GTR - Intention To Prosecute

[g2393]

Hi all,

I was stopped at Farringdon station on my commute from St Albans (GTR). I was stopped for having bought a ticket after the departure of the train.

I had initially bought a ticket on the same day for that journey with a 26-30 railcard that I used to board the train. I then realised my railcard had expired when I re-downloaded the app after I saw the revenue protection team at the gates at Farringdon, I re-downloaded the app knowing I would need to show it to them with my ticket. After realising it was expired I purchased a new ticket without the railcard prior to getting to the gates, at which point I was stopped with the new ticket which was flagged as having been purchased after the departure of the train (which of course it had been). I did not realise at the time that a ticket had to be bought before departure for it to be valid.

In my witness statement I did not mention the railcard, partly through panic, but also because I thought that it would make things worse. I clearly also didn’t appreciate the severity of either of those actions at the time, or the fact it was a criminal offence to travel without a valid ticket bought prior to departure.

I have now had a notice of intention to prosecute from GTR, citing not having a valid ticket for travel. It does not make reference to any invalid railcards (not that I really expected that in the first letter from them having read this forum).

I have drafted a response in line with the guidance I have seen elsewhere in this forum, and would appreciate any advice on whether or not to bring up the railcard in my initial response as well.

Advice from previous threads seem to read as not providing information on anything unless asked, but I want to be helpful in ensuring this can be settled without court proceedings as I was genuinely not trying to evade paying any fares with either the expired railcard, or in purchasing the new ticket.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[jfollows]

The railcard is irrelevant, it just means you had two invalid tickets rather than one invalid ticket.
It is a criminal offence to board a train without a valid ticket, as you’ve read by now, but if you own up to the error and offer to pay their costs they’ll likely settle.
Just keep it simple.

 

[WesternLancer]

Hi all,

I was stopped at Farringdon station on my commute from St Albans (GTR). I was stopped for having bought a ticket after the departure of the train.

I had initially bought a ticket on the same day for that journey with a 26-30 railcard that I used to board the train. I then realised my railcard had expired when I re-downloaded the app after I saw the revenue protection team at the gates at Farringdon, I re-downloaded the app knowing I would need to show it to them with my ticket. After realising it was expired I purchased a new ticket without the railcard prior to getting to the gates, at which point I was stopped with the new ticket which was flagged as having been purchased after the departure of the train (which of course it had been). I did not realise at the time that a ticket had to be bought before departure for it to be valid.

In my witness statement I did not mention the railcard, partly through panic, but also because I thought that it would make things worse. I clearly also didn’t appreciate the severity of either of those actions at the time, or the fact it was a criminal offence to travel without a valid ticket bought prior to departure.

I have now had a notice of intention to prosecute from GTR, citing not having a valid ticket for travel. It does not make reference to any invalid railcards (not that I really expected that in the first letter from them having read this forum).

I have drafted a response in line with the guidance I have seen elsewhere in this forum, and would appreciate any advice on whether or not to bring up the railcard in my initial response as well.

Advice from previous threads seem to read as not providing information on anything unless asked, but I want to be helpful in ensuring this can be settled without court proceedings as I was genuinely not trying to evade paying any fares with either the expired railcard, or in purchasing the new ticket.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

seems to me that by basically apologising for having a ticket that was not valid for travel you cover the issue so need not say more

But if you wanted to you can mention it (discovering your railcard was out of date and then trying to take steps to buy a new, valid ticket, but this happened after boarding, if you feel the context is useful by way of an explanation and that you were unaware that you needed to buy before boarding. But that probably won't make much difference to the outcome, and keeping it simple has its advantages for the reader.

Feel free to post your draft here for comment before you send it if you feel that would be of help.

 

[Lemmy99uk]

Just to add. They will likely search your journey history and may ask for evidence of a railcard for previous tickets.
When did your railcard expire and did you purchase any other discounted tickets after it had expired?

 

[g2393]

Thank you for the responses here! The railcard had expired a couple of months prior and I've now worked out the number of journeys that I made before realising it had expired within that time period as well. My draft response is below, please let me know if you think I should update or change anything based on your expeirence:

Reference:

Dear Prosecutions Department,

I am writing in response to the letter you have sent, dated 11th March 2026.

I would like to take this opportunity to apologise for travelling on the railway without a valid ticket purchased prior to travel. I take full responsibility for this, and regret doing so. I appreciate now just how serious this offence is, and the knock on impact of traveling without a valid ticket purchased prior to travel to both the railway and my fellow passengers who do hold valid tickets.

Now knowing that this is an offence, and the seriousness of it, I am committed to ensuring I always have a valid ticket purchased and on my person prior to travelling on the railway, or indeed entering any areas of the railway where a ticket is required. This is not something that will happen again.

I would appreciate your consideration in resolving this matter outside of court proceedings. In doing so, I am willing to pay any monies owed and cover the cost of any administrative costs you have incurred.

Kind regards,

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you for the responses here! The railcard had expired a couple of months prior and I've now worked out the number of journeys that I made before realising it had expired within that time period as well. My draft response is below, please let me know if you think I should update or change anything based on your expeirence:

Reference:

Dear Prosecutions Department,

I am writing in response to the letter you have sent, dated 11th March 2026.

I would like to take this opportunity to apologise for travelling on the railway without a valid ticket purchased prior to travel. I take full responsibility for this, and regret doing so. I appreciate now just how serious this offence is, and the knock on impact of traveling without a valid ticket purchased prior to travel to both the railway and my fellow passengers who do hold valid tickets.

Now knowing that this is an offence, and the seriousness of it, I am committed to ensuring I always have a valid ticket purchased and on my person prior to travelling on the railway, or indeed entering any areas of the railway where a ticket is required. This is not something that will happen again.

I would appreciate your consideration in resolving this matter outside of court proceedings. In doing so, I am willing to pay any monies owed and cover the cost of any administrative costs you have incurred.

Kind regards,

If this wasn’t intentional evasion I would add something early on in the letter eg ‘please be assured I did not intend to evade paying the correct fare’, I was unaware it was not permitted to buy my ticket once on board the train.

If all that is correct and true.

 

[g2393]

Thank you, definitely was not a deliberate evasion so I will add that in as you suggest. Updated draft below:

Dear Prosecutions Department,

I am writing in response to the letter you have sent, dated 11th March 2026.

I would like to take this opportunity to apologise for travelling on the railway without a valid ticket purchased prior to travel. I take full responsibility for this, and regret doing so. Please be assured that at no point did I intend to evade paying the correct fare. I appreciate now just how serious this offence is, and the knock on impact of traveling without a valid ticket purchased prior to travel to both the railway and my fellow passengers who do hold valid tickets.

Now knowing that this is an offence, and the seriousness of it, I am committed to ensuring I always have a valid ticket purchased and on my person prior to travelling on the railway, or indeed entering any areas of the railway where a ticket is required. This is not something that will happen again.

I would appreciate your consideration in resolving this matter outside of court proceedings. In doing so, I am willing to pay any monies owed and cover the cost of any administrative costs you have incurred.

Kind regards,

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you, definitely was not a deliberate evasion so I will add that in as you suggest. Updated draft below:

Dear Prosecutions Department,

I am writing in response to the letter you have sent, dated 11th March 2026.

I would like to take this opportunity to apologise for travelling on the railway without a valid ticket purchased prior to travel. I take full responsibility for this, and regret doing so. Please be assured that at no point did I intend to evade paying the correct fare. I appreciate now just how serious this offence is, and the knock on impact of traveling without a valid ticket purchased prior to travel to both the railway and my fellow passengers who do hold valid tickets.

Now knowing that this is an offence, and the seriousness of it, I am committed to ensuring I always have a valid ticket purchased and on my person prior to travelling on the railway, or indeed entering any areas of the railway where a ticket is required. This is not something that will happen again.

I would appreciate your consideration in resolving this matter outside of court proceedings. In doing so, I am willing to pay any monies owed and cover the cost of any administrative costs you have incurred.

Kind regards,

In addition remove words like ‘offence’. Eg just say. ‘I now appreciate how serious this matter is.’

And remove it again later on in letter if course.

Just reinforces your stance this was an unintentional error is my thinking.

 

[g2393]

Thank you, I have made that update as well. Really appreciate the help here! I'll get this posted and see what happens

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you, I have made that update as well. Really appreciate the help here! I'll get this posted and see what happens

Remember to send it tracked postage from a post office and keep a copy if every page you send.

Keep the proof of delivery from the tracking.

 

[g2393]

Thank you, I’ll make sure to

 

[MotCO]

Thank you, definitely was not a deliberate evasion so I will add that in as you suggest. Updated draft below:

Dear Prosecutions Department,

I am writing in response to the letter you have sent, dated 11th March 2026.

I would like to take this opportunity to apologise for travelling on the railway without a valid ticket purchased prior to travel. I now understand that this is not permitted, and I take full responsibility for this, and regret doing so. Please be assured that at no point did I intend to evade paying the correct fare. I appreciate now just how serious this offence is, and the knock on impact of travelling without a valid ticket purchased prior to travel to both the railway and my fellow passengers who do hold valid tickets.

Now knowing that this is an offence, and the seriousness of it, I am committed to ensuring I always have a valid ticket purchased and on my person prior to travelling on the railway, or indeed entering any areas of the railway where a ticket is required. This is not something that will happen again.

I would appreciate your consideration in resolving this matter outside of court proceedings. In doing so, I am willing to pay any monies owed and cover the cost of any administrative costs you have incurred.

Kind regards,

Maybe add in the words I have set out above in bold text? Also 'travelling' is double 'L'

Also, don't forget to add the case reference number in your response.

 

[z444z]

Agreed with the above suggestions but I also think this is a bit waffly and unnecessarily long long. See below.

REF: [INSERT]

Dear Prosecutions Department,

I am writing in response to your letter, dated 11th March 2026.

I would like to apologise for travelling without a ticket purchased prior to travel. Please be assured that at no point did I intend to evade paying the correct fare. I now understand that this is not permitted, and I take full responsibility for this and regret my error.

I appreciate now just how serious this is. This is not something that will happen again - I will ensure I always have a valid ticket prior to travelling on the railway.

I would appreciate your consideration in resolving this matter outside of court. I am willing to pay any monies owed and cover the cost of any administrative costs you have incurred.

Kind regards,

 

[g2393]

Thank you all, I have been offered an out of court settlement based on the above of just over £70. Appreciate all of your help in drafting a suitable response.

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you all, I have been offered an out of court settlement based on the above of just over £70. Appreciate all of your help in drafting a suitable response.

Thanks for update - sounds helpful

 

[z444z]

Thank you all, I have been offered an out of court settlement based on the above of just over £70. Appreciate all of your help in drafting a suitable response.

Great news, thanks for updating us! Keep proof of the emails and payment long term in the unlikely event you ever need it.