Hi all,
I just received a letter from Chiltern Rail informing me of their intent to prosecute due to multiple journeys on an expired railcard. I had no idea my railcard was expired as I had (stupidly) assumed the Trainline app wouldn’t let me purchase tickets using the railcard once it was expired and I didn’t check the email associated with the app. Unfortunately this meant I travelled from October-April on an expired railcard, and I was informed it was expired by a ticket inspector in April. I immediately bought another and have been travelling on that since, but I’m hoping to settle out of court with Chiltern. I’m posting my draft email below along with a photo of the letter they sent me, any advice would be greatly appreciated.
To add further information, the stations can be seen on the letter and I had a valid ticket it was just that the railcard was expired. My interaction with the inspector was quick and normal he just wrote down my name from my ID and took my address, and told me they’d send me a letter. He didn’t ask me to buy a new railcard whilst on the train.
To whom it may concern,
I have received a letter informing me of intended prosecution due to my travel on an expired 16-25 railcard. I’m writing to express my sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused and to ask for an out of court settlement.
I had purchased my railcard on the Trainline app and naively didn’t realise when it had expired. I missed the email Trainline sent me and thought I wouldn’t be able to purchase a ticket using my railcard after it had expired. As such, every ticket I purchased using my railcard had me under the impression it was still valid. Upon receiving the information it was expired on the 7th April 2025 I bought a new railcard as soon as I arrived, which I have attached to this email.
I am aware that I made several journeys using the expired railcard as I believed it was valid for some months, and I will gladly pay for the difference in price as part of the settlement. I really apologise for this situation as I never would have intended to travel fraudulently, I completely accept that it was my responsibility to keep my railcard up to date and I shouldn’t have assumed without checking first. I will take all possible action in the future to only travel on a valid and up to date railcard.
Thank you for taking the time to consider this, please let me know the ways in which I can cooperate to settle this matter successfully.
I just received a letter from Chiltern Rail informing me of their intent to prosecute due to multiple journeys on an expired railcard. I had no idea my railcard was expired as I had (stupidly) assumed the Trainline app wouldn’t let me purchase tickets using the railcard once it was expired and I didn’t check the email associated with the app. Unfortunately this meant I travelled from October-April on an expired railcard, and I was informed it was expired by a ticket inspector in April. I immediately bought another and have been travelling on that since, but I’m hoping to settle out of court with Chiltern. I’m posting my draft email below along with a photo of the letter they sent me, any advice would be greatly appreciated.
To add further information, the stations can be seen on the letter and I had a valid ticket it was just that the railcard was expired. My interaction with the inspector was quick and normal he just wrote down my name from my ID and took my address, and told me they’d send me a letter. He didn’t ask me to buy a new railcard whilst on the train.
To whom it may concern,
I have received a letter informing me of intended prosecution due to my travel on an expired 16-25 railcard. I’m writing to express my sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused and to ask for an out of court settlement.
I had purchased my railcard on the Trainline app and naively didn’t realise when it had expired. I missed the email Trainline sent me and thought I wouldn’t be able to purchase a ticket using my railcard after it had expired. As such, every ticket I purchased using my railcard had me under the impression it was still valid. Upon receiving the information it was expired on the 7th April 2025 I bought a new railcard as soon as I arrived, which I have attached to this email.
I am aware that I made several journeys using the expired railcard as I believed it was valid for some months, and I will gladly pay for the difference in price as part of the settlement. I really apologise for this situation as I never would have intended to travel fraudulently, I completely accept that it was my responsibility to keep my railcard up to date and I shouldn’t have assumed without checking first. I will take all possible action in the future to only travel on a valid and up to date railcard.
Thank you for taking the time to consider this, please let me know the ways in which I can cooperate to settle this matter successfully.
