hello my brother got a letter saying 21 days to respond because he didn’t buy a ticket and he used the day before ticket as it was not used, as he arrived he offered to buy a ticket as soon as he arrived to Waterloo it was a printable ticket and he didn’t even print it out but he instantly offered to purchase a ticket but the officer that came didn’t give him that chance to purchase a ticket, he then took his details he suffers with anxiety and adhd and doesn’t like confrontations and waiting around groups of people he just likes to leave as quick as he can, I know he is wrong and shouldn’t of done that but they didn’t tell him how much they would fine him or what happens next what is the best way to communicate with swr as he now needs to email them.
-
Our new ticketing site is now live! Using either this or the original site (both powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!
Swr letter that come and said I have 21 days to respond
- Thread starter calito11
- Start date
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R
RailUK Forums
soccermad
Member
If you share an anonymised version of the letter on this thread, you will receive lots of god advice to help you navigate there next steps
WesternLancer
Veteran Member
- Joined
- 12 Apr 2019
- Messages
- 15,426
Welcome.
Whilst you wait for some specific advice you could have a look over some other threads involving SWR to get the general idea of how to prepare a response.
Don’t send a reply until you get the proposed wording checked here however. People will help you get it right.
From the date on the letter when does the 21 days run out?
Hopefully you still have some time left to get the reply ready without rushing it.
Basically it needs an apology, assure them travel without a valid ticket won’t happen again, and offer to pay any fare owed.
Fawkes Cat
Established Member
- Joined
- 8 May 2017
- Messages
- 5,347
To add to this, the most likely outcome is that the railway will ask for payment of the fare, plus an admin fee of maybe £150.
If your brother doesn't get offered that, he could be taken to court. But the punishment there would be a fine (which with other costs would most probably add up to even more): he wouldn't be sent to prison. Note also that for some careers he might need to tell employers or similar.
So basically the worst that can happen is that this will be a bit expensive to sort out.
WesternLancer
Veteran Member
- Joined
- 12 Apr 2019
- Messages
- 15,426
Basically if your brother does not respond to this letter from them (but of course you can help him with his reply if he would like you to) then the railway company will just escalate this to court prosecution - which you really want to avoid.
It's easy to avoid that by engaging with them by sending a reply and asking to resolve the matter by paying any fare due. The letter or e-mail SWR have sent should tell you how they want a reply (eg either by post or e-mail) - if that's not clear then share the letter they have sent here but make sure your brothers name and address and any ref number are not shown, so as to protect his privacy. So it is really important to reply to the letter.
You'll find lots of example letters you can use in this section of the forum but the reply basically needs to say:
- That you are sorry for what has happened
- What you have learned from the incident and will not do this again, and will make sure to have a correct valid ticket before getting on the train, on every train journey in future
- 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
If they agree to this (which they usually do) any payment will have to be paid in full within a few days of them asking so it's best to save that now.
Before your brother sends the reply it would be best to post a draft of the proposed reply here so people can help check it for you and get it as good as it can be.
Hope this helps. If you have any other questions just ask.
I am writing in response to your letter dated 07 October 2026 regarding the incident referred to in your correspondence.
I acknowledge what happened and accept that I was in the wrong. I sincerely apologise for my actions and for the inconvenience and costs caused to South Western Railway.
I now understand the seriousness of what I did and recognise that I should have purchased the correct fare for my travel. I regret my decision and have learned from this experience. I can assure you that this will not happen again.
But I would also like to say I suffer with anxiety and become real nervous in confrontations, I understand that this is my problem and I deal with it everyday but would have been nice to be spoken to more fairly, I also did offer to pay the fair upfront I said before any report was written that I would pay the ticket costs instantly as I thought I had a ticket to cover me for that day, I didn’t know I was unable to use it until I arrived but I do apologise and this won’t happen again but please know i do have anxiety and suffer from it everyday so any confrontations my body fights to evade it and this happens when around a large group of people, one last time I do apologise and it for sure won’t happen again.
I would be grateful if South Western Railway would consider resolving this matter by way of an out-of-court settlement. I am willing to pay the fare avoided together with your administrative costs in order to resolve the matter without the need for legal proceedings.
I apologise again for my actions and respectfully ask that you consider allowing me to resolve this matter without prosecution.
Yours sincerely,
My name
Is this good?
WesternLancer
Veteran Member
- Joined
- 12 Apr 2019
- Messages
- 15,426
Looks pretty good in my view. I have just shortened one section and made some minor adjustments that you could consider if you wish. I hope these are clear in the version below:
------------------------------------------------
Dear Sir / Madam
Ref Number: [insert ref number they have used]
I am writing in response to your letter dated 07 October 2026 regarding the incident referred to in your correspondence.
I acknowledge what happened and accept that I was in the wrong. I sincerely apologise for my actions and for the inconvenience and costs caused to South Western Railway.
I now understand the seriousness of what I did and recognise that I should have purchased the correct fare for my travel. I regret my decision and have learned from this experience. I can assure you that this will not happen again.
On the day in question I thought I had a ticket to cover me for my journey that day, and I didn’t know I was unable to use it until I arrived at Waterloo. I also offered to pay for a new ticket immediately. I would also like to say I suffer with anxiety and become really nervous in confrontational situations especially involving groups of people. I understand that this is my problem and I deal with it everyday but this affected the situation on that day.
I would be grateful if South Western Railway would consider resolving this matter by way of an out-of-court settlement. I am willing to pay the fare avoided together with your administrative costs in order to resolve the matter without the need for legal proceedings.
I apologise again for my actions and respectfully ask that you consider allowing me to resolve this matter without prosecution.
Yours sincerely,
My name