Hi I got stopped by inspectors at Hitchin station on the 15th August 2025 for forgetting to buy my ticket home from work as I got a lift to work in the morning and that never happens. I brought my ticket the second I realised I didn’t actually have one. I have received no letters/emails or anything at all regarding the fine they said they issued? How long do I have before it’s invalidated if at all?
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Haven’t sent fine for 3 months
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Fawkes Cat
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Welcome to the forum.
Practically speaking, you need to wait for six or seven months before you know you're in the clear: that's because the railway have six months to decide whether to take you to court - but once they've decided that they will, it could take the court a few weeks to get in touch with you.
(Edit - used wrong word, so 'work' > 'wait')
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They haven’t even sent me the fine to pay at all so. And the inspector told me I should receive it in the post soon. It was a £7 journey
Fawkes Cat
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You're unlikely just to be 'sent a fine'. Essentially the railway has three options
- to do nothing
- to give you a penalty fare at the time (most people call this 'a fine': someone will be along shortly to explain why I'm wrong to allow the word to be used like that)
- to start heading down the court route.
You haven't been given a penalty fare, and the way they work is that they can't be sent out later. So either the railway will just leave you hanging and do nothing (but you'll only be reasonably certain that they're doing nothing after six or seven months), or they'll send you a letter threatening to prosecute you. But even if that happens, don't panic! Read it closely, and you'll probably find that actually if you confirm that you made a mistake and tell them that you'll definitely avoid doing it again, then you will be able to 'settle out of court' for the train fare that you should have paid, plus the costs of the investigation (think maybe £150). That, again, will feel like a 'fine' but strictly won't be one.
WesternLancer
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What fine did they say they issued? Are you sure 100% that is what the ticket inspector said to you?
In my view you won't receive a fine in the post for this (I suspect you are confusing £100 Penalty Fares that you see on posters at stations - these can only be issued on the day and would have been given to you then and there with a deadline to either pay it or submit an appeal)
What I suspect has happened to you is that your name and address details have been taken as a 'report for investigation' that results in due course in a letter threatening you with prosecution.
from advice posted by a longstanding forum member that may help explain the process:
If you've been caught without a valid ticket then the railway company are entitled to prosecute you in the Magistrates Court if they want to. The good news for you is they are normally willing to offer an out of court settlement to people who co-operate with them, and who haven't come to their attention before.
What happens next is they will write to you saying they have received a report but asking for your version of events before they decide how to proceed. When the letter arrives post a redacted copy of it in this thread, along with your draft reply and forum members will proof read it for you.
If you are offered a settlement expect to have to pay the cost of the fare avoided at the full Anytime rate plus an admin fee, typically £150. It is possible that they will search your online ticket purchase history and if this indicates a history of purchasing invalid tickets they will factor the cost of these journeys into the settlement cost. Settlements have to be paid in full within a few days of being offered, payment plans aren't normally offered, so if money is tight think about how you will raise the money required at short notice.
You can see lots of examples of these sorts of letters on other threads in the forum to give you an idea. It will probably come by post (assume you gave a correct and up to date postal address) but you should watch out for e-mail and check spam too. Failure to respond top these letters means things get automatically escalated to court by the railway company.
Post #1 of this thread has an upload of a typical example of the sort of letter -in this case from Thameslink.
Intention to Prosecute Letter
Hello everyone, I received an intention to prosecute letter after I got on a train from Finsbury Park to Stevenage and didn’t purchase a ticket. I had a valid ticket from Moorgate to Finsbury Park but hadn’t purchased my other ticket yet. I wanted to go to Biggleswade but the Peterborough line...
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MarlowDonkey
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He may well have been fibbing. If they don't immediately issue you with a penalty fare notice, their options are either to ignore the transgression or threaten prosecution. If they threaten prosecation they may ask for an out of court settlement to not prosecute. That's either immediately or after you have written an apology and asked to setlle. See numerous threads on this area of the forum.
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