Gave incorrect information when stopped for travelling with wrong ticket

Hi all,

Before I explain what happened, I am aware that I am extremely foolish and made a stupid mistake. I am having a tight month with money and stupidly panicked when asked for my details and ended up giving my middle names and a random address. I do not need to be told how stupid it was and whatever you think about it I guarantee I think twice as badly of myself currently.

I walked away and left the station and turned around about 5 minutes later to come back and try and remedy the situation but was told they wouldn’t be there any longer so to call a phone number, that number then told me to reach out to a different number which isn’t open until tomorrow morning.

I was also told by multiple train staff to leave it as there was no way of them to contact me which although potentially true doesn’t change the fact I want to get in front of this and fix the situation.

I have taken money out of savings and am fully ready to pay whatever fine I have to but is there anything else anyone recommends I do before calling the number tomorrow?

Thanks in advance.

Hello @cmd123 - firstly, have a read through the forum sticky (linked) advice and then please add all the missing info into your opening post, so that we can assist you

Ok apologies.
My journey was from Haywards Heath to Waterloo, and then back which is the one I got stopped on, between Gatwick and Haywards Heath. When I saw the ticket officer I tried to buy a Gatwick to Haywards Heath ticket however this was obviously clocked and then when they asked for details I did as I said above.

I had a return from Clapham junction to Waterloo that was valid but it was the Clapham junction to Haywards Heath ticket that was not as I only had a wivelsfield to Haywards Heath ticket.

As we pulled into Haywards Heath we got off the train and they walked away to tell a colleague, as they did this I basically got pushed and told to go out the other exit (bit of a daze but just blindly did it) and that is when I came back 5 minutes after to try and resolve the issue.

Ok you've been doughnutting and have been caught.

The railway is well used to people giving incorrect details and, from the railway's perspective, this is remedied by following the trail back from the e-ticket they scanned to your real details (they are legally entitled to do this and indeed do it all the time). As well as your real details, they will also see your purchase history and are smart enough to draw the correct conclusion if they see ticket purchases for Haywards Heath local journeys plus Clapham Junction - Waterloo/Victoria journeys on the same day.

Unless you have been extraordinarily unlucky by being caught the first time you've done this, the railway will see how many times it's happened before and could well factor that into an out of court settlement offer they may choose to make to you in order to dispose of the matter. They also have the option to move to prosecution, particularly if you are uncooperative, which means you would receive a criminal record upon conviction. That said, this is GTR, so playing nice with them normally results in an out of court settlement offer that is for somewhat less than would be acceptable to certain other train companies.

In terms of next steps, I'll bow to the experts who contribute here. They may advise you to contact GTR Prosecutions to provide your correct details. Whichever, you should expect GTR to contact you by post or email asking you for your side of the story. When that happens I recommend that you come back here for excellent advice on what you need to do next.

And one more thing, stop doing what you've been doing and buy the correct tickets for your rail travel. If you don't do this, the chances of experiencing a lot of pain in the future will increase significantly as you are already on their radar.

What kind of ticket did you have? Paper? E-Ticket? Other?

Egg Centric said:

What kind of ticket did you have? Paper? E-Ticket? Other?

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The OP says he bought a ticket when he saw the revenue inspector.

FenMan said:

The OP says he bought a ticket when he saw the revenue inspector.

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Thanks, sorry I'm blind today

FenMan said:

Ok you've been doughnutting and have been caught.

The railway is well used to people giving incorrect details and, from the railway's perspective, this is remedied by following the trail back from the e-ticket they scanned to your real details (they are legally entitled to do this and indeed do it all the time). As well as your real details, they will also see your purchase history and are smart enough to draw the correct conclusion if they see ticket purchases for Haywards Heath local journeys plus Clapham Junction - Waterloo/Victoria journeys on the same day.

Unless you have been extraordinarily unlucky by being caught the first time you've done this, the railway will see how many times it's happened before and could well factor that into an out of court settlement offer they may choose to make to you in order to dispose of the matter. They also have the option to move to prosecution, particularly if you are uncooperative, which means you would receive a criminal record upon conviction. That said, this is GTR, so playing nice with them normally results in an out of court settlement offer that is for somewhat less than would be acceptable to certain other train companies.

In terms of next steps, I'll bow to the experts who contribute here. They may advise you to contact GTR Prosecutions to provide your correct details. Whichever, you should expect GTR to contact you by post or email asking you for your side of the story. When that happens I recommend that you come back here for excellent advice on what you need to do next.

And one more thing, stop doing what you've been doing and buy the correct tickets for your rail travel. If you don't do this, the chances of experiencing a lot of pain in the future will increase significantly as you are already on their radar.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. I assume based on what I’ve read elsewhere I should just get on the front foot and email gtr saying the details aren’t quite right and updating them with the correct ones.

My only thing being I don’t have a reference number so I guess I just give the name I gave (my middle names) and say what the updated name should be/address?

In regards to doughnutting I’ve not done it for long but yes there will be multiple journeys, maybe 10-15. I understand its stupid and was only really using it as a stopgap until I got on top of money (foolish I know) but I always intended to go back to purchasing tickets correctly, not that it is an excuse.

cmd123 said:

Thanks for the reply. I assume based on what I’ve read elsewhere I should just get on the front foot and email gtr saying the details aren’t quite right and updating them with the correct ones.

My only thing being I don’t have a reference number so I guess I just give the name I gave (my middle names) and say what the updated name should be/address?

In regards to doughnutting I’ve not done it for long but yes there will be multiple journeys, maybe 10-15. I understand its stupid and was only really using it as a stopgap until I got on top of money (foolish I know) but I always intended to go back to purchasing tickets correctly, not that it is an excuse.

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There may be an argument for not contacting them yet and waiting for some weeks to see if they contact you.
Tho they usually do this by hard copy post so if you gave false address you won’t receive that and then problem is you can’t co-operate with them to seek to solve it before potential court action without getting their letter.

If you’ve not heard anything in that time period then come back here for further advice.

They don’t accept anything other than change of address details by e mail so you may need to post a letter hard copy. Simple enough we can provide postal address.

Can give you a simple template letter that you could use that would not include anything much that incriminates yourself.

Why don’t you have a reference number? Did you just walk off?

cmd123 said:

I walked away and left the station

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cmd123 said:

I basically got pushed and told to go out the other exit

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Well, whatever the truth of this is, it appears that you didn't give enough information to be traced and haven't been given any paperwork either. I think that you need to stop fare-dodging before it properly catches up with you and hope that this case goes away, as seems likely.

WesternLancer said:

There may be an argument for not contacting them yet and waiting for some weeks to see if they contact you.
Tho they usually do this by hard copy post so if you gave false address you won’t receive that and then problem is you can’t co-operate with them to seek to solve it before potential court action without getting their letter.

If you’ve not heard anything in that time period then come back here for further advice.

They don’t accept anything other than change of address details by e mail so you may need to post a letter hard copy. Simple enough we can provide postal address.

Can give you a simple template letter that you could use that would not include anything much that incriminates yourself.

Why don’t you have a reference number? Did you just walk off?

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Yes, foolishly walked off, as I said I got pushed in the other direction and fight or flight kicked in, although I did try and go back to the platform shortly after so the flight didn’t work very well!

They still scanned my online ticket that I had bought on Trainline so assume they’ll have my name/address/email.

Regardless of this I do want to get out in front of this if it isn’t going to lead to more issues because I accept what I did shouldn’t have been done and would like to pay what I owe now I am able to (may seem contradictory but as mentioned above this wasn’t a long term thing).

I do have access to the address it will be sent to I believe but I honestly can’t remember if I gave the right house number so again that may be an issue.

Fully aware these are all self inflicted issues but would obviously prefer to settle out of court before it blows up my life/job, hence why I wondered whether reaching out could help facilitate this.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 4 Aug 2026 ==

Haywain said:

Well, whatever the truth of this is, it appears that you didn't give enough information to be traced and haven't been given any paperwork either. I think that you need to stop fare-dodging before it properly catches up with you and hope that this case goes away, as seems likely.

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I’m not arguing it was an incredibly foolish thing to do, I sort of kicked into a trance and just left, again no excuse.

They did scan my Trainline ticket that I had just bought so assume they will have a way to track me or contact me, but again I do want to get in front of this if possible (although if it would be more beneficial to wait then I will also do that).

cmd123 said:

Yes, foolishly walked off, as I said I got pushed in the other direction and fight or flight kicked in, although I did try and go back to the platform shortly after so the flight didn’t work very well!

They still scanned my online ticket that I had bought on Trainline so assume they’ll have my name/address/email.

Regardless of this I do want to get out in front of this if it isn’t going to lead to more issues because I accept what I did shouldn’t have been done and would like to pay what I owe now I am able to (may seem contradictory but as mentioned above this wasn’t a long term thing).

I do have access to the address it will be sent to I believe but I honestly can’t remember if I gave the right house number so again that may be an issue.

Fully aware these are all self inflicted issues but would obviously prefer to settle out of court before it blows up my life/job, hence why I wondered whether reaching out could help facilitate this.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 4 Aug 2026 ==


I’m not arguing it was an incredibly foolish thing to do, I sort of kicked into a trance and just left, again no excuse.

They did scan my Trainline ticket that I had just bought so assume they will have a way to track me or contact me, but again I do want to get in front of this if possible (although if it would be more beneficial to wait then I will also do that).

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Not giving an address to the railway is a separate offence (tho not one we have ever seen a case of on here that I can recall in last 5 years or so anyone coming for help about being prosecuted about so they are probably just used to people lying and know that if the ticket offence eventually went to court ultimately the court bailiffs might be able to track the person down to secure the court fine etc) so giving a wrong address may also be an offence.

I'll dig out the suggested template draft for you later - then you can decide if you want to use it and if so, when you wish to send it.

WesternLancer said:

Not giving an address to the railway is a separate offence (tho not one we have ever seen a case of on here that I can recall in last 5 years or so anyone coming for help about being prosecuted about so they are probably just used to people lying and know that if the ticket offence eventually went to court ultimately the court bailiffs might be able to track the person down to secure the court fine etc) so giving a wrong address may also be an offence.

I'll dig out the suggested template draft for you later - then you can decide if you want to use it and if so, when you wish to send it.

Click to expand...

That would be really helpful, thank you.

I did give an address which I have access to, but it could go to the neighbours, either way I can talk to the neighbours and just say that there’s a chance they get a letter addressed to xy and if so could they reach out to me.

Do you think it’s worth waiting given there is a good chance I get emailed about it/I receive the information at that address or do you think it makes sense to get in front of it due to the fact I walked away and didn’t end up getting a penalty notice/fine?

cmd123 said:

That would be really helpful, thank you.

I did give an address which I have access to, but it could go to the neighbours, either way I can talk to the neighbours and just say that there’s a chance they get a letter addressed to xy and if so could they reach out to me.

Click to expand...

This might work if you think it's reliable. If they send you a letter you REALLY need to get it (or it escalates to court like a conveyor belt) - can you rely on their neighbours to actually bother to tell you - everyone in the house who might get and handle any post?

cmd123 said:

Do you think it’s worth waiting given there is a good chance I get emailed about it/

Click to expand...

What train company is this - Thameslink / Southern? - they don't seem to ever send stuff by e-mail

cmd123 said:

I receive the information at that address or do you think it makes sense to get in front of it due to the fact I walked away and didn’t end up getting a penalty notice/fine?

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were they going to give you a Penalty Fare? I suspect not - they were likely to want to 'Report you for investigation' - which is a pathway to court action and a court fine if found guilty - not a £100 Penalty Fare you see on the posters at stations
Or did they say they were going to issue you with a Penalty Fare (A Penalty Fare isn't a fine, although it seems like one to most people) - it's meant for ticketing errors, not suspected deliberate evasion

do you think it makes sense to get in front of it due to the fact I walked away and didn’t end up getting a penalty notice/fine?

Click to expand...

I tend to advocate 'doing the right thing' so the former. Others here will probably say lying low might work

If it escalates to curt (esp without you knowing about it) then there is a lot more hassle to sort it out, and the money it ends up costing you almost certainly higher then trying to sort it now. Tho no one hear can guarantees exactly what will happen - just a view based on seeing loads of cases on here over time and the patterns they follow.

This case is kind of worst case scenario if things happen without you know so not intending to scare you at all - but it gives an idea of the hassle it can cause if you want to skim through it

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 4 Aug 2026 ==

cmd123 said:

That would be really helpful, thank you.

I did give an address which I have access to, but it could go to the neighbours, either way I can talk to the neighbours and just say that there’s a chance they get a letter addressed to xy and if so could they reach out to me.

Do you think it’s worth waiting given there is a good chance I get emailed about it/I receive the information at that address or do you think it makes sense to get in front of it due to the fact I walked away and didn’t end up getting a penalty notice/fine?

Click to expand...

It's your call what to do but if you do wish to write to them about your address contact details etc I would suggest along lines below without going into more detail about what you did.
So for example all you should say in your letter / e mail is



Dear Sir/ Madam

I was stopped on x date at y location and questioned about the validity of my rail ticket.

I was given this ref number xxxxx

Unfortunately I did not give fully accurate personal details and I would like to apologise for this.

The details I gave were: (the name and address you told them - without a ref number they will need this to match any details they did take down I would assume)

Please note my correct name and address is: …..


My e-mail address is:

Please could you update your records so that I can receive anything you may need to send me about this matter.

Yours faithfully


Your Name




Their address is

Assuming it was GTR -

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

Here is an e-mail address for them that might be of help to you to inform them

email: gtr.prosecutions@gtrailway.com – This mailbox cannot be used to appeal

WesternLancer said:

This might work if you think it's reliable. If they send you a letter you REALLY need to get it (or it escalates to court like a conveyor belt) - can you rely on their neighbours to actually bother to tell you - everyone in the house who might get and handle any post?


What train company is this - Thameslink / Southern? - they don't seem to ever send stuff by e-mail


were they going to give you a Penalty Fare? I suspect not - they were likely to want to 'Report you for investigation' - which is a pathway to court action and a court fine if found guilty - not a £100 Penalty Fare you see on the posters at stations
Or did they say they were going to issue you with a Penalty Fare (A Penalty Fare isn't a fine, although it seems like one to most people) - it's meant for ticketing errors, not suspected deliberate evasion



I tend to advocate 'doing the right thing' so the former. Others here will probably say lying low might work

If it escalates to curt (esp without you knowing about it) then there is a lot more hassle to sort it out, and the money it ends up costing you almost certainly higher then trying to sort it now. Tho no one hear can guarantees exactly what will happen - just a view based on seeing loads of cases on here over time and the patterns they follow.

This case is kind of worst case scenario if things happen without you know so not intending to scare you at all - but it gives an idea of the hassle it can cause if you want to skim through it

Help with HMCTS baliffs

First time here and posting after recommendation from a someone on Reddit, hi everyone. I’m based in London and had bailiffs turn up at my mother house this morning. I’ve actually been homeless since March 2023 and have been staying in between my mum and my dads and a few other places, but have...

www.railforums.co.uk

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If I’m honest, id rather be out of pocket now than risk something like that happening/potential criminal record. I also agree it is just doing the right thing (something I hope I have got across in this thread that I have genuinely wanted to do).

It was a southern rail train and as far as what I was going to be given, it sounds like a cop out but I don’t remember much of the conversation, would agree with your judgement that it would have been a report for investigation but couldn’t honestly say.

I also wouldn’t trust the letter to find its way to me even if I speak to the neighbours, so probably further pushes me towards proactively reaching out.

WesternLancer said:

This might work if you think it's reliable. If they send you a letter you REALLY need to get it (or it escalates to court like a conveyor belt) - can you rely on their neighbours to actually bother to tell you - everyone in the house who might get and handle any post?


What train company is this - Thameslink / Southern? - they don't seem to ever send stuff by e-mail


were they going to give you a Penalty Fare? I suspect not - they were likely to want to 'Report you for investigation' - which is a pathway to court action and a court fine if found guilty - not a £100 Penalty Fare you see on the posters at stations
Or did they say they were going to issue you with a Penalty Fare (A Penalty Fare isn't a fine, although it seems like one to most people) - it's meant for ticketing errors, not suspected deliberate evasion



I tend to advocate 'doing the right thing' so the former. Others here will probably say lying low might work

If it escalates to curt (esp without you knowing about it) then there is a lot more hassle to sort it out, and the money it ends up costing you almost certainly higher then trying to sort it now. Tho no one hear can guarantees exactly what will happen - just a view based on seeing loads of cases on here over time and the patterns they follow.

This case is kind of worst case scenario if things happen without you know so not intending to scare you at all - but it gives an idea of the hassle it can cause if you want to skim through it

Help with HMCTS baliffs

First time here and posting after recommendation from a someone on Reddit, hi everyone. I’m based in London and had bailiffs turn up at my mother house this morning. I’ve actually been homeless since March 2023 and have been staying in between my mum and my dads and a few other places, but have...

www.railforums.co.uk

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 4 Aug 2026 ==



It's your call what to do but if you do wish to write to them about your address contact details etc I would suggest along lines below without going into more detail about what you did.
So for example all you should say in your letter / e mail is



Dear Sir/ Madam

I was stopped on x date at y location and questioned about the validity of my rail ticket.

I was given this ref number xxxxx

Unfortunately I did not give fully accurate personal details and I would like to apologise for this.

The details I gave were: (the name and address you told them - without a ref number they will need this to match any details they did take down I would assume)

Please note my correct name and address is: …..


My e-mail address is:

Please could you update your records so that I can receive anything you may need to send me about this matter.

Yours faithfully


Your Name




Their address is

Assuming it was GTR -

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

Here is an e-mail address for them that might be of help to you to inform them

email: gtr.prosecutions@gtrailway.com – This mailbox cannot be used to appeal

Click to expand...

This is really helpful, thank you. I will send an email on my lunch break with the same content and saying I will send a letter and then when home will send the letter, is there anything else you recommend?

cmd123 said:

This is really helpful, thank you. I will send an email on my lunch break with the same content and saying I will send a letter and then when home will send the letter, is there anything else you recommend?

Click to expand...

At this stage I would think your plan covers it ok.

Just head back here with whatever response you get.

If you get no response then check back here in about four months anyway so you can consider any options that might be relevant.