Issued travel irregularity ticket

trainstrains11 said:

Hi all. Please I need your help and the anxiety of this is killing me.

Total lapse and error yday! I bought a valid train ticket from windsor to putney. And then decided to carry on my journey to Waterloo. I bought a train ticket on trainline for SWR from vauxhall to Waterloo- rather than putney to Waterloo (the difference in price is 25p) just not thinking. The heatwave got to me.

Get to the barrier and its collection only -so I speak to the guard and he calls the enforcement officers.

I panicked and lied and said that I had got off between putney and vauxhall and walked the two stops. He questioned me how I got on to the platform at vauxhall and I said I had just rushed on thinking I could collect the ticket before I got to the barrier. I offered to pay the stops etc. But he issues me a travel irregularity ticket.

He said I wasn't in trouble but it would need investigations. I have felt so worried since, about 30mins after i bought the full ticket i should have had (which was £2.95p). I have no record of anything before but absolutely cannot have a record due to my job.

I am so stupid I should have bought another ticket rather than getting into dialogue or even just tapped out and paid the tfl charge.

Any advice on timelines, next steps and liklihood of action. Shall I admit I panicked when I spoke to the guard? Please help it is eating me alive.

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Alex C. said:

There are plenty of people in this situation, the only thing you can do at present is wait for them to get in touch - SWR are pragmatic about settlements though so if you engage with them, you'll almost certainly be able to avoid any prosecution. Typically, you'd expect to pay an admin fee of ~£100-150 plus the cost of the avoided fare (an anytime single from Windsor to Waterloo)

You should be aware though that SWR will almost certainly get a copy of all of your transaction history from Trainline - if there are more tickets from Vauxhall to Waterloo, or unusual patterns of travel, they will almost certainly pick up on them. If they don't mention them, you shouldn't either but be prepared for them to ask for an explanation for journeys other than the one you were stopped for.

The key is to engage with the process and be honest. Once you receive a letter from here, post a redacted version and you will get help in responding.

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WesternLancer said:

Timeline probably 6 to 8 weeks but look at other swr threads as the dates on the posts will show you typical key points in time. If you’ve not heard in 4 months check back here.

Check for hard copy post and e mail and spam.

Don’t bother telling them about panicking and telling them a lie as they know people do that so youve no reason to do so.

I wouldn’t get into your dog ate my homework excuse about why your ticket was just from Vauxhall either. Even if true They probably won’t believe you because it’s a well known fare evaders short fare origin of choice….

Your objective is to make it clear you won’t ever be doing this sort of thing and to pay them what you owe. That needs to be the focus of your reply.

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SECR 65 said:

After about 4-5 months, you could consider contacting SWR to find out what is being done with your case. The reason for this is that, some Train Operating Companies, not neccecarily SWR, will issue an SJPN when they are almost out of time to prosecute. This basically means that they go straight to court without giving you the chance to settle.

By contacting them, you can settle then, and avoid them sending you straight to court.

However, this comes with the risk that they may have forgotten about your case, and contacting them would spur them to action and make them ask you for money that they weren't going to.

If my memory serves me correctly, SWR are doing better than other TOCs in their prosecution departments regarding backlogs. With any luck, you'll get a letter in a week or two. It could well still be months though.

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