SWR prosecution advice

Hello all,

I have been short fairing + buying children’s tickets on Trainline for much of 3 years. I believed I was above the law and eventually have been caught. I do feel extremely bad and embarrassed and accept my fate that I will have to pay a substantial amount.

I was picked up by a SWR revenue protection officer. When they go through my train line history they will see that I have a bad history. I am wondering if SWR can enforce me to pay money to both South Eastern and Southern Rail as well or will I just get charged for my journeys with SWR.

Thanks in advance !!

They will enforce on behalf of all train companies (indeed, the revenue for a great many tickets is split between different companies anyway).

AlterEgo said:

They will enforce on behalf of all train companies (indeed, the revenue for a great many tickets is split between different companies anyway).

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1. No Authority to Collect Competitors' Money
Under the National Rail Conditions of Travel and the Regulation of Railways Act 1889, a train company can only seek a financial settlement or criminal prosecution for the specific journeys where their own trainssuffered a financial loss. SWR's financial auditors have no legal power to collect or manage debt belonging to another private company. [1]

2. SWR Filters Out Other Brands
When SWR requests your data log from Trainline, their automated script looks strictly at transactions matching SWR routes (like your Mitcham and Balham travel history). Any tickets bought for Southeastern journeys (such as Waterloo East to London Bridge) are treated as irrelevant noise by the SWR investigators and are ignored.

This is what my google AI conversation told me - thought I’d double check here. What are your thoughts on that?

Thanks again for the reply

MacMan said:

I am wondering if SWR can enforce me to pay money to both South Eastern and Southern Rail as well or will I just get charged for my journeys with SWR.

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They will, and the alternative is prosecution.

Haywain said:

They will, and the alternative is prosecution.

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Thanks! I was reported on Saturday - any idea how long it would take to receive the letter/email?

MacMan said:

Thanks! I was reported on Saturday - any idea how long it would take to receive the letter/email?

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Have a look over some other SWR threads on the forum - your activity is not especially uncommon - it will be some weeks - esp if they have to get the data for your overall evasion - which they will do as that is standard practice for SWR - could easily be 4 to 8 weeks before you hear. If you want to avoid court it is vital that you receive and engage with them when they write to you - which could be hard copy post or e-mail so check spam too.

WesternLancer said:

Have a look over some other SWR threads on the forum - your activity is not especially uncommon - it will be some weeks - esp if they have to get the data for your overall evasion - which they will do as that is standard practice for SWR - could easily be 4 to 8 weeks before you hear. If you want to avoid court it is vital that you receive and engage with them when they write to you - which could be hard copy post or e-mail so check spam too.

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Thank you - unfortunately I have next to no savings to my name I’m about to relocate to my origin country. Therefore any money I do have is tied up there. Do you think SWR offer payment plans in a situation like this.

WHATEVER YOU DO , DO NOT DELETE YOUR TRAINLINE ACCOUNT AS SWT WILL STILL BE ABLE TO SEE IT AND YOU WONT

THIS WOULD PUT YOU AT REAL DISADVANTAGE

soccermad said:

WHATEVER YOU DO , DO NOT DELETE YOUR TRAINLINE ACCOUNT AS SWT WILL STILL BE ABLE TO SEE IT AND YOU WONT

THIS WOULD PUT YOU AT REAL DISADVANTAGE

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Thanks ! I accept my fate however bad it may be !

When you receive there letter come back and post a copy on here with all personal details and ref number redacted (BEFORE YOU RESPOND IN ANY WAY)

People on here will then be able to offer the best advice on how to deal with SWT on this situation

What do you think I should do - I leave the country on September 1 (pre planned departure not fleeing the country or anything) if they send me a letter o obviously won’t receive it. I have no relations in the UK to forward it to either?

MacMan said:

What do you think I should do - I leave the country on September 1 (pre planned departure not fleeing the country or anything) if they send me a letter o obviously won’t receive it. I have no relations in the UK to forward it to either?

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When it gets to 2 or 3 weeks before your departure date, if you have no heard from SWR by then you should write to them informing them of your new permanent address overseas (and probably give them an e-mail address as well for them to contact you on)

We can check your letter before you send it, and can offer a basic template letter for this that you can use.

Thank you everyone fo

WesternLancer said:

When it gets to 2 or 3 weeks before your departure date, if you have no heard from SWR by then you should write to them informing them of your new permanent address overseas (and probably give them an e-mail address as well for them to contact you on)

We can check your letter before you send it, and can offer a basic template letter for this that you can use.

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thanks for your help - I will post the letter/email in here.

MacMan said:

1. No Authority to Collect Competitors' Money
Under the National Rail Conditions of Travel and the Regulation of Railways Act 1889, a train company can only seek a financial settlement or criminal prosecution for the specific journeys where their own trainssuffered a financial loss. SWR's financial auditors have no legal power to collect or manage debt belonging to another private company. [1]

2. SWR Filters Out Other Brands
When SWR requests your data log from Trainline, their automated script looks strictly at transactions matching SWR routes (like your Mitcham and Balham travel history). Any tickets bought for Southeastern journeys (such as Waterloo East to London Bridge) are treated as irrelevant noise by the SWR investigators and are ignored.

This is what my google AI conversation told me - thought I’d double check here. What are your thoughts on that?

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It's wrong. On both counts. If you don't pay up, they'll prosecute you; they certainly can collect monies on behalf of other train companies to leverage settlement, that is how the railway works. You can search the forum to see how SWR acts in this regard.

MacMan said:

Thank you - unfortunately I have next to no savings to my name I’m about to relocate to my origin country. Therefore any money I do have is tied up there. Do you think SWR offer payment plans in a situation like this.

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They do not typically offer payment plans but when the times comes you can ask them - the fact that you may be abroad when they finally get round to contacting you might well change their approach, because they may take the view that threatening to prosecute you in a UK court has less 'weight' than threatening that to a UK citizen. But you will just have to wait and see what they say.

This may, from your point of view, depend on whether you have future plans to ever come back to the UK either for work or as a tourist - for example if you had an outstanding court debt that was unpaid it could possibly remain on the systems at border and immigration control and you might not want to find out about that for the first time when you arrive at a UK airport in x years time...

But we are a long way off all of that - all you can do for now is watch your post and head back here for specific advice when they do actually contact you. Presumably you gave then an accurate name and postal address where they can contact you until at least you leave the UK in September?

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

MacMan said:

1. No Authority to Collect Competitors' Money
Under the National Rail Conditions of Travel and the Regulation of Railways Act 1889, a train company can only seek a financial settlement or criminal prosecution for the specific journeys where their own trainssuffered a financial loss. SWR's financial auditors have no legal power to collect or manage debt belonging to another private company. [1]

2. SWR Filters Out Other Brands
When SWR requests your data log from Trainline, their automated script looks strictly at transactions matching SWR routes (like your Mitcham and Balham travel history). Any tickets bought for Southeastern journeys (such as Waterloo East to London Bridge) are treated as irrelevant noise by the SWR investigators and are ignored.

This is what my google AI conversation told me - thought I’d double check here.

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MacMan said:

What are your thoughts on that?

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Its completely wrong - don't waste time on asking AI any questions relating to this if it gets basic stuff like this wrong and tells you the exact opposite of what happens.

MacMan said:

This is what my google AI conversation told me - thought I’d double check here. What are your thoughts on that?

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My thoughts are that believing AI is something only fools do.

You might find the general advice often given on this forum helpful for you to understand what happens and how - here is a copy of that for you to look over - have a good read of this:


Firstly, you committed a criminal offence by travelling with an invalid ticket and railway companies are entitled to prosecute you in the Magistrates Court if they want to. The good news is they will normally offer an out of court settlement to people who co-operate with them and who haven't come to their attention before.

Next, what happens is the railway company will write to you. The letter will go to the address that you gave them / on any of your ID they checked so you need to be able to access hard copy post at that address as they often send things that way (but also check e-mail and spam). It is extremely important that you reply, and you'll only have a limited time to do so (often 14 days from the date on their communication).

When you receive the letter post a redacted copy of it in this thread, along with your draft reply and forum members will proof read it for you. You'll find lots of example letters you can use in this section of the forum but the reply basically needs to mention:

- That you are sorry for what has happened
- What you have learned from the incident and will not do this again
- That you are keen to settle the matter without the need for court action
- Offer to pay the outstanding fare and the railway company’s administrative costs in dealing with the matter

The railway will probably offer you an out of court settlement. Expect to have to pay the cost of the fare for the journey you made at the full Anytime rate with no credit given for the invalid ticket you purchased. In addition they will charge an admin fee, typically £150. They will also audit your online ticket purchase history and if this shows you've purchased other tickets that were not valid (eg railcard discounted tickets when you did not have a valid railcard, or tickets for only part of the journey, or tickets bought after boarding the train you travelled on ) they will probably factor the cost of these journeys into the settlement offer. Depending on how many journeys you've made over the period concerned this could end up being expensive.

Settlements usually have to be paid in full within a few days of them being offered so if money is tight you might want to think about how you will raise the sum required at short notice.

AlterEgo said:

It's wrong. On both counts. If you don't pay up, they'll prosecute you; they certainly can collect monies on behalf of other train companies to leverage settlement, that is how the railway works. You can search the forum to see how SWR acts in this regard.

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Would you suggest they will chase the money I owe southern and south eastern ? Is that normal in this situation. Trying to figure out how much they’ll want from me.

MacMan said:

What do you think I should do - I leave the country on September 1 (pre planned departure not fleeing the country or anything) if they send me a letter o obviously won’t receive it. I have no relations in the UK to forward it to either?

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I suggest notifying them of your address in your country of origin as soon as you know what it will be. You never know, they may even put you in the "too difficult to deal with pile" (wouldn't get your hopes up, but worth a try).

MacMan said:

Would you suggest they will chase the money I owe southern and south eastern ? Is that normal in this situation. Trying to figure out how much they’ll want from me.

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Yes. They will look at fares that have not been paid correctly, and expect you to pay the amount requested in return for not being prosecuted.

Egg Centric said:

I suggest notifying them of your address in your country of origin as soon as you know what it will be. You never know, they may even put you in the "too difficult to deal with pile" (wouldn't get your hopes up, but worth a try).

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Fingers crossed thanks !

MacMan said:

Would you suggest they will chase the money I owe southern and south eastern ? Is that normal in this situation. Trying to figure out how much they’ll want from me.

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These companies are just operators o train services on behalf of the UK government (who subsidise the whole UK railway system) - ultimately think of it as if they are just collecting fares on behalf of the government. All of your fares that SWR regard as suspicious they will ask you to clarify if they were legitimate or not. If you can't provide supporting evidence to suggest the fares were legitimate then they will charge you for them. It does not matter which company operated the trains those tickets were used on.

It sounds like what you are doping now, checking your records to see how many faces you have evaded and thus work out what you might owe them, is a good thing to do - list that out and keep the info private to yourself whilst you wait to hear from them.

Here are some SWR threads you can read to get an idea of how things tend to play out.

WesternLancer said:

These companies are just operators o train services on behalf of the UK government (who subsidise the whole UK railway system) - ultimately think of it as if they are just collecting fares on behalf of the government. All of your fares that SWR regard as suspicious they will ask you to clarify if they were legitimate or not. If you can't provide supporting evidence to suggest the fares were legitimate then they will charge you for them. It does not matter which company operated the trains those tickets were used on.

It sounds like what you are doping now, checking your records to see how many faces you have evaded and thus work out what you might owe them, is a good thing to do - list that out and keep the info private to yourself whilst you wait to hear from them.

Here are some SWR threads you can read to get an idea of how things tend to play out.

SWR Short Fare

Hello all, Thanks in advance for any help - Around the 20th of April I was questioned at Vauxhall for a short fare from Clapham Junction. It was a simple mistake but I appreciate this does not matter. Over the course of a few years I'd say it's possible I have done this 4/5 times - really...

www.railforums.co.uk

SWR Prosecution Email

Hi, Posting as I've received a letter from the SWR Prosecutions Department. Back in March, I was stopped at Waterloo (travelling from Walton-on-Thames) for not having a valid 16-17 Railcard. My 16-25 Railcard expired in 2022. I've used the 16-17 discount between Apr 2024 - Mar 2026 which...

www.railforums.co.uk

SWR Fare Evasion - Railcard Misuse

I was reported by SWR in January 2026 after travelling using a Railcard-discounted ticket without holding a valid Railcard. I received a Travel Irregularity Report at the time. Over four months later, I have now received an email from an SWR Investigator stating that they have identified...

www.railforums.co.uk

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Thanks very helpful

MacMan said:

Would you suggest they will chase the money I owe southern and south eastern ? Is that normal in this situation. Trying to figure out how much they’ll want from me.

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Yes that is normal, they will recover all the fares evaded.

Thank you mate! Will post back here when I receive info from SWR

MacMan said:

Thank you mate! Will post back here when I receive info from SWR

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make a note to contact them with your overseas address a couple of weeks before you leave the UK - you will need to do this via their Revenue Protection / Prosecutions section (not customer services) contact details for when you need them

if they gave you paperwork or a slip with a ref number on when you were stopped keep it safe / make a copy of it - eg photo on your phone
probably this:


prosecutions@swrailway.com


Prosecutions Department

South Western Railway Ltd

FREEPOST

SWR Prosecutions Department

WesternLancer said:

make a note to contact them with your overseas address a couple of weeks before you leave the UK - you will need to do this via their Revenue Protection / Prosecutions section (not customer services) contact details for when you need them

if they gave you paperwork or a slip with a ref number on when you were stopped keep it safe / make a copy of it - eg photo on your phone
probably this:


prosecutions@swrailway.com


Prosecutions Department

South Western Railway Ltd

FREEPOST

SWR Prosecutions Department

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Hi mate thanks - I’ve already lost the slip… wasn’t thinking straight after they had caught me and I threw it out. Will be moving to a brand new country so won’t have an address until I’m there - 6 month work contract ahead of me as well so the finances are going to take a battering. Self inflicted I know!!

MacMan said:

Hi mate thanks - I’ve already lost the slip… wasn’t thinking straight after they had caught me and I threw it out. Will be moving to a brand new country so won’t have an address until I’m there - 6 month work contract ahead of me as well so the finances are going to take a battering. Self inflicted I know!!

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OK - well it's not ideal that you have lost the slip but if you make a note of when and where you were stopped plus also given them the address that yo gave when you were stopped (ie your UK address) then they will probably be able to latch your case.

So if your contract is 6 months does that mean it is likely that you will return to UK? If so it's more important to seek to settle this outside of court and avoid court action in my view. This should be achievable if you co-operate with them (by which getting and answering their letter / e-mail, with advice from here on how to do that, is the key thing really)

Will you have a temporary address overseas? - They will probably communicate with you by e-mail as SWR seem happy to do that - but it's useful for them to know you have left the UK as it may mean they pursue you with less vigour than they would if they think you are still in UK - so it's in your intertest to back up your claim of moving abroad with an address, in my view.

WesternLancer said:

OK - well it's not ideal that you have lost the slip but if you make a note of when and where you were stopped plus also given them the address that yo gave when you were stopped (ie your UK address) then they will probably be able to latch your case.

So if your contract is 6 months does that mean it is likely that you will return to UK? If so it's more important to seek to settle this outside of court and avoid court action in my view. This should be achievable if you co-operate with them (by which getting and answering their letter / e-mail, with advice from here on how to do that, is the key thing really)

Will you have a temporary address overseas? - They will probably communicate with you by e-mail as SWR seem happy to do that - but it's useful for them to know you have left the UK as it may mean they pursue you with less vigour than they would if they think you are still in UK - so it's in your intertest to back up your claim of moving abroad with an address, in my view.

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Yes have all the relevant details ie. time and place - I was fully co-operative at the time and gave correct details I think the inspector even asked me wether I wanted an email or letter.

I will have an address at some point, hopefully by mid September. I don’t plan on returning to the UK after the 6 months as I’m not originally from here, obviously don’t want to do anything that will result in me not having the ability to travel back here at some point in the future.

Don’t want the criminal record so will look to settle out of court. Doesn’t help I have literally no money to my name but I’ll try my best.

MacMan said:

Yes have all the relevant details ie. time and place - I was fully co-operative at the time and gave correct details I think the inspector even asked me wether I wanted an email or letter.

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SWR usually send initial contact by hard copy post, but tend to be happy to continue the conversation by email.

MacMan said:

I will have an address at some point, hopefully by mid September. I don’t plan on returning to the UK after the 6 months as I’m not originally from here, obviously don’t want to do anything that will result in me not having the ability to travel back here at some point in the future.

Don’t want the criminal record so will look to settle out of court. Doesn’t help I have literally no money to my name but I’ll try my best.

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They are likely to ask for all of the money upfront with little notice.

I don't know how court stuff works for non-UK residents. Note that as far as I understand it we as a forum are legally forbidden from offering immigration advice.