with Govia Thameslink Railway that I will settle what I owe and act responsibly going forward.

Yours sincerely

XXX

I have attached the letter I received below for reference (with address and reference redacted). I am particularly concerned firstly whether I should include an account of what happened, as in the letter they say this is an opportunity to tell them what happened from my point of view and would be thankful for any thoughts regarding if this is necessary.

I am also wondering whether I would be best to address the two other occasions I mentioned earlier on summer 2024 and 2025, I haven't mentioned these as this letter only refers to the one but I fear they will likely check.

Thanks in advance

gray1404 · 3 Jun 2026

Take out the words "much needed" as that implies to them that there are other occasions they do not know about.

Do not refer to the other times you were issued with a penalty fare. Just focus on the matter at hand.

Apart from that the letter sounds good and I think you can confidently submit it and they may offer you a settlement.

John R · 3 Jun 2026

If I read that letter, it’s tone, with words like ashamed and behaviour, would make me conclude it was deliberate fare evasion. Yet you say it was an honest mistake.

If it was an honest mistake, maybe the wording could be clearer to that effect?

HST_enjoyer · 3 Jun 2026

gray1404 said:
Take out the words "much needed" as that implies to them that there are other occasions they do not know about.

Do not refer to the other times you were issued with a penalty fare. Just focus on the matter at hand.

Apart from that the letter sounds good and I think you can confidently submit it and they may offer you a settlement.

Thank you so much for your thoughts, it is true that much needed is a bit more incriminating and I will make sure to get it changed

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 3 Jun 2026 ==

John R said:
If I read that letter, it’s tone, with words like ashamed and behaviour, would make me conclude it was deliberate fare evasion. Yet you say it was an honest mistake.

If it was an honest mistake, maybe the wording could be clearer to that effect?

Thank you very much for this, I had seen other letters being a lot more honest so hadn't thought to argue this but if this is the case I will see if I can reword it to make the nature of my mistake clearer!

WesternLancer · 3 Jun 2026

John R said:
If I read that letter, it’s tone, with words like ashamed and behaviour, would make me conclude it was deliberate fare evasion. Yet you say it was an honest mistake.

If it was an honest mistake, maybe the wording could be clearer to that effect?

Yes, certainly this - for an honest mistake it's important to apologise (e.g. for not taking care enough) but to make it clear it was not deliberate - e.g. a phrase like 'please be assured I had no intention to evade paying the correct fare' is the sort of thing that it may be worth saying.

HST_enjoyer · 4 Jun 2026

Hi all, and thank you so much for the advice, I am extremely grateful for the suggestions. I have been fortunate enough to look over this issue with a lawyer who has provided an amended letter. I have seen on this forum that speaking with a lawyer who does not expertise in fare evasion can be a potential hazard, so I would be extremely grateful for peoples views on this before I proceed.

Dear Fare Evasion Manager

I acknowledge receipt of the Notice of Intended Prosecution dated 29th May 2026.

I fully accept that on 7th March 2026 upon inspection at Hitchin I failed to hand over a ticket for inspection and verification of validity when asked to do so by an authorised person.

I am grateful for the opportunity to provide an account of what occurred and I would be extremely grateful if consideration could be given to an out of court of disposal of this matter by way of an administrative penalty.

On 7th March 2026 I was rushing to Arlesey Station and arriving just in time for the train departing I fully accept that I took the foolish decision to board without first purchasing a ticket.

I had hoped to be able to purchase a ticket on the train but fully accept that I ought to have done so prior to boarding.

I fully accept that I acted with poor judgement, and I deeply regret doing so.

I fully appreciate the repercussions of such actions for the rail industry and passengers, and I wish to sincerely apologise.

My lack of judgement has placed me in a precarious position as if this matter proceeds to court, I now understand that a criminal record will ensue and this would in turn result in serious consequences for my future employment prospects.

I am a X-year-old PGCE student on the cusp of qualification as a xx teacher.

I graduated from xx followed by a Diploma in piano performance from xx and I am currently completing my teacher training with xx. I am required to complete placements within schools, and I am currently applying for permanent positions within education for the next academic year.

Any pending prosecution or conviction will have a detrimental impact on my applications and in all probability would result in the end of my career prospects in education, something that I have worked towards for the past 7 years.

I take full responsibility for placing myself in this position, but I would invite you to consider that the potential personal consequences are such that I could be afforded a final opportunity to retain my clean record and to pursue a career that I have worked so hard to achieve.

I am getting married in xx and I will be taking on additional responsibility which is another factor for me to take into consideration in the future when I am required to make judgements.

The threat of prosecution and the loss of my career are very real prevention triggers for me in the future.

I am willing and able to make payment in full of any administrative penalty with the assurance given that this will never happen again as I genuinely have so much to lose.

Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any further queries.

Kind Regards

XX

Trainman40083 · 4 Jun 2026

That is a very long letter. Far too long.

Fawkes Cat · 4 Jun 2026

HST_enjoyer said:
Hi all, and thank you so much for the advice, I am extremely grateful for the suggestions. I have been fortunate enough to look over this issue with a lawyer who has provided an amended letter. I have seen on this forum that speaking with a lawyer who does not expertise in fare evasion can be a potential hazard, so I would be extremely grateful for peoples views on this before I proceed.

Dear Fare Evasion Manager

I acknowledge receipt of the Notice of Intended Prosecution dated 29th May 2026.

I fully accept that on 7th March 2026 upon inspection at Hitchin I failed to hand over a ticket for inspection and verification of validity when asked to do so by an authorised person.

I am grateful for the opportunity to provide an account of what occurred and I would be extremely grateful if consideration could be given to an out of court of disposal of this matter by way of an administrative penalty.

On 7th March 2026 I was rushing to Arlesey Station and arriving just in time for the train departing I fully accept that I took the foolish decision to board without first purchasing a ticket.

I had hoped to be able to purchase a ticket on the train but fully accept that I ought to have done so prior to boarding.

I fully accept that I acted with poor judgement, and I deeply regret doing so.

I fully appreciate the repercussions of such actions for the rail industry and passengers, and I wish to sincerely apologise.

My lack of judgement has placed me in a precarious position as if this matter proceeds to court, I now understand that a criminal record will ensue and this would in turn result in serious consequences for my future employment prospects.

I am a X-year-old PGCE student on the cusp of qualification as a xx teacher.

I graduated from xx followed by a Diploma in piano performance from xx and I am currently completing my teacher training with xx. I am required to complete placements within schools, and I am currently applying for permanent positions within education for the next academic year.

Any pending prosecution or conviction will have a detrimental impact on my applications and in all probability would result in the end of my career prospects in education, something that I have worked towards for the past 7 years.

I take full responsibility for placing myself in this position, but I would invite you to consider that the potential personal consequences are such that I could be afforded a final opportunity to retain my clean record and to pursue a career that I have worked so hard to achieve.

I am getting married in xx and I will be taking on additional responsibility which is another factor for me to take into consideration in the future when I am required to make judgements.

The threat of prosecution and the loss of my career are very real prevention triggers for me in the future.

I am willing and able to make payment in full of any administrative penalty with the assurance given that this will never happen again as I genuinely have so much to lose.

Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any further queries.

Kind Regards

XX

My feeling is that while that's longer than we would suggest, it will probably get you the outcome you want.

But in terms of the potential consequences of being prosecuted for fare dodging, I think you're rather overstating the consequences. Except for the fact that it would breach their privacy, I could name at least one school music teacher who hasn't been prevented from progressing in their career by having a conviction for fare dodging - and it's also my understanding that their case isn't isolated (source - my wife used to work as an admissions officer for the Education Faculty for a teacher training institution: she also clerked the criminal convictions panel). That's not to say you can ignore it - it's obviously better not to have a criminal conviction than to have one - but the life destroying consequences you fear almost certainly won't happen.

WesternLancer · 4 Jun 2026

Trainman40083 said:
That is a very long letter. Far too long.

Maybe the advisor charges by the word

Haywain · 4 Jun 2026

Agreed, it is far, far too long.

gray1404 · 4 Jun 2026

Let's cut this down. Take out the bits about what you graduated in and about you getting married.

antharro · 4 Jun 2026

Right. GWR aren't going to care about your personal circumstances; to be quite blunt, it's not their problem.

All of the above posters are right, the letter is far too long. Here are some edits.

Dear Fare Evasion Manager

I acknowledge receipt of the Notice of Intended Prosecution dated 29th May 2026.

~~I fully accept that~~ on 7th March 2026 upon inspection at Hitchin I failed to hand over a ticket for inspection ~~and verification of validity when asked to do so by an authorised person~~.

I am grateful for the opportunity to provide an account of what occurred and I would be extremely grateful if consideration could be given to an out of court of disposal of this matter by way of an administrative penalty.

~~On 7th March 2026~~ I was rushing to Arlesey Station and arriving just in time for the train departing I fully accept that I took the foolish decision to board without first purchasing a ticket.

I had hoped to be able to purchase a ticket on the train but fully accept that I ought to have done so prior to boarding.

I fully accept that I acted with poor judgement, and I deeply regret doing so.

I fully appreciate the repercussions of such actions for the rail industry and passengers, and I wish to sincerely apologise.

My lack of judgement has placed me in a precarious position as if this matter proceeds to court, I now understand that a criminal record will ensue and this would in turn result in serious consequences for my future employment prospects.

I am a X-year-old PGCE student on the cusp of qualification as a xx teacher.

I graduated from xx followed by a Diploma in piano performance from xx and I am currently completing my teacher training with xx. I am required to complete placements within schools, and I am currently applying for permanent positions within education for the next academic year.

Any pending prosecution or conviction will have a detrimental impact on my applications and in all probability would result in the end of my career prospects in education, something that I have worked towards for the past 7 years.

I take full responsibility for placing myself in this position, but I would invite you to consider that the potential personal consequences are such that I could be afforded a final opportunity to retain my clean record and to pursue a career that I have worked so hard to achieve.

I am getting married in xx and I will be taking on additional responsibility which is another factor for me to take into consideration in the future when I am required to make judgements.

The threat of prosecution and the loss of my career are very real prevention triggers for me in the future.

~~I am willing and able to make payment in full of any administrative penalty with the assurance given that this will never happen again as I genuinely have so much to lose.~~

~~Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any further queries.~~

Kind Regards

This leaves you with:

Dear Fare Evasion Manager

I acknowledge receipt of the Notice of Intended Prosecution dated 29th May 2026.

On 7th March 2026 upon inspection at Hitchin I failed to hand over a ticket for inspection. I was rushing to Arlesey Station and arriving just in time for the train departing I fully accept that I took the foolish decision to board without first purchasing a ticket. I had hoped to be able to purchase a ticket on the train but fully accept that I ought to have done so prior to boarding. I fully accept that I acted with poor judgement, and I deeply regret doing so.

I would be extremely grateful if consideration could be given to an out of court of disposal of this matter by way of an administrative penalty.

Kind Regards

That's a good start for a letter, but it is just that, a start. I would throw in some apologies, then post it here for a final check-over.

WesternLancer · 4 Jun 2026

HST_enjoyer said:
Hi all, and thank you so much for the advice, I am extremely grateful for the suggestions. I have been fortunate enough to look over this issue with a lawyer who has provided an amended letter. I have seen on this forum that speaking with a lawyer who does not expertise in fare evasion can be a potential hazard, so I would be extremely grateful for peoples views on this before I proceed.

Dear Fare Evasion Manager

I acknowledge receipt of the Notice of Intended Prosecution dated 29th May 2026.

I fully accept that on 7th March 2026 upon inspection at Hitchin I failed to hand over a ticket for inspection and verification of validity when asked to do so by an authorised person.

I am grateful for the opportunity to provide an account of what occurred and I would be extremely grateful if consideration could be given to an out of court of disposal of this matter by way of an administrative penalty.

On 7th March 2026 I was rushing to Arlesey Station and arriving just in time for the train departing I fully accept that I took the foolish decision to board without first purchasing a ticket.

I had hoped to be able to purchase a ticket on the train but fully accept that I ought to have done so prior to boarding.

I fully accept that I acted with poor judgement, and I deeply regret doing so.

I fully appreciate the repercussions of such actions for the rail industry and passengers, and I wish to sincerely apologise.

My lack of judgement has placed me in a precarious position as if this matter proceeds to court, I now understand that a criminal record will ensue and this would in turn result in serious consequences for my future employment prospects.

I am a X-year-old PGCE student on the cusp of qualification as a xx teacher.

I graduated from xx followed by a Diploma in piano performance from xx and I am currently completing my teacher training with xx. I am required to complete placements within schools, and I am currently applying for permanent positions within education for the next academic year.

Any pending prosecution or conviction will have a detrimental impact on my applications and in all probability would result in the end of my career prospects in education, something that I have worked towards for the past 7 years.

I take full responsibility for placing myself in this position, but I would invite you to consider that the potential personal consequences are such that I could be afforded a final opportunity to retain my clean record and to pursue a career that I have worked so hard to achieve.

I am getting married in xx and I will be taking on additional responsibility which is another factor for me to take into consideration in the future when I am required to make judgements.

The threat of prosecution and the loss of my career are very real prevention triggers for me in the future.

I am willing and able to make payment in full of any administrative penalty with the assurance given that this will never happen again as I genuinely have so much to lose.

Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any further queries.

Kind Regards

XX

Yes as others have said best to edit this down if you can.
Imagine your job is to read a large number of such letters a day (maybe over 50 or so) process them and decide what action to take.
You’re not really going to want to spend much time reading about people’s careers/personal issues etc

They do need to know that :
You now understand what you did was wrong
You have learned from it and won’t do it again
You’re keen to pay them what you owe and avoid court.

I’m not saying there is much wrong with the content. More that they don’t need to read a fair chunk of it.

Have a go at editing it down a bit but don’t lose your key messages

I can see your legal contact has been a good help here though as it looks well worded to avoid further incrimination etc which is always important.

HST_enjoyer · 12 Jun 2026

Hello all, thank you so much for the advice and thoughts regarding my earlier draft, with suggestions to cut things down and remove different elements, I just thought I would share an update:

I ended up sending the letter off earlier last week, due to stresses and various other issues in personal life I sent it quite quickly in its previous form, and I recently received a response with a settlement of less than £100. I am extremely grateful for the advice and responses I received here and for peoples kind words putting it into perspective and greatly relieved to have received this positive response.

John R · 12 Jun 2026

Great to hear that you've got a settlement. You must be very relieved!

As an aside though, if I got that letter from a lawyer I'd be very unimpressed. 16 paragraphs, most of which are just one sentence long is an extremely badly structured letter in my opinion.

Mattplans · 12 Jun 2026

Great news, thank you for keeping us updated.

WesternLancer · 12 Jun 2026

HST_enjoyer said:
Hello all, thank you so much for the advice and thoughts regarding my earlier draft, with suggestions to cut things down and remove different elements, I just thought I would share an update:

I ended up sending the letter off earlier last week, due to stresses and various other issues in personal life I sent it quite quickly in its previous form, and I recently received a response with a settlement of less than £100. I am extremely grateful for the advice and responses I received here and for peoples kind words putting it into perspective and greatly relieved to have received this positive response.

good outcome. thanks for sharing the info

GTR Witness Statement, very nervous

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