Failed to print ticket accidentally

[Cambridge76]

My normal commute is Cambridge to Kings Cross return - a couple of times a week. Each day, I buy an online ticket with the barcode that scans easily.

Once last Summer I stayed over in London near Elephant and Castle, knowing I needed to get an early train back (0600-ish). I bought the ticket online, and made the mistake of assuming it would be a barcode.

I got the train from Elephant - where there are no gates - and came out at St Pancras, where the gates were open at that early time of day. I then got on the connecting train at Kings Cross, where again the gates were open. At Potters Bar someone came to check tickets and I discovered that I should have printed them off. The long and the short of it is that I am now going to court because of not travelling with a ticket.

I have been commuting into London for around 15 years and have never attempted to defraud the train companies. Here also, they cannot possibly argue that I was trying to defraud them - I had purchased the ticket!

I accept I should have noticed it wasn't the normal e-ticket I get automatically on trainline, but this seems bonkers.

Any thoughts? Thanks

 

[AlterEgo]

Unfortunately you do need to print the tickets off. The staff don't know if your intention is to claim ignorance and then refund the uncollected tickets after the fact, or know if you haven't printed them already and given them to someone else or sold them.

When did this incident happen? What, if any, correspondence have you received from the train company involved? Please show us any letters/emails with your personal details removed.

 

[WesternLancer]

My normal commute is Cambridge to Kings Cross return - a couple of times a week. Each day, I buy an online ticket with the barcode that scans easily.

Once last Summer I stayed over in London near Elephant and Castle, knowing I needed to get an early train back (0600-ish). I bought the ticket online, and made the mistake of assuming it would be a barcode.

I got the train from Elephant - where there are no gates - and came out at St Pancras, where the gates were open at that early time of day. I then got on the connecting train at Kings Cross, where again the gates were open. At Potters Bar someone came to check tickets and I discovered that I should have printed them off. The long and the short of it is that I am now going to court because of not travelling with a ticket.

I have been commuting into London for around 15 years and have never attempted to defraud the train companies. Here also, they cannot possibly argue that I was trying to defraud them - I had purchased the ticket!

I accept I should have noticed it wasn't the normal e-ticket I get automatically on trainline, but this seems bonkers.

It would be extremely unusual for court to be the next step here - usually you would be sent a letter asking for 'your version of events' which is your chance to apologise and seek to pay them what is owed. See lots of examples on this forum

-Did you ever get such a letter?

-Have you moved house since the incident and not had post forwarded?

- When is the court date on the papers you have received?

That is essentially the deadline you have in which you can still seek to settle the matter out of court if they will agree to this. This should be your urgent objective now I would think.

People here can help you get a letter ready to request that, to send in the next 24 hours, but as mentioned it will help if you can upload copies of all the material you have received so that you can be given the best advice on what you can do given where things now are.

 

[Hadders]

Welcome to the forum!

I'm suspecting you travelled at the weekend where cheaper super off peak tickets are available. For some totally bizarre reason these tickets are not available as e-tickets, only traditional paper tickets.

Can you upload a redacted copy all of the paperwork you have been sent. This is so that we can offer the best advice of what to do next.

 

[reastreetmetro]

I feel sorry for passengers who are caught out with with the ticket collection requirement when they buy and receive 99% of their tickets online (as they are encouraged to do by TOCs).

With a little imagination one can understand the potential for fraud but in general it is really poor for honest passengers to slip up and be hounded by TOCs like this.

I hope you can get this resolved ASAP.

 

[Skiddaw]

I feel sorry for the OP too.

It happened to me once on a TPE train from Penrith to Carlisle. I bought the ticket via the Avanti app as I usually do for that journey (choosing the slightly more expensive option that allows you to travel with TPE as well as Avanti- again as I usually do). I have no idea why it defaulted to 'collect ticket' rather than an e-ticket (as has always been the case other than that one occasion).

As it happens, the TPE guard/train operative lady who was checking tickets on the train couldn't have been lovlier and printed my tickets out for me so I wasn't fined or prosecuted but it was a nasty moment!

 

[WesternLancer]

My normal commute is Cambridge to Kings Cross return - a couple of times a week. Each day, I buy an online ticket with the barcode that scans easily.

Once last Summer I stayed over in London near Elephant and Castle, knowing I needed to get an early train back (0600-ish). I bought the ticket online, and made the mistake of assuming it would be a barcode.

I got the train from Elephant - where there are no gates - and came out at St Pancras, where the gates were open at that early time of day. I then got on the connecting train at Kings Cross, where again the gates were open. At Potters Bar someone came to check tickets and I discovered that I should have printed them off. The long and the short of it is that I am now going to court because of not travelling with a ticket.

I have been commuting into London for around 15 years and have never attempted to defraud the train companies. Here also, they cannot possibly argue that I was trying to defraud them - I had purchased the ticket!

I accept I should have noticed it wasn't the normal e-ticket I get automatically on trainline, but this seems bonkers.

A good example to use in the currently open ORR regulator inquiry into this issue. Open until end of Jan for people to make submissions. I urge you to do that. You can probably just cut and paste your post here into their response online form.