Govia Witness Statement

[moro1]

Hey all. Just received a witness statement from a Thameslink train i boarded from Stevenage to London Bridge. i was written up for purchasing a ticket on the train when the officers approached me. The ticket was indeed an adult type from Stevenage to London bridge for my exact journey but it was after i boarded the train. I told the officer i lost my travel card/ticket (not true). I answered a questionnaire on his tablet whilst i was being written up from which i remember saying my intentions was not to evade and that i found it hard to pay for a ticket due to travelcard/ticket loss as the reason why i bought a ticket after boarding the train. he wrote hard to pay due to loss of travelcard/ticket in the box and said I'll receive a letter which will let me explain why i bought a ticket after boarding the train. i dont know if thats short ticketing. I entered through the lifts which is an open barrier in to the station. I have been fined before which i swiftly paid about a year ago for not having a valid ticket. I think my purchase history may show tickets bought from 1 stop from my destinations and i can only count 3 or 4 incidents in the span of a year and a half of what they say short ticketing is. I'm of course remorseful and have learnt to not panic in the situation and to always have a valid ticket when travelling. Certainly dont want this to get taken to court, its financially tough but its better to settle out of court. Your advice will gratefully be received and questions you ask about my case will be happily answered if you need more information. What should i do to settle this out of court? How should i go about my response?

 

[z444z]

GTR almost always settle out of court. If you’ve just received the witness statement then as long as you’ve given the right address you just need to wait for them to write to you, this will be months, likely 3-4 based the cases we’ve seen recently.

They may or may not pick up any previous evasion but it won’t change the outcome, just the amount of money they ask for.

It would be sensible to calculate the maximum they might possibly ask for - use the full, undiscounted Anytime single fares for each journey you’ve made (a return will be treated as 2x singles), plus say £250 admin fee as a very high estimate, and keep that aside while waiting to hear from them.

 

[moro1]

GTR almost always settle out of court. If you’ve just received the witness statement then as long as you’ve given the right address you just need to wait for them to write to you, this will be months, likely 3-4 based the cases we’ve seen recently.

They may or may not pick up any previous evasion but it won’t change the outcome, just the amount of money they ask for.

It would be sensible to calculate the maximum they might possibly ask for - use the full, undiscounted Anytime single fares for each journey you’ve made (a return will be treated as 2x singles), plus say £250 admin fee as a very high estimate, and keep that aside while waiting to hear from them.

Thank you! I have given the correct details of myself so I'll be waiting for sure. Based on my what i have explained on the situation, how will i respond to the letter for my specific case to give me a high chance of an out of court settlement?

 

[z444z]

Thank you! I have given the correct details of myself so I'll be waiting for sure. Based on my what i have explained on the situation, how will i respond to the letter for my specific case to give me a high chance of an out of court settlement?

You’ll just need to apologise, promise not to do it again, ask to settle out of court, and offer to pay the fare due and their admin costs. We can help you write it but there’s no point doing so now, you need to see what their letter says before you can respond to it. Come back to us when the letter arrives, or in like 5 months if you still haven’t heard anything

 

[moro1]

You’ll just need to apologise, promise not to do it again, ask to settle out of court, and offer to pay the fare due and their admin costs. We can help you write it but there’s no point doing so now, you need to see what their letter says before you can respond to it. Come back to us when the letter arrives, or in like 5 months if you still haven’t heard anything

Will do for sure Thanks

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 26 Mar 2026 ==

Is there a way to know if GTR have even sent a letter to you by contacting them or anyone else? I want to avoid a situation where they've sent a letter but somehow I may have not seen it as I live with other people and I don’t want to chance it with them via miscommunication. Anyone that is willing to cooperate with GTR I think would want to not miss out on the 14 day window to respond.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 27 Mar 2026 ==

You’ll just need to apologise, promise not to do it again, ask to settle out of court, and offer to pay the fare due and their admin costs. We can help you write it but there’s no point doing so now, you need to see what their letter says before you can respond to it. Come back to us when the letter arrives, or in like 5 months if you still haven’t heard anything

Could you help answer the latest question in this thread?

 

[moro1]

Hey all,

Today I received my intention to prosecute letter and I would like to swiftly move on from this situation I’ve put myself in. Iv since changed from my error of judgment from the incident and I’d like to not go to court. I’ll be using the online portal to respond. Please see my response below


Reference number: XXX

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing in response to your Intention to Prosecute letter dated 05 June 2026, regarding the incident that took place near XXX. Reference number XXX.



On the day of the incident I was travelling on a Thameslink train without a valid ticket, I bought a ticket when I saw the ticket inspector. I recognise this meant that I was aboard the train without a valid ticket until that point, and I understand this is an error of judgement and is unacceptable and not aligned with the rules.

I would like to sincerely apologise for my actions; it was a foolish decision and I’m extremely regretful. I am aware of the great cost this is to GTR, and its unfair to other rail travellers.

I can assure you I have learnt my lesson, and that it has not and will not happen again. I will always make sure that I have the correct tickets before starting my journey.

I would be very grateful if you would be willing to settle this without the need for court action, and I will happily cooperate with you and pay any outstanding fares as well as any administrative costs incurred when dealing with this case.

If you need anything else please let me know.

Yours sincerely,


Also is there anything I would need to know about responding through the online portal other than reference and authorisation code?

 

[SECR 65]

Hey all,

Today I received my intention to prosecute letter and I would like to swiftly move on from this situation I’ve put myself in. Iv since changed from my error of judgment from the incident and I’d like to not go to court. I’ll be using the online portal to respond. Please see my response below

Welcome to the forum,

Your letter looks generally good, but I've got a couple of thoughts to add.

Reference number: XXX

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing in response to your Intention to Prosecute letter dated 05 June 2026, regarding the incident that took place near XXX. Reference number XXX.

On the day of the incident I was travelling on a Thameslink train without a valid ticket; I bought a ticket when I saw the ticket inspector.

Normally I would't make a fuss about semi colons, but as you've used one so nicely later on, I feel the need to mention that this comma should technically be a semi colon, as I've added in bold.

I recognise this meant that I was aboard the train without a valid ticket until that point. This was a serious error of judgement for which I am wholeheartedly ashamed. and I understand this is an error of judgement and is unacceptable and not aligned with the rules.

Personally, I find the phrasing of this section slightly awkward - note my ammendements in bold.

I would like to sincerely apologise for my actions; it was a foolish decision and I’m extremely regretful. I understand am aware of the great cost of fare evasion this is to GTR, and that it is unfair to other rail travellers.

I know this is horrifically pedantic again, but there should really be an apostrophe here. However, it may be more formal to expand the word. (See bold).

I can assure you I have learnt my lesson, and that it has not and will not happen again. I will always make sure that I have the correct tickets before starting my journey.

Have you ever purchased a ticket after the departure of a train before? If so, ommit these words - they need to be true.

I would be very grateful if you would be willing to settle this matter without the need for court action, and I will happily cooperate with you and pay any outstanding fares as well as any administrative costs incurred when dealing with this case.

If you need anything else please let me know.

Yours sincerely,

Evidently you have looked through other threads and I can see you knew what you were doing when writing the letter. I may have been too pedantic, for which I appologise!

Also is there anything I would need to know about responding through the online portal other than reference and authorisation code?

GTR's portal is quite new, but we haven't known any issues with it. I think you only get one go at submitting something, so bear this in mind.

Hold off a couple of days before sending the letter - other members may well have other suggestions.

[Note that this post was written before your latest post was merged with the original thread, which I have not read.]

 

[moro1]

Welcome to the forum,

Your letter looks generally good, but I've got a couple of thoughts to add.

Normally I would't make a fuss about semi colons, but as you've used one so nicely later on, I feel the need to mention that this comma should technically be a semi colon, as I've added in bold.

Personally, I find the phrasing of this section slightly awkward - note my ammendements in bold.

I know this is horrifically pedantic again, but there should really be an apostrophe here. However, it may be more formal to expand the word. (See bold).

Have you ever purchased a ticket after the departure of a train before? If so, ommit these words - they need to be true.

Evidently you have looked through other threads and I can see you knew what you were doing when writing the letter. I may have been too pedantic, for which I appologise!

GTR's portal is quite new, but we haven't known any issues with it. I think you only get one go at submitting something, so bear this in mind.

Hold off a couple of days before sending the letter - other members may well have other suggestions.

[Note that this post was written before your latest post was merged with the original thread, which I have not read.]

Hi,

Thank you for reading and letting me know what adjustments to make on my response. I’ll Indeed wait for a while for other people to chip in. For now here is the adjustments I’ve made….


Reference number: XXX



Dear Sir/Madam,



I am writing in response to your Intention to Prosecute letter dated 05 June 2026, regarding the incident that took place near XXX. Reference number XXX.







On the day of the incident I was travelling on a Thameslink train without a valid ticket; I bought a ticket when I saw the ticket inspector. I recognise this meant that I was aboard the train without a valid ticket until that point. This was a serious error of judgement for which I am wholeheartedly ashamed.



I would like to sincerely apologise for my actions; it was a foolish decision and I’m extremely regretful. I understand the great cost of fare evasion and that it is unfair to other rail travellers.



I can assure you I have learnt my lesson and I will always make sure that I have the correct tickets before starting my journey.



I would be very grateful if you would be willing to settle this matter without the need for court action, and I will happily cooperate with you and pay any outstanding fares as well as any administrative costs incurred when dealing with this case.



If you need anything else please let me know.



Yours sincerely,