GTR penalty fare cancellation notice, received 14th July - Advice Needed

Anonx said:

Hi everyone,


I am looking for some advice on how to handle an escalation with GTR prosecutions. I received a Penalty Fare Cancellation Notice dated 14th July 2026 (Ref:TSGNPF…) from Julia Burgess, the Senior Fraud and Prosecutions Manager, stating that they may commence legal proceedings without further notice.

The Journey Details:

Date of incident: 1st June 2026

Station started: London Bridge

Station finished: East Croydon

Ticket held: None

Railcard held: None


What happened:

On 1st June, I was stopped by revenue protection officers after traveling from London Bridge to East Croydon without a ticket. The officers only asked for my name and gave me a standard Penalty Fare.

Due to severe financial difficulties, the payment slipped by. On 9th July, I was at home but slept during the day due to my night shifts schedule. By the time I woke up and opened the letter showing the penalty had escalated to £108.50, their phone lines were already closed. The letter stated that the absolute deadline to pay was the next day, 10th July.

I stayed awake throughout the night specifically to call them as soon as their lines opened at 10:00 AM on the 10th. I called their payment line repeatedly. It took 11 attempts to finally get through to an operator.

When I spoke to the advisor, I explained that I didn't have the money to pay the full £108.50 that day and asked if there was any payment plan available. The advisor told me "no, there are no payment plans on this line”, and explicitly told me "you should just wait for the next letter."

Following their staff's direct advice, I waited. The next letter that arrived was the Penalty Fare Cancellation Notice dated 14th July which have only seen today (17th July), saying the case is now with Prosecutions because the deadline passed.

I have since sent an email to ⁠gtr.prosecutions@gtrailway.com⁠ explaining my situation and asking for an Out of Court Settlement, but received their automated "this inbox does not negotiate" reply.

I fully accept responsibility for the mistake on 1st June. However, I am in severe financial hardship and cannot or couldn’t afford £108.50 in a lump sum right now. I desperately want to secure an Out of Court Settlement to avoid court/a criminal record, but I need to request an extension for a week maximum to pay in full or a payment plan.

What should i do when the next letter arrives so they accept a settlement and give me time to pay?

Thank you so much for your help.

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Anonx said:

Hi everyone,


I am looking for some advice on how to handle an escalation with GTR prosecutions. I received a Penalty Fare Cancellation Notice dated 14th July 2026 (Ref:TSGNPF…) from Julia Burgess, the Senior Fraud and Prosecutions Manager, stating that they may commence legal proceedings without further notice.

The Journey Details:

Date of incident: 1st June 2026

Station started: London Bridge

Station finished: East Croydon

Ticket held: None

Railcard held: None


What happened:

On 1st June, I was stopped by revenue protection officers after traveling from London Bridge to East Croydon without a ticket. The officers only asked for my name and gave me a standard Penalty Fare.

Due to severe financial difficulties, the payment slipped by. On 9th July, I was at home but slept during the day due to my night shifts schedule. By the time I woke up and opened the letter showing the penalty had escalated to £108.50, their phone lines were already closed. The letter stated that the absolute deadline to pay was the next day, 10th July.

I stayed awake throughout the night specifically to call them as soon as their lines opened at 10:00 AM on the 10th. I called their payment line repeatedly. It took 11 attempts to finally get through to an operator.

When I spoke to the advisor, I explained that I didn't have the money to pay the full £108.50 that day and asked if there was any payment plan available. The advisor told me "no, there are no payment plans on this line”, and explicitly told me "you should just wait for the next letter."

Following their staff's direct advice, I waited. The next letter that arrived was the Penalty Fare Cancellation Notice dated 14th July which have only seen today (17th July), saying the case is now with Prosecutions because the deadline passed.

I have since sent an email to ⁠gtr.prosecutions@gtrailway.com⁠ explaining my situation and asking for an Out of Court Settlement, but received their automated "this inbox does not negotiate" reply.

I fully accept responsibility for the mistake on 1st June. However, I am in severe financial hardship and cannot or couldn’t afford £108.50 in a lump sum right now. I desperately want to secure an Out of Court Settlement to avoid court/a criminal record, but I need to request an extension for a week maximum to pay in full or a payment plan.

What should i do when the next letter arrives so they accept a settlement and give me time to pay?

Thank you so much for your help.

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Fawkes Cat said:

Welcome to the forum.

I don't think we have seen this particular set of circumstances before, so what I say here is based on what I will expect will happen rather than what I can be certain.

Because the penalty fare has been withdrawn, the railway are now able to go down other routes such as prosecution or going to the civil courts to demand that you pay money to them (what's normally known as a 'County Court Judgment' or 'CCJ').

We don't know what route the railway will go down, but in general this train company (GTR) are fairly willing to settle out of court as long as you stay in contact in writing.

And we don't know what GTR's next step will be: it might be to offer an out of court settlement, or it might be a letter telling you that they are taking you to court.

The letter you have received doesn't seem to have contact details shown at the top, and you've already found that they won't accept an email. But it does have the address for the registered office at the bottom.

So my suggestion would be that you write to the Senior Fraud and Prosecutions Manager at GTR's registered office, offering to pay the £108.50. It may be that they will be prepared to agree to accept it and close the matter.

Of course, that doesn't solve the problem of where you will get the money from. In the circumstances, you may need to think about whether there is anywhere responsible you could borrow the money from - so don't think about loan sharks, but do consider whether you have family you could borrow from. If you're in some sort of faith or national community, is there a church/mosque/gurdwara/synagogue/community society/etc. that you could talk to?

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WesternLancer said:

Welcome
and further to @Fawkes Cat advice I think you need to do the following ASAP - and given they are not going to be working over he weekend in practical terms you have until about 10.30am Saturday morning to get a focussed short letter to them in the post guaranteed next day delivery from your local post office (or you can send it by about 4pm this afternoon).

Get drafting something up ASAP so that it can be checked here before you send it.

In contrast to what Fawkes Cst says - I would actually send this to the GTR prosecutions unit address (but maybe send a copy to the registered address that is the only address on that letter as well) - it is indeed the case that they don't accept this stuff by e-mail and as you found out ringing the payments service was waste of time - the staff member there will almost certainly not have had the authority to overturn the decision that was taken to withdraw the Penalty Fare withdrawal letter decision - as this is the initial stage on escalating the matter (presumably to some sort of court action) following your non payment

But it's unfortunate you missed the Penalty Fare payment timeframe because if you had got this sorted promptly you could have paid it with £50 reduced AIUI

Essentially your draft needs to be as short and focussed as possible and include:

- Your ref number
- A short apology for failing to pay the Penalty Fare (PF) on time and the inconvenience this has caused (I would not get into bothering with the excuses about why you did not pay it originally)
- a polite request to 'ask if they would kindly consider allowing you to pay the sum originally requested at this late stage so that further action can be avoided and the matter resolved promptly and amicably without the need for further action'
- re-assure them that you will pay it in full and promptly should they be able to permit you to do this
- include your full name, full postal address, e-mail address and phone number on what you send - make it easy for them to contact you however they choose - it's in your interests to do so!

Keep a copy of exactly what you send (take a photo of it or scan)

Get drafting this and post your draft here ASAP for checking before you post it
- obviously you are going to need access to a printer - if that is not possible then use super neat handwriting

You will need to sign it and send it guaranteed next day delivery, with postal tracking so you can be sure it gets there to:

Prosecutions Department,
Thameslink Southern Great Northern Railway,
Eastside Offices,
Kings Cross Railway Station,
London N1C 9AX.

and also send a copy to the address on the bottom of that letter you have received

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WesternLancer said:

Welcome
and further to @Fawkes Cat advice I think you need to do the following ASAP - and given they are not going to be working over he weekend in practical terms you have until about 10.30am Saturday morning to get a focussed short letter to them in the post guaranteed next day delivery from your local post office (or you can send it by about 4pm this afternoon).

Get drafting something up ASAP so that it can be checked here before you send it.

In contrast to what Fawkes Cst says - I would actually send this to the GTR prosecutions unit address (but maybe send a copy to the registered address that is the only address on that letter as well) - it is indeed the case that they don't accept this stuff by e-mail and as you found out ringing the payments service was waste of time - the staff member there will almost certainly not have had the authority to overturn the decision that was taken to withdraw the Penalty Fare withdrawal letter decision - as this is the initial stage on escalating the matter (presumably to some sort of court action) following your non payment

But it's unfortunate you missed the Penalty Fare payment timeframe because if you had got this sorted promptly you could have paid it with £50 reduced AIUI

Essentially your draft needs to be as short and focussed as possible and include:

- Your ref number
- A short apology for failing to pay the Penalty Fare (PF) on time and the inconvenience this has caused (I would not get into bothering with the excuses about why you did not pay it originally)
- a polite request to 'ask if they would kindly consider allowing you to pay the sum originally requested at this late stage so that further action can be avoided and the matter resolved promptly and amicably without the need for further action'
- re-assure them that you will pay it in full and promptly should they be able to permit you to do this
- include your full name, full postal address, e-mail address and phone number on what you send - make it easy for them to contact you however they choose - it's in your interests to do so!

Keep a copy of exactly what you send (take a photo of it or scan)

Get drafting this and post your draft here ASAP for checking before you post it
- obviously you are going to need access to a printer - if that is not possible then use super neat handwriting

You will need to sign it and send it guaranteed next day delivery, with postal tracking so you can be sure it gets there to:

Prosecutions Department,
Thameslink Southern Great Northern Railway,
Eastside Offices,
Kings Cross Railway Station,
London N1C 9AX.

and also send a copy to the address on the bottom of that letter you have received

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Anonx said:

Thank you for the quick replies, i really appreciate the help.


I have put together a letter based both your advice.
Regarding the money, I will be able to get the full £108.50
and some extra funds together within the next week.

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Anonx said:

Thank you for the quick replies, i really appreciate the help.


I have put together a letter based both your advice.
Regarding the money, I will be able to get the full £108.50
and some extra funds together within the next week.

Click to expand...

Fawkes Cat said:

That looks fine to me.

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WesternLancer said:

Thanks - Draft ou have pout there is the sort fo thing I had in mind

You need to add the date (ie todays date) and your contact details (but of course don't post them here)

You could maybe wait until tomorrow morning before posting it in order to see other thoughts from others on the forum who may not have had a chance to see it yet, or you could get it posted this afternoon if you prefer to get things moved on - you probably need to get it to a post office by about 3.45pm today to get the next day delivery service

As @Fawkes Cat suggested, also send a copy to that Registered Office address on Monument place - tho I doubt any staff there would deal with this. Confusingly we also saw a recent GTR letter with an address in Brighton on it, that I don't think we had seen before.
annoyingly I didn't make a note of that Brighton address

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Anonx said:

Since my PO is around the corner, i’ll most likely end up posting both copies today. If not, tomorrow.

Contact details and date also included in draft but covered(Signing when printed).

Also had a look for a Brighton address online but couldn’t find anything but ones mentioned previously so i’ll just stick to the 2.

Again, thank you for the help.

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johnny_t said:

Not sure what it is like down South, but the postal service up in the North / Midlands is shocking at the moment, with even first class post taking over a week to arrive. I know it is more money, but is it worth sending on one of the guaranteed next day services ?

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johnny_t said:

Not sure what it is like down South, but the postal service up in the North / Midlands is shocking at the moment, with even first class post taking over a week to arrive. I know it is more money, but is it worth sending on one of the guaranteed next day services ?

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