GTR fraud investigation

[wintercornet45]

Hi all.

I was caught short faring multiple trips from Finsbury Park to Stevenage. As the inspector checked my invalid ticket, they asked to see my history and saw this same ticket multiple times on Trainline app. I was honest, obedient, and instantly was so embarrassed and regretted it all. I was a student mindlessly trying to save but there is no good reason for my actions and I wholeheartedly admit that what I did was wrong. I’ve been extra mindful to never make this mistake again and am embarrassed to share that it had only taken this situation for me to correct my actions and realise the impact it had. I accept that I have not paid the correct fares and am willing to pay for everything + investigations and really hope for settlement out of court if possible. I have just received this letter from the fraud investigation department today by post and only just now checked my email. Any help or feedback for my reply would be so very appreciated:

Dear XXX,

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to respond to your letter dated 03 July 2026.


I accept that I have not paid the correct fares as shown in the letter. I am deeply sorry for my actions. I recognise that this is wrong and I take full responsibility for my actions.

These are mindless and stupid decisions I made and I wholeheartedly appreciate that fare evasion is unfair to the railway, its staff, and passengers who pay the correct fare for their journeys.

I relied on the railway to get into university and my part time job at the time, and travelling into London continues to be important for me as I build my career. Reflecting on this incident has made me realise how irresponsible my behaviour was, and I am genuinely ashamed that I allowed myself to make such poor decisions. Since this incident I have ensured that I always purchase the correct tickets for my travel.

I would be extremely grateful if you would consider allowing me to resolve this matter without the need for court proceedings. I am more than willing to pay the correct fare for my journey as well as any administrative costs incurred as a result of my actions.

Please accept my sincere apologies for the inconvenience and trouble I have caused. I can assure you this is something I will never repeat.

Yours faithfully,
XXX

 

[WesternLancer]

Hi all.

I was caught short faring multiple trips from Finsbury Park to Stevenage. As the inspector checked my invalid ticket, they asked to see my history and saw this same ticket multiple times on Trainline app. I was honest, obedient, and instantly was so embarrassed and regretted it all. I was a student mindlessly trying to save but there is no good reason for my actions and I wholeheartedly admit that what I did was wrong. I’ve been extra mindful to never make this mistake again and am embarrassed to share that it had only taken this situation for me to correct my actions and realise the impact it had. I accept that I have not paid the correct fares and am willing to pay for everything + investigations and really hope for settlement out of court if possible. I have just received this letter from the fraud investigation department today by post and only just now checked my email. Any help or feedback for my reply would be so very appreciated:

Dear XXX,

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to respond to your letter dated 03 July 2026.
Reference: xxxxx

I accept that I have not paid the correct fares as shown in the letter. I am deeply sorry for my actions. I recognise that this is wrong and I take full responsibility for my actions.

These are mindless and stupid decisions I made and I wholeheartedly appreciate that fare evasion is unfair to the railway, its staff, and passengers who pay the correct fare for their journeys.

I relied on the railway to get into university and my part time job at the time, and travelling into London continues to be important for me as I build my career. Reflecting on this incident has made me realise how irresponsible my behaviour was, and I am genuinely ashamed that I allowed myself to make such poor decisions. Since this incident I have ensured that I always purchase the correct tickets for my travel.

I would be extremely grateful if you would consider allowing me to resolve this matter without the need for court proceedings. I am more than willing to pay the correct fare for my journey as well as any administrative costs incurred as a result of my actions.

Please accept my sincere apologies for the inconvenience and trouble I have caused. I can assure you this is something I will never repeat.

Yours faithfully,
XXX

Welcome.

It would be best to remove your ref number from your post on here.
You will need it in your actual reply but no need to share it here

For forum regulars your letter from them is of note. Not the usual letter. And a new address and e mail address for GTR.

But they are essentially offering you a settlement. In general terms do you agree with their calculations and journey details listed?

 

[SuspectUsual]

@WesternLancer because you’ve quoted the OP’s post the reference number is now also in your post - perhaps you could edit it out from there?

 

[WesternLancer]

@WesternLancer because you’ve quoted the OP’s post the reference number is now also in your post - perhaps you could edit it out from there?

Thanks! Done.

 

[wintercornet45]

Welcome.

It would be best to remove your ref number from your post on here.
You will need it in your actual reply but no need to share it here

For forum regulars your letter from them is of note. Not the usual letter. And a new address and e mail address for GTR.

But they are essentially offering you a settlement. In general terms do you agree with their calculations and journey details listed?

Thank you for your input. I agree with them yes. Im unsure exactly how many journeys but the letter holds the majority of them if not all, as I started doing this around the given dates. Nonetheless I am willing to pay all I owe plus costs.

 

[John R]

Thank you for your input. I agree with them yes. Im unsure exactly how many journeys but the letter holds the majority of them if not all, as I started doing this around the given dates. Nonetheless I am willing to pay all I owe plus costs.

Whether you are willing or not doesn’t really come into it, unless you fancy being prosecuted and convicted, with all the disadvantages that come with a conviction.

 

[wintercornet45]

Whether you are willing or not doesn’t really come into it, unless you fancy being prosecuted and convicted, with all the disadvantages that come with a conviction.

Yes I understand completely

 

[WesternLancer]

Yes I understand completely

say something like 'I am prepared to pay the fares that I owe in order to settle this matter, along with your costs of investigating this' or 'I would like to pay the fares that I owe in order....'

elsewhere you can refer to what you did as eg 'a serious error of judgment that you regret' or some such - if you think the wording is helpful

 

[30907]

Thank you for your input. I agree with them yes. Im unsure exactly how many journeys but the letter holds the majority of them if not all, as I started doing this around the given dates. Nonetheless I am willing to pay all I owe plus costs.

They have only identified 5, no need to suggest there might be more.

It would be useful to know for the future if their admin fee is more than the usual £60 or so.

 

[John R]

They do say the ones quoted are examples, so I don’t think it’s certain that they aren’t aware of any other instances.

 

[SECR 65]

Your letter seems generally good, but I'll just make a few suggestions:

Dear XXX,

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to respond to your letter dated 03 July 2026.

I accept that I have not paid the correct fares as shown in the letter. I am deeply sorry for my actions. I recognise that this is wrong and I take full responsibility for my actions what has happened. (it just feels slightly awkward to use actions twice)

These are mindless and stupid decisions errors of judgement I made and I wholeheartedly appreciate that fare evasion is unfair to the railway, its staff, and passengers who pay the correct fare for their journeys.

I relied on the railway to get into university and my part time job at the time, and travelling into London continues to be important for me as I build my career. (I don't think they will be particularly interested in your personal life, I'm afraid) Reflecting on this incident has made me realise how irresponsible my behaviour was, and I am genuinely ashamed that I allowed myself to make such poor decisions. Since this incident I have ensured that I always purchase the correct tickets for my travel.

I would be extremely grateful if you would consider allowing me to resolve this matter without the need for court proceedings. I am more than willing to pay the correct outstanding fare for my journey as well as any administrative costs incurred as a result of my actions.

Please accept my sincere apologies for the inconvenience and trouble I have caused. I can assure you this is something I will never repeat.

Yours faithfully,
XXX

See my thoughts in conjunction with the suggestions of others above.

 

[Haywain]

I am deeply sorry for my actions. I recognise that this is wrong and I take full responsibility for my actions.

Alternatively to the above suggestion by @SECR 65:

I recognise that this is wrong and I am deeply sorry and take full responsibility for my actions.

 

[ADHappySad]

I have received a similar letter today it seems they are cranking down on this. How would we approach this situation?

Any further updates^^?

 

[WesternLancer]

I have received a similar letter today it seems they are cranking down on this. How would we approach this situation?

Any further updates^^?

Your best next step is to start your own thread and answer the questions in the pinned post at the top of this section of the forum.

That then provides people here with the information needed to advise you.

 

[Iwillpay]

I have received a similar letter today it seems they are cranking down on this. How would we approach this situation?

Any further updates^^?

Without giving the exact date as I see you've blanked it out, could you give me an estimate as to how long your letter took to arrive please? Thank you

 

[WesternLancer]

Without giving the exact date as I see you've blanked it out, could you give me an estimate as to how long your letter took to arrive please? Thank you

you can work that sort of thing out from looking at other threads where the person concerned has kept them updated at the various stages

another forum member compiled this at the start of this year, in case it helps

They seem to be taking about 3 months 2 weeks on avg. I could only find 4/18 recent cases where GTR actually took longer than 4 months to make contact. I found no cases (although it is a limited set of data) where GTR took longer than 5 months to make contact.

1. Offence on 13 Nov 2024 – correspondence dated 17 Feb 2025 (3 months, 4 days)
2. Offence on 15 Jan 2025 – correspondence posted to this forum on 27 Mar 2025 (2 months, 12 days)
3. Offence on 30 Jan 2025 – correspondence dated 16 April 2025 (2 months, 17 days)
4. Offence on 4 Feb 2025 – correspondence posted to this forum on 2 May 2025 (2 months, 29 days)
5. Offence on 10 Feb 2025 – correspondence received 11 May 2025 (3 months, 1 day)
6. Offence on 26 Mar 2025 – correspondence dated 10 July 2025 (3 months, 14 days)
7. Offence on 2 Apr 2025 – correspondence dated 30 July 2025 (3 months, 28 days)
8. Offence on 13 June 2025 – correspondence received 2 Sep 2025 (2 months, 20 days)
9. Offence on 2 Jul 2025 – correspondence received 18 Nov 2025 (4 months, 16 days)
10. Offence on 23 July 2025 – correspondence dated 1 Dec 2025 (4 months, 8 days)
11. Offence on 24 Jul 2025 – correspondence posted to this forum on 4 Dec 2025 (4 months, 10 days)
12. Offence on 30 July 2025 – correspondence dated 3 Dec 2025 (4 months, 3 days)
13. Offence on 11 Aug 2025 – correspondence received 12 Dec 2025 (4 months, 1 day)
16. Offence on 03 Sep 2025 – correspondence dated 22 Dec 2025 (3 months, 19 days)
17. Offence on 05 Oct 2025 – correspondence dated 12 Jan 2026 (3 months, 7 days)
18. Offence on 20 Oct 2025 – correspondence posted to this forum on 3 Feb 2026 (3 months, 14 days)

 

[Iwillpay]

you can work that sort of thing out from looking at other threads where the person concerned has kept them updated at the various stages

another forum member compiled this at the start of this year, in case it helps

Thank you very much. Thought I'd ask as AdHappySad receiving the letter today might give the most accurate current times it is taking. However, that compilation is very helpful indeed. Shows that it's a good 3-4 months in almost all cases. Thank you again.

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you very much. Thought I'd ask as AdHappySad receiving the letter today might give the most accurate current times it is taking. However, that compilation is very helpful indeed. Shows that it's a good 3-4 months in almost all cases. Thank you again.

Yes, obviously that was then - but it will depend on how many people are being reported for investigation from the front line staff, how many staff are on holiday to deal with it etc etc - same as any usual workplace - I would say could easily be 8 weeks

We tend to say on here if you have not heard in 4 months then come back here for advice on your options (they have 6 months from the date of the incident to bring a case in the magistrates court for fare evasion type stuff - so this works as a hard deadline for them that they try to avoid missing - after that in practical terms they have to use the civil court to pursue a debt - so they have much less leverage over the person involved - that being the threat of a criminal prosecution
But you want to avoid a case where somehow they have written to you - post been lost so you have not reponed, and they then escalate it to court - which is best avoided as it creates a more pressured timescale to resolve it ahead of a court date - so there is an argument for asking them what is happening at about 4 months just in case. to be balanced against the fact that they might forget about it altogether and contacting them will remind them...
Personally I suspect that if people have been given a logged case ref number it does not get forgotten about - but I have no inside knowledge.