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I got witness statements for train evansion on may 7th. But l didn’t get any letter from until now. But l enquired with my old address, there is a letter received. I’m scared is there any time limit for reply to this letter. Can you help me please
- when did the letter arrive? Or if they can't recall, what is the postmarked date?
- if there is a indicated sender, who is it
The TOC gives you 21 days to answer from the day you recieve it
That's assuming it is neither a SJPN or a courts summon, where if you didn't respond/attend you have likely been convicted and will have to go through a process, but that's too early to say.
Have you now got this letter? If not, the first thing to do is get hold of it, and the second is to reply. Even if you are, theoretically, out of time you have nothing to lose by sending an appropriate response.
If you have not already got it, Go and get the letter - and if you can't do that ask the people who have got it to scan it / send you a clear photo of it - every page that is included in the envelope.
Do you have any paperwork from the day you were stopped on 7 May? anything with a reference number on it? If you have that there is something you can do today by e-mail.
As soon as you can get the letter and upload a copy of it here (with your personal detail blanked out) then people where can advise you what you need to do and what your options are
Yes, l get a witness statement receipt with reference number on that day. Can l do something with that. The letter already forwarded from my previous address to my current address. When l get it l will unload it here. Before that, is there any way to contact them for conveying my delay for replying. Please help me
Yes, l get a witness statement receipt with reference number on that day. Can l do something with that. The letter already forwarded from my previous address to my current address. When l get it l will unload it here. Before that, is there any way to contact them for conveying my delay for replying. Please help me
Yes - the only thing you can e-mail them about is to update your address - so you could do this now, this might help show them you have not deliberately ignored anything they have sent you that you did not get previously
@WesternLancer Thank you for your quick and meaningful reply. I sent an email to gtr regarding the address change on above format. But l get an automatic reply only.
@WesternLancer Thank you for your quick and meaningful reply. I sent an email to gtr regarding the address change on above format. But l get an automatic reply only.
That is all you can do at this stage so good that you have done that at least.
Treat that as an acknowledgment reply - that is at least in their system - this is why you need the letter asap so that you can reply to that (which you have to do in hard copy on paper in the post) - so as soon as you get that you can get help here on how to reply to it
But people here will need to see what it says before any reply to that letter can be advised about.
This is why it is vital you get the letter sent to your old address ASAP
@WesternLancer l get penalty fine two times before. But l cleared it by paying online. In this case l forget to take ticket. It is my mistake. I ashamed of that. I have no tickets to show. And l also regret for that incident. I never repeat it after that incident. I also worried about the 14 days time limit. So please help to draft a proper reply.
I am so sorry for this awful mistake. I am ashamed of what I did. I short-fared my Thameslink journey, booking a return ticket via Trip.com just to get through St Albans barriers both ways and travel to Farringdon, which has no barriers. I have done this three times before and wasn’t caught...
www.railforums.co.uk
There are many other threads you can also look at on here involving GTR
Don’t just copy this however. Adapt it a little bit so it’s relevant to what you did and whatever they will know about your situation eg what you said to the inspector and what they may find if they look at your on line ticket buying records.
Then post your draft here for people to check.
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
@WesternLancer l get penalty fine two times before. But l cleared it by paying online. In this case l forget to take ticket. It is my mistake. I ashamed of that. I have no tickets to show. And l also regret for that incident. I never repeat it after that incident. I also worried about the 14 days time limit. So please help to draft a proper reply.
Ok. So I don’t think you need to mention any of that in your reply to this letter. See my other post above about how to reply
You need to
Apologise for what happened
Say you now understand what you did wrong
Say you will ensure it does not happen agsin
Ask them if they will let you resolve the matter without court action
Offer to pay any fare they believe you owe for your travel plus their costs associated with this
Hi please look for the draft letter and advise your suggestions please
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing to offer my sincerest apologies for traveling without a valid ticket on May 7, 2025 (Reference number: xxxx). I take full responsibility for my actions and understand the impact they have on the railway company and fellow passengers.
I have reflected on my mistake and have taken steps to ensure it doesn't happen again. Since May 20, I have consistently purchased the correct fares for my journeys. I would like to resolve this matter by paying any outstanding dues and administrative fees incurred during the investigation.
I apologize for the delay in responding, which was due to a change of address. My updated contact details are as follows:
- Previous address: xxxx
- New address (as of x date): xxxxx
- Email address: xxxxx
I assure you of my full cooperation in settling my debt and committing to responsible behavior in the future. Thank you for considering my case.
Hi please look for the draft letter and advise your suggestions please
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing to offer my sincerest apologies for traveling without a valid ticket on May 7, 2025 (Reference number: xxxx). I take full responsibility for my actions and understand the impact they have on the railway company and fellow passengers.
I have reflected on my mistake and have taken steps to ensure it doesn't happen again. Since May 20, I have consistently purchased the correct fares for my journeys. I would like to resolve this matter by paying any outstanding dues and administrative fees incurred during the investigation.
I apologize for the delay in responding, which was due to a change of address. My updated contact details are as follows:
- Previous address: xxxx
- New address (as of x date): xxxxx
- Email address: xxxxx
I assure you of my full cooperation in settling my debt and committing to responsible behavior in the future. Thank you for considering my case.
Looks good. My tip is to make your most important request the last thing the reader reads
So maybe add at the very end eg ‘If I can resolve this without court action I would be most grateful’
Add the case ref number at the top. Make sure that ref number is written on every page you send. Keep a copy of everything.
You have spelt ‘apologise’ using us English so check spelling is correct for uk on your device.
You can wait over the weekend in case others have suggested edits to your draft
Then get ready to post it Monday morning. Send it tracked postage or next day delivery tracked from a post office on Monday so you can know it was delivered and provide that proof if you ever need to.
Change the date format to the British Format e.g. 7 May 2025.
Change "faithfully" to "yours faithfully".
You have used the word "mistake" for travelling without a ticket but if this course of action was deliberate (and your use of the word evasion in this thread suggests that) then "error of judgement" may be a better description.
Your statement "Since May 20, I have consistently purchased the correct fares for my journeys" suggests that before that date you were not purchasing the correct fares which again goes to deliberate fare evasion as opposed to a mistake.
Change the date format to the British Format e.g. 7 May 2025.
Change "faithfully" to "yours faithfully".
You have used the word "mistake" for travelling without a ticket but if this course of action was deliberate (and your use of the word evasion in this thread suggests that) then "error of judgement" may be a better description.
Your statement "Since May 20, I have consistently purchased the correct fares for my journeys" suggests that before that date you were not purchasing the correct fares which again goes to deliberate fare evasion as opposed to a mistake.
@WesternLancer l get penalty fine two times before. But l cleared it by paying online. In this case l forget to take ticket. It is my mistake. I ashamed of that. I have no tickets to show. And l also regret for that incident. I never repeat it after that incident. I also worried about the 14 days time limit. So please help to draft a proper reply.
I wouldn't worry too much about the 14 day time limit; yes it's 3 days late, but they probably have not got around to taking any next steps yet. The key thing is to engage positively with them (which you are doing with your proposed letter) which lets them know that you are taking it seriously. They would rather sort it out with a willing party, rather than have to instigate legal action.
Looks good. My tip is to make your most important request the last thing the reader reads
So maybe add at the very end eg ‘If I can resolve this without court action I would be most grateful’
Add the case ref number at the top. Make sure that ref number is written on every page you send. Keep a copy of everything.
You have spelt ‘apologise’ using us English so check spelling is correct for uk on your device.
You can wait over the weekend in case others have suggested edits to your draft
Then get ready to post it Monday morning. Send it tracked postage or next day delivery tracked from a post office on Monday so you can know it was delivered and provide that proof if you ever need to.
I wouldn't worry too much about the 14 day time limit; yes it's 3 days late, but they probably have not got around to taking any next steps yet. The key thing is to engage positively with them (which you are doing with your proposed letter) which lets them know that you are taking it seriously. They would rather sort it out with a willing party, rather than have to instigate legal action.
O
Question- once a letter seeking pardon and willingness to pay penalty is sent to the railway company, what kind of response sgoyld one aspect? Do they favour dropping of the idea of taking the matter to the court?
O
Question- once a letter seeking pardon and willingness to pay penalty is sent to the railway company, what kind of response sgoyld one aspect? Do they favour dropping of the idea of taking the matter to the court?
It very much depends on the circumstances, rail company etc. If you require assistance (and get good impartial, non-judgemental advice), please post a new thread, providing all details of your case.
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.
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