GTR prosecution

[traintrackman]

Hi,

It’s quite a long story so bare with me!

On Sunday 12th July ‘26, I travelled from Lewes to Haywards Heath and was stopped upon leaving the barriers by what I presume is revenue protection staff. (I say presume, it becomes clear later on).

They asked to see my ticket, which I showed them (Stupidly, the ticket was 1 day out of date, expiry 11th of July) & had a railcard (16-25 railcard) To which the officer said “the ticket is for yesterday” & I replied, “oh really? I didn’t know”. He then asked to see my railcard, which I have never been asked for since i’ve had it. He told me my railcard expired in 2024, to which I was completely oblivious, as I said I haven’t been asked for it since i’ve had it. I genuinely thought 16-25 railcards were valid from the age of 16-25 I didn’t know you had to renew it & this was from Santander when I took a bank account out with them for university some years ago.

He asked for a chat, starting off with “Can i see some ID, driving license etc.” and I asked why he needed this, he didn’t answer. He then consistently asked for my details which I was hesitant to give because I didn’t know what he wanted them for or who he was because at this point he still hadn’t identified himself. Long story short, there was a bit of back and forth about details, He wouldn’t give me a reason he wanted them (which I have since looked up & he should’ve told me clearly why he wanted them, picture attached & should have identified himself before asking for details).

Another passenger gave me a ticket from Burgess Hill to Haywards Heath which would’ve been valid (he took it off me and said I wasn’t allowed to use it).

Only when he threatened me by saying “do you want me to get BTP down here” I gave him my details - still not knowing who he was or why he wanted them.

He then said “right you’re not getting a fine anymore”. Asked for my details again, took multiple pictures of my ticket etc. He flashed his badge (what i presume is a badge, which I didn’t even see properly for about 1 second, because he wanted to confiscate my railcard (he also rang his boss to make sure he could do this, to which i spoke to his boss too and he confirmed he could) by this point i had already looked it up on google and confirmed myself)) & then told me his company would be in contact next week to ask me some questions, gave me a witness statement receipt and I was on my way.

- I think he was new on the job because seemed as nervous as me and asked the other person who was dealing with someone else lots of questions.

Now i have a few questions,

I’ve since Chat GPT this & it says this possible contact is a notice to prosecute, is this correct?

Can they / will they look at previous transactions i’ve made using a railcard? There have been times I have used it before, i don’t know how many times but it wasn’t regular or consistent. I have also bought tickets previously using a railcard for my girlfriend (who has a valid railcard) So how will they know if the tickets I bought were for me if they do check?

Thirdly, Is there anything I can do about the officer not telling me what he needed my details for or identifying himself?

If it is a notice to prosecute, what do I do? I can’t afford to pay massive fines, this is exactly why I wouldn’t knowingly use an old ticket or out of date railcard, because I can’t afford fines. I barely earn enough to pay rent/bills and survive.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Thank you!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Jul 2026 ==

EDIT: He also interviewed me under caution when filling out some sort of form on his work phone, to which I replied “No comment” to every question in order not to incriminate myself.

 

[Trainman40083]

Best start by posting what paperwork you have been given with any personal details redacted.. Could be a MG11 or penalty fare. Yes, they can look at previous transactions. You may well find they will charge you the full single fare for any journey taken with the expired Railcard, plus an admin fee of circa £150. Have you bought a new Railcard yet, and made.a.note of the date of expiry?

 

[traintrackman]

Best start by posting what paperwork you have been given with any personal details redacted.. Could be a MG11 or penalty fare. Yes, they can look at previous transactions. You may well find they will charge you the full single fare for any journey taken with the expired Railcard, plus an admin fee of circa £150. Have you bought a new Railcard yet, and made.a.note of the date of expiry?

I will upload a picture of the witness statement. I haven’t received any further communication yet. I haven’t bought a new rail card yet, I will when i’m paid (25th July) & I haven’t noted expiry (haven’t got new) and the old was was confiscated without me even looking at it.

 

[30907]

Leaving aside the seemingly unprofessional behaviour (you could complain at a later stage if you want to), unfortunately travelling with an out of date ticket and an out of date railcard are good grounds for being reported. They were quite right to confiscate the railcard too. You also are required to give your name and address on request, but you are unlikely to face repercussions.

GTR will contact you, and if you cooperate you are extremely likely to be offered an out of court settlement for the fare plus about £60 admin.

At the moment they don't seem to be trawling travel history, but it is a possibility.

 

[traintrackman]

Leaving aside the seemingly unprofessional behaviour (you could complain at a later stage if you want to), unfortunately travelling with an out of date ticket and an out of date railcard are good grounds for being reported. They were quite right to confiscate the railcard too. You also are required to give your name and address on request, but you are unlikely to face repercussions.

GTR will contact you, and if you cooperate you are extremely likely to be offered an out of court settlement for the fare plus about £60 admin.

At the moment they don't seem to be trawling travel history, but it is a possibility.

That’s great, thank you. Hoping for the best outcome. Once I get the letter through I’ll ask you guys about what to put down as a response.

 

[WesternLancer]

That’s great, thank you. Hoping for the best outcome. Once I get the letter through I’ll ask you guys about what to put down as a response.

Did they take your address down clearly and accurately? It’s vital you receive their letter about this in due course. That maybe 6-8 weeks or more.
If you’ve not heard from them in about 4 months head back here for advice on what to consider doing at that point.

 

[farfromhome]

Could the staff member have had their identification badge on a lanyard around their neck clearly visible?

 

[Swedenorer]

You need to realise why he wanted all those details. A railcard two years out of date is a substantial amount of possibly wrongly discounted travel and yes they can trawl through what data they can get. They are certainly doing so in two cases posted here on 7th and 8th July. They could prosecute you for that one incident and you would be found guilty since it us a strict liability offence. Most likely though they will get in touch first off with a fairly anodyne message and then the process of offering you a settlement to keep it out of court will begin. Remember though they can prosecute ant any time within six months of the 12th July.

 

[traintrackman]

Did they take your address down clearly and accurately? It’s vital you receive their letter about this in due course. That maybe 6-8 weeks or more.
If you’ve not heard from them in about 4 months head back here for advice on what to consider doing at that point.

Hi,

Yes the witness statement quotes my full correct address. He said I should receive correspondence this week, which hasn’t happened as of yet!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Jul 2026 ==

Could the staff member have had their identification badge on a lanyard around their neck clearly visible?

They didn’t have ID badge attached to them, they had a camera but that was it. After walking away I saw on the back of his vest “revenue protection officer”

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Jul 2026 ==

You need to realise why he wanted all those details. A railcard two years out of date is a substantial amount of possibly wrongly discounted travel and yes they can trawl through what data they can get. They are certainly doing so in two cases posted here on 7th and 8th July. They could prosecute you for that one incident and you would be found guilty since it us a strict liability offence. Most likely though they will get in touch first off with a fairly anodyne message and then the process of offering you a settlement to keep it out of court will begin. Remember though they can prosecute ant any time within six months of the 12th July.

I am happy to cooperate in order for an out of court settlement. I will be posting a reply here once I get my letter through the post.

 

[WesternLancer]

Hi,

Yes the witness statement quotes my full correct address. He said I should receive correspondence this week, which hasn’t happened as of yet!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Jul 2026 ==


They didn’t have ID badge attached to them, they had a camera but that was it. After walking away I saw on the back of his vest “revenue protection officer”

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Jul 2026 ==


I am happy to cooperate in order for an out of court settlement. I will be posting a reply here once I get my letter through the post.

Thanks. I wouldn’t bet on getting a letter that quickly. Have a look at other threads involving Southern Thameslink GTR to get an idea.

It would be quick if you get a letter in a month never mind a week.

Your priority should be to seek an out of court settlement by offering to pay what you owe.
How it was handled by the person who spoke to you doesn’t sound ideal at all, but you need to put that to one side for now really.

 

[traintrackman]

Thanks. I wouldn’t bet on getting a letter that quickly. Have a look at other threads involving Southern Thameslink GTR to get an idea.

It would be quick if you get a letter in a month never mind a week.

Your priority should be to seek an out of court settlement by offering to pay what you owe.
How it was handled by the person who spoke to you doesn’t sound ideal at all, but you need to put that to one side for now really.

Okay no problem, that sounds good to me. I’m looking for an out of court settlement. Hopefully they are reasonable.

 

[SECR 65]

Okay no problem, that sounds good to me. I’m looking for an out of court settlement. Hopefully they are reasonable.

GTR almost always settle out of court for the anytime single fare plus an admin fee - £60 if you're lucky. Previously, they did not seem to bother auditing journey history. However, in the past couple of weeks they seem to have started to do this. So look back through your ticket purchase records if you can and calculate how much you could expect them to charge you.

 

[WesternLancer]

Okay no problem, that sounds good to me. I’m looking for an out of court settlement. Hopefully they are reasonable.

Obv you have had some helpful and informative responses on your thread now but in case it's useful here is the general advice often given on this forum in case you have not seen it before:


Firstly, you committed a criminal offence by travelling with an invalid ticket and railway companies are entitled to prosecute you in the Magistrates Court if they want to. The good news is they will normally offer an out of court settlement to people who co-operate with them and who haven't come to their attention before.

Next, what happens is the railway company will write to you. The letter will go to the address that you gave them / on any of your ID they checked so you need to be able to access hard copy post at that address as they often send things that way (but also check e-mail and spam). It is extremely important that you reply, and you'll only have a limited time to do so (often 14 days from the date on their communication).

When you receive the letter post a redacted copy of it in this thread, along with your draft reply and forum members will proof read it for you. You'll find lots of example letters you can use in this section of the forum but the reply basically needs to mention:

- That you are sorry for what has happened
- What you have learned from the incident and will not do this again
- That you are keen to settle the matter without the need for court action
- Offer to pay the outstanding fare and the railway company’s administrative costs in dealing with the matter

The railway will probably offer you an out of court settlement. Expect to have to pay the cost of the fare for the journey you made at the full Anytime rate with no credit given for the invalid ticket you purchased. In addition they will charge an admin fee, typically £150. They will also audit your online ticket purchase history and if this shows you've purchased other tickets that were not valid (eg railcard discounted tickets when you did not have a valid railcard, or tickets for only part of the journey, or tickets bought after boarding the train you travelled on ) they will probably factor the cost of these journeys into the settlement offer. Depending on how many journeys you've made over the period concerned this could end up being expensive.

Settlements usually have to be paid in full within a few days of them being offered so if money is tight you might want to think about how you will raise the sum required at short notice.

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And here is a GTR thread where you can see the timeline (there are plenty of others) - but as I said, if you have not heard from them in about 4 months head back here to check what, if anything, it might be worth doing at that point.

GTR witness statement - please help!

Yesterday I was given a witness statement. I originally tapped in my oyster on a London Bridge with the intention to go Godstone as I had a client where I do £30 energy surveys. This was my last bid to cover me cost wise in terms of food etc however I was stopped by a ticket inspector who...

www.railforums.co.uk

- the person (OP) was stopped on 9 March 2026
- The OP got the letter from GTR / Thameslink on 4 June 2026
- The OP replied to that on 8 June 2026
- The OP was offered an Out of Court settlement on 10 June 2026