Fare Evasion Missed Deadline

[kindle54]

I got caught sometime in August and i regret my actions a lot, I used to do it for a couple months around 4 times a week with one way being as costly as 20 pounds. I got caught at Gatwick airport which is different to where o usually did it, but said I had a 16 year old rail card as I was using the 16-17 prices. But I didn’t have that. What should I do now, I was on holiday for a while and have missed the deadline as the letter was sent during my holiday

 

[furlong]

As this is GTR, simply write back and apologise for not paying the correct fare and ask if you can settle the matter out-of-court.
A short and simple letter is all that's needed - you don't need to go into all the details. If the letter doesn't state your journey (start and end) correctly then tell them where you travelled from and to. They normally look for any records of other similar journeys and ask you to pay outstanding fares for them too, but you don't need to mention that unless or until they do so.

There are plenty of examples in other threads on the forum. Just keep it short and simple.

If you've missed the deadline by more than a few days, then as well as posting your letter, email a photo or scan of it (i.e. so the image contains your hand-written signature) to gtr.prosecutions@gtrailway.com with a brief explanation that you were on holiday to make sure they get it as soon as possible.

 

[WesternLancer]

I got caught sometime in August and i regret my actions a lot, I used to do it for a couple months around 4 times a week with one way being as costly as 20 pounds. I got caught at Gatwick airport which is different to where o usually did it, but said I had a 16 year old rail card as I was using the 16-17 prices. But I didn’t have that. What should I do now, I was on holiday for a while and have missed the deadline as the letter was sent during my holiday

Further to the previous good advice how much have you missed the deadline by?

Draft up a reply as suggested above. Post your draft here so people can check it for you.

Then get it ready to post it Monday morning from a post office using gauranteed next day day delivery given you have missed the deadline.
E mail it too but you must also post it as they may not accept the e mail version but it’s worth a try.

 

[kindle54]

As this is GTR, simply write back and apologise for not paying the correct fare and ask if you can settle the matter out-of-court.
A short and simple letter is all that's needed - you don't need to go into all the details. If the letter doesn't state your journey (start and end) correctly then tell them where you travelled from and to. They normally look for any records of other similar journeys and ask you to pay outstanding fares for them too, but you don't need to mention that unless or until they do so.

There are plenty of examples in other threads on the forum. Just keep it short and simple.

If you've missed the deadline by more than a few days, then as well as posting your letter, email a photo or scan of it (i.e. so the image contains your hand-written signature) to gtr.prosecutions@gtrailway.com with a brief explanation that you were on holiday to make sure they get it as soon as possible.

Thanks for your response, to be honest I was quite stressed because I got back almost midnight last night and I’ve missed the deadline by quite a while due to the long holiday I’ve been on, as the post office opens on Monday do you recommend I write up the letter now and enail it first with an extra note that I’ll be posting it on Monday morning?

Do you think they will check my other history of this as it’s from different stations?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Jan 2026 ==

Further to the previous good advice how much have you missed the deadline by?

Draft up a reply as suggested above. Post your draft here so people can check it for you.

Then get it ready to post it Monday morning from a post office using gauranteed next day day delivery given you have missed the deadline.
E mail it too but you must also post it as they may not accept the e mail version but it’s worth a try.

Hey, the letter seemed to arrive December 16th so it’s been missed by quite a while

I’ll do the email thing too but here’s the letter I’ve drafted up



Dear whom it may concern,
I would first like to apologize for the delayed response, from December 9th 2025 until January 9th 2026 I was traveling in （country）and （country) and was not in the Uk, I was not aware of this letter until January 9th in the late evening. I can provide evidence of my travel if required. I would like to continue my apology by making it known to you about the regret I feel of my actions of traveling without a valid ticket on August 27th 2025. After the event I reflected upon myself and thought about what kind of person I am and how that didn’t match my actions.

Not only was it wrong of me to do such a thing but it is also not fair on all the other passengers who pay their fare

I humbly request that we can settle this out of court. I am happy to pay a fare for my actions especially as these actions will never happen again. I once again apologize for the inconvenience I have caused

Kind Regards,
Name

 

[jfollows]

The normal way to end is along the lines of
I will pay the outstanding fares plus your administration costs
because they’re definitely going to want something like £150 for the latter.

 

[kindle54]

The normal way to end is along the lines of
I will pay the outstanding fares plus your administration costs
because they’re definitely going to want something like £150 for the latter.

To be fair 150 is not bad considering some I’ve read on here, I’d rather do that and not do this stupid stuff again

 

[WesternLancer]

Thanks for your response, to be honest I was quite stressed because I got back almost midnight last night and I’ve missed the deadline by quite a while due to the long holiday I’ve been on, as the post office opens on Monday do you recommend I write up the letter now and enail it first with an extra note that I’ll be posting it on Monday morning?

Do you think they will check my other history of this as it’s from different stations?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Jan 2026 ==

No. Because there will be no one in their office to read your email over the weekend.

Take the weekend to get your response as good as it can be with help from here. Then send on Monday.

Yes, you should expect they may well look for instances of other evasion or suspicious ticket buying. All the train companies know the first time they catch you is statistically unlikely to be the first time you’ve evaded. But deal with that if they come back and ask you.

When you say your reply is a while overdue. How long is ‘a while’ in days?

I don’t want to sound rude but being as precise as you can be with information here helps people give you the best advice.

Your letter is dated, they usually want the reply in 14 days from that date. Should be easy to work out.

This is important because non responses get automatically escalated to court action which means you may need other specific advice.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

When you say your reply is a while overdue. How long is ‘a while’ in days?

Hey, the letter seemed to arrive December 16th so it’s been missed by quite a while

If the letter took seven days to be delivered (hopefully that's on the slow side of what Royal Mail are currently managing) then it was sent on 9 December - which would mean the 14 days were up on 23 December.

So the OP is two or three weeks late. That's not good, but it's probably not disastrous. As long as OP takes the advice to get their reply into the post office first thing on Monday morning, GTR should be ok with this. If it turns out I am wrong here, then hopefully OP will come back to us and we will be able to deal with the situation as it then is.

 

[z444z]

Take the weekend to get your response as good as it can be with help from here. Then send on Monday.

If the OP can be up early on Monday (like before 8am) I agree, otherwise I’d say send the email Sunday night.

 

[kindle54]

No. Because there will be no one in their office to read your email over the weekend.

Take the weekend to get your response as good as it can be with help from here. Then send on Monday.

Yes, you should expect they may well look for instances of other evasion or suspicious ticket buying. All the train companies know the first time they catch you is statistically unlikely to be the first time you’ve evaded. But deal with that if they come back and ask you.

When you say your reply is a while overdue. How long is ‘a while’ in days?

I don’t want to sound rude but being as precise as you can be with information here helps people give you the best advice.

Your letter is dated, they usually want the reply in 14 days from that date. Should be easy to work out.

This is important because non responses get automatically escalated to court action which means you may need other specific advice.

By overdue I mean around 11 days over (around 13 by Monday when I finally send the letter)
Ok and thank you for your other advice too, I’ll just take it one thing at a time and not say anything that will make them check if they haven’t already for extra fares evaded

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Jan 2026 ==

If the letter took seven days to be delivered (hopefully that's on the slow side of what Royal Mail are currently managing) then it was sent on 9 December - which would mean the 14 days were up on 23 December.

So the OP is two or three weeks late. That's not good, but it's probably not disastrous. As long as OP takes the advice to get their reply into the post office first thing on Monday morning, GTR should be ok with this. If it turns out I am wrong here, then hopefully OP will come back to us and we will be able to deal with the situation as it then is.

Yes that’s what I was thinking, it’s very late as it stands now so I can’t imagine GtR haven’t not noticed this, but in my defense there was nothing I could do as I was on a holiday unable to check my letter, is there a number or something that I could call them to explain as well? I think a phone call might work to help the situation

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Jan 2026 ==

If the OP can be up early on Monday (like before 8am) I agree, otherwise I’d say send the email Sunday night.

Yeah, I actually start my new job on Monday so I’m going to get my brother to send it for me

 

[Fawkes Cat]

By overdue I mean around 11 days over (around 13 by Monday when I finally send the letter)

Yes that’s what I was thinking, it’s very late as it stands now

You do need to respond promptly, but objectively 13 days isn't very late.

You can't do anything to make your response any less late, so try not to worry about the time that has passed and concentrate on making sure your response is no later than - starting from now - it can be.

 

[kindle54]

You’re right, and do you recommend that I send proof with the email of my travels, or wait until they potentially ask about that

 

[Fawkes Cat]

You’re right, and do you recommend that I send proof with the email of my travels, or wait until they potentially ask about that

I don't think they'll be too worried. So hang on to your proof until/unless they ask for it.

 

[kindle54]

I don't think they'll be too worried. So hang on to your proof until/unless they ask for it.

Alright perfect,thanks

 

[WesternLancer]

If the OP can be up early on Monday (like before 8am) I agree, otherwise I’d say send the email Sunday night.

But it’s important to recognise that we have seen e. Mailed responses to GTR completely ignored. Whatever is done the op MUST post their reply even if they want to e mail it too imho.

As has been said it’s late but it’s not too late hopefully.

 

[kindle54]

But it’s important to recognise that we have seen e. Mailed responses to GTR completely ignored. Whatever is done the op MUST post their reply even if they want to e mail it too imho.

As has been said it’s late but it’s not too late hopefully.

Yep I’ll post the letter no matter what and do all the other things as an extra

 

[WesternLancer]

Yep I’ll post the letter no matter what and do all the other things as an extra

Good stuff. We can advise you at each step on what best to do.

 

[kindle54]

Good stuff. We can advise you at each step on what best to do.

How does this seem for the letter (haven’t written it yet)

Dear whom it may concern,
I would first like to apologize for the delayed response, from December 9th 2025 until January 9th 2026 I was traveling in （country）and （country) and was not in the Uk, I was not aware of this letter until January 9th in the late evening. I can provide evidence of my travel if required. I would like to continue my apology by making it known to you about the regret I feel of my actions of traveling without a valid ticket on August 27th 2025. After the event I reflected upon myself and thought about what kind of person I am and how that didn’t match my actions.

Not only was it wrong of me to do such a thing but it is also not fair on all the other passengers who pay their fare

I humbly request that we can settle this out of court. I am happy to pay a fare for my actions especially as these actions will never happen again. I once again apologize for the inconvenience I have caused

Kind Regards,
Name

 

[Fawkes Cat]

How does this seem for the letter (haven’t written it yet)

Dear whom it may concern,
I would first like to apologize for the delayed response, from December 9th 2025 until January 9th 2026 I was traveling in （country）and （country) and was not in the Uk, I was not aware of this letter until January 9th in the late evening. I can provide evidence of my travel if required. I would like to continue my apology by making it known to you about the regret I feel of my actions of traveling without a valid ticket on August 27th 2025. After the event I reflected upon myself and thought about what kind of person I am and how that didn’t match my actions.

Not only was it wrong of me to do such a thing but it is also not fair on all the other passengers who pay their fare

I humbly request that we can settle this out of court. I am happy to pay a fare for my actions especially as these actions will never happen again. I once again apologize for the inconvenience I have caused

Kind Regards,
Name

In general, that's fine. I would split the first paragraph into two at 'I like to continue...' so that your apology for fare dodging is easier to see. And don't forget to include the reference number in what you send.

 

[kindle54]

Thanks I’ll add those changes to it and write it up

 

[z444z]

That’s pretty good, but I have some suggestions as well as the ones from @Fawkes Cat above, please do post another draft before sending it off so we can check it over;

I would just say you were travelling outside the UK, they aren’t going to be interested in which countries you visited

They don’t need to know what time of day you saw the letter

I would like to continue my apology by making it known to you about the regret I feel of my actions of traveling without a valid ticket on August 27th 2025. After the event I reflected upon myself and thought about what kind of person I am and how that didn’t match my actions

I think this could be improved a bit. “I would also like to apologise for travelling without a valid ticket on August 27th 2025. After the event I reflected upon my actions and I deeply regret them. I understand the importance of paying the correct fare and that what I did was not fair on all the other passengers.” (then remove the next paragraph as this has already covered it)

Instead of saying you’re happy to pay a fare, it would be better to say that you’re happy to pay the fare due as well as administration costs.

 

[WesternLancer]

In general, that's fine. I would split the first paragraph into two at 'I like to continue...' so that your apology for fare dodging is easier to see. And don't forget to include the reference number in what you send.

Yes. Good suggestions. Personally I tend to favour Dear Sir/ Madam but that’s nonissue really. I guess think how you might want to be addressed if someone was writing to you as it were.

When posting it send it gauranteed next day delivery from a post office which I’m afraid will cost more than first class but I say this because of the delay. Take the tracking code they will give you and check and keep the proof of delivery should you need it as things progress.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Jan 2026 ==

That’s pretty good, but I have some suggestions as well as the ones from @Fawkes Cat above, please do post another draft before sending it off so we can check it over;

I would just say you were travelling outside the UK, they aren’t going to be interested in which countries you visited

They don’t need to know what time of day you saw the letter

I think this could be improved a bit. “I would also like to apologise for travelling without a valid ticket on August 27th 2025. After the event I reflected upon my actions and I deeply regret them. I understand the importance of paying the correct fare and that what I did was not fair on all the other passengers.” (then remove the next paragraph as this has already covered it)

Instead of saying you’re happy to pay a fare, it would be better to say that you’re happy to pay the fare due as well as administration costs.

Again all good points.

 

[kindle54]

That’s pretty good, but I have some suggestions as well as the ones from @Fawkes Cat above, please do post another draft before sending it off so we can check it over;

I would just say you were travelling outside the UK, they aren’t going to be interested in which countries you visited

They don’t need to know what time of day you saw the letter

I think this could be improved a bit. “I would also like to apologise for travelling without a valid ticket on August 27th 2025. After the event I reflected upon my actions and I deeply regret them. I understand the importance of paying the correct fare and that what I did was not fair on all the other passengers.” (then remove the next paragraph as this has already covered it)

Instead of saying you’re happy to pay a fare, it would be better to say that you’re happy to pay the fare due as well as administration costs.

oh perfect, thankfully I saw your reply before I wrote it, and just another question (this might be obvious but I just want to be sure) would I write the actual letter on the sheet they provided or a separate A4 piece of paper

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Jan 2026 ==

Yes. Good suggestions. Personally I tend to favour Dear Sir/ Madam but that’s nonissue really. I guess think how you might want to be addressed if someone was writing to you as it were.

When posting it send it gauranteed next day delivery from a post office which I’m afraid will cost more than first class but I say this because of the delay. Take the tracking code they will give you and check and keep the proof of delivery should you need it as things progress.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Jan 2026 ==


Again all good points.

Absolutely I’ll do the guaranteed next day delivery, as well as sending an email

 

[z444z]

oh perfect, thankfully I saw your reply before I wrote it, and just another question (this might be obvious but I just want to be sure) would I write the actual letter on the sheet they provided or a separate A4 piece of paper

I think either would be fine, whatever’s easiest. There’s no real need to hand write it so you could just print it off if you want.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

I think either would be fine, whatever’s easiest. There’s no real need to hand write it so you could just print it off if you want.

Generally we suggest printing it: unless you have the world's most legible handwriting, it will be easier for them to read something printed.

So if you have had one of those letters that says 'please reply on the back/space below/similar ', write 'please see attached ' there - and on your printed letter make sure you include your name and address AND THE RAILWAY'S CASE REFERENCE. I work in a (non railway) office that gets post from the public: attachments shouldn't get separated, but they do, so make it easy for the post room to get the important bit of your letter to the right person.

 

[kindle54]

Generally we suggest printing it: unless you have the world's most legible handwriting, it will be easier for them to read something printed.

So if you have had one of those letters that says 'please reply on the back/space below/similar ', write 'please see attached ' there - and on your printed letter make sure you include your name and address AND THE RAILWAY'S CASE REFERENCE. I work in a (non railway) office that gets post from the public: attachments shouldn't get separated, but they do, so make it easy for the post room to get the important bit of your letter to the right person.

Update:

Thanks everyone for all the advice I followed all the tips and everything I saw before I had already written it. I received this letter today which to be honest seems like the best possible outcome which I wasn’t expecting

 

[z444z]

Thanks for the update and glad to hear it’s resolved, GTR tend to be quite reasonable. Make sure you keep proof of payment long term (1 year minimum) in the unlikely case that you need it in future.

 

[WesternLancer]

Update:

Thanks everyone for all the advice I followed all the tips and everything I saw before I had already written it. I received this letter today which to be honest seems like the best possible outcome which I wasn’t expecting

Yes. This is a good result for you. Good news.