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!
I usually travel between Sunbury and Vauxhall always using a pre-purchased ticket; using the flexi ticket (8 tickets to be used in a 4 week period). It ran out yesterday and I forgot to buy a new one.
However, Today I ran from home to Clapham Junction (training for marathon…) and in the rush / not thinking I went through the barriers (they were open) and got on a train from Clapham to Vauxhall.
At Vauxhall I realised I didn’t have my usual ticket. So I bought a single from Clapham Junction to Vauxhall (after my journey). The revenue people stopped me and gave me a Report for Prosecution.
I wasn’t trying to evade buying a ticket, but through a combination of forgetting / doing a different journey to normal etc I ended up not having one before travelling.
If you weren’t trying to evade the fare, why would you buy only a ticket from Vauxhall? The train company will see this as clear intent to evade the fare, given you didn’t board there.
If you weren’t trying to evade the fare, why would you buy only a ticket from Vauxhall? The train company will see this as clear intent to evade the fare, given you didn’t board there.
I usually travel between Sunbury and Vauxhall always using a pre-purchased ticket; using the flexi ticket (8 tickets to be used in a 4 week period). It ran out yesterday and I forgot to buy a new one.
However, Today I ran from home to Clapham Junction (training for marathon…) and in the rush / not thinking I went through the barriers (they were open) and got on a train from Clapham to Vauxhall.
At Vauxhall I realised I didn’t have my usual ticket. So I bought a single from Clapham Junction to Vauxhall (after my journey). The revenue people stopped me and gave me a Report for Prosecution.
I wasn’t trying to evade buying a ticket, but through a combination of forgetting / doing a different journey to normal etc I ended up not having one before travelling.
I assume they took your name and address correctly. They will write to you within the coming weeks (may take a while) in a threatening tone mentioning prosecutions, but asking you to explain events from your point of view. Likely by post but also keep an eye on your e-mail and spam.
If you do not respond to them this will automatically escalate to court action against you (along with the hundreds of others that get sent to court where people have ignored them - rail ticket issues are often criminal offences - so not like a parking ticket type thing, and thus must be taken seriously - as you are no doubt doing by heading here for advice)
You committed an offence (as you may know) by boarding the train without your ticket having been bought before stepping on the train - so at the end of the day they could prosecute you for this anyway - but if you look at other threads you will see the usual advice on how to ask them if they will allow you to settle this out of court.
However, the problem is that if your usual journey is from Sunbury what you did looks like deliberate 'short faring' evasion combined when 'pay when challenged' - ie buying a short distance ticket when you see there is a check on at the exit gates - so you will have to try to convince them that it wasn't.
Things to think about are
- will they find a regular pattern of tickets bought on line (but not scanned at gates at the boarding station) from Clapham Jct to Vauxhall (unhelpful) - or was this the first time you have ever bought one (helpful) ?
- Is there anything you can use to support your claim you ran from Sunbury to Clapham Jct? (even if it's not 100% proof something on your phone that traced your route? if so save a copy of it, or did buy anything on route for which you have a receipt, so as to demonstrate you were not on the train).
Essentially you need to convince them this was a genuine one off mistake, and not deliberate evasion.
meanwhile you need to wait until you hear from them. If they agree to settle out of court it will likely be a cost of the fare plus an 'admin fee' for them to look into this of c£150 offered as the settlement. A Penalty Fare (£100 or £50 if paid promptly) would have been cheaper and easier to deal with but unfortunately that was not issued - probably because they suspect deliberate evasion.
When you hear from them head back here for help on how best to word your reply
Hope this helps you know what to expect
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
If you weren’t trying to evade the fare, why would you buy only a ticket from Vauxhall? The train company will see this as clear intent to evade the fare, given you didn’t board there.
destination was genuinely Vauxhall as I understand it, origin was Clapham Jct (so this isn't the usual case we see of people going to Waterloo from further out and only buying from Vauxhall to get thru the gates at Waterloo
Railway will also wonder why contactless or Oyster was not used for a Clapham Jct - Vauxhall journey I suspect too. But if OP forgot to tap in / buy ticket at origin I suspect they believed the only option to retrospectively buy a ticket on arrival at Vauxhall was to buy a single ticket on line via the likes of Trainline in order to regularise their journey payment / exit thru barriers / show ticket inspectors.
Of course in all this I am presuming the OP is being 100% honest here.
They won’t bother with CCTV, but they also probably won’t believe you “ran there” from Sunbury on Thames - distance of some 13 miles, to take a one stop train journey of 2.5 miles - without it being substantiated. It’s not that common to be able to access the platforms at Clapham Junction without tapping in or using a ticket, so they will assume you travelled from Sunbury which doesn’t have gates and that you just short fared. They come across this sort of practice thousands of times a year.
No - they won't bother with CCTV - you will just be one of hundreds of people with ticket irregularities they stop today.
Mind you it might be an idea for you to request CCTV if you think it will help you prove you didn't board at Sunbury - if so request it quickly from the station operators (probably either SWR or Southern I'm not sure) - no doubt their websites will have info on how you can make a formal request for the CCTV you want. Don't tell them much about why you want it if that's possible. You have not yet been accused of not boarding at Clapham Jct yet, but by the time you hear form them with any accusation the CCTV will likely have been wiped anyway
But in terms of an offence they would simply go with the one that they caught you for - which is boarding a train without a valid ticket - proved by your showing a ticket that you had bought at Vauxhall ie after the journey, which will be time stamped with the purchase time. Which you probably tried to explain at Vauxhall - and thus have already admitted to doing. So they don't need CCTV anyway.
No, theye are going to write to you and ask for your version of events. If you feel you need CCTV footage to prove that you boarded at Clapham Junction it is up to you to ask for it. And, as stated above, it seems unusual for the gates at Clapham Junction to be open which throws doubt on your story. All the CCTV will achieve really is to prove that you committed an offence by boarding at Clapham Junction without first buying a ticket.
The blunt reality is that a cynical and sceptical investigator is highly unlikely to believe your story, as the evidence they will see has all the hallmarks of someone short faring their journey, together with a rather implausible (to them) story of someone running 13 miles before starting work to Clapham Jn. So if they offer you a settlement, it will almost certainly be based on you actually starting your journey at Sunbury, which you would be best advised to accept, rather than risk them not believe your story and move to prosecution.
If they find other tickets from stations between Sunbury and Vauxhall, particularly Clapham, which have not been scanned at entry then they would certainly suspect a pattern of more frequent fare evasion, which would again make your story even less credible.
I usually travel between Sunbury and Vauxhall always using a pre-purchased ticket; using the flexi ticket (8 tickets to be used in a 4 week period). It ran out yesterday and I forgot to buy a new one.
However, Today I ran from home to Clapham Junction (training for marathon…) and in the rush / not thinking I went through the barriers (they were open) and got on a train from Clapham to Vauxhall.
At Vauxhall I realised I didn’t have my usual ticket. So I bought a single from Clapham Junction to Vauxhall (after my journey). The revenue people stopped me and gave me a Report for Prosecution.
I wasn’t trying to evade buying a ticket, but through a combination of forgetting / doing a different journey to normal etc I ended up not having one before travelling.
If you have your own problem then please start your own thread, giving us the information set out in the pinned thread for the disputes board, and experts here will be very happy to advise you if the best way forward.
Whilst we always welcome feedback on progress from posters seeking help here, as it helps fine tune our advice for future cases, there is no obligation for them to do so.
We are aware of an issue with emails from the Forum to Microsoft-based email accounts (hotmail/outlook/live.com email addresses). This is being looked into currently, thanks for your patience meanwhile.
