GWR expired railcard fine/prosecution

[Fauzia]

Hi! I was travelling from Twyfird to Henley on Thames (GWR). I assumed I had a rail card and bought a discounted ticket (I realised later it had expired in Nov ). Anyway the ticket checker asked me for the railcard and I confidently said I have it and he made a report saying I was being interviewed under caution. During the interview I realised my card might have expired as I was looking through email and offered to pay full price but he denied and said I can show railcard if I find it. This was my first travel after my railcard expired so it was a genuine mistake. I bought a new railcard as soon as I realised my old one was expired. What fine or prosecution am I looking it? Is it worth it to write to them in advance or should I wait for their communication?

 

[WesternLancer]

Hi! I was travelling from Twyfird to Henley on Thames (GWR). I assumed I had a rail card and bought a discounted ticket (I realised later it had expired in Nov ). Anyway the ticket checker asked me for the railcard and I confidently said I have it and he made a report saying I was being interviewed under caution. During the interview I realised my card might have expired as I was looking through email and offered to pay full price but he denied and said I can show railcard if I find it. This was my first travel after my railcard expired so it was a genuine mistake. I bought a new railcard as soon as I realised my old one was expired. What fine or prosecution am I looking it? Is it worth it to write to them in advance or should I wait for their communication?

Welcome

It's best to wait for them to contact you, not you contact them.

In the meantime have a read of this

https://www.gwr.com/-/media/gwr-sc-website/files/revenue-protection-policy/GWR-Revenue-Protection-Policy-January-2023.pdf

Expired railcard cases (unintentional ones included) are usually reported for further investigation like this because the railway staff know that often there is a history of discounted tickets without the railcard being valid for some time and they will wish to seek the fares for more then the one journey where they discovered this.

Here is some general advice often given here to help you know what to expect.

Firstly, you committed an 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.

 

[SECR 65]

I suspect in this case the most likely outcome would be for GTR to offer an out of court settlement after some back-and-forth of communication. As said above, wait for them to contact you first. When you do hear from them upload the letter here with personal details redacted and we can advise how to respond. If you don't hear anything in about 5 months also come back here and say you haven't heard anything.

I assume you gave an accurate postal address to the inspector when questioned?