Interviewed me under caution, university student

[baileyjw]

Hello all, first time posting and asking for help so i'm sorry if i miss anything, i was Interviewed under caution at Paddington on 02.11.2025 for not having a ticket from swindon to paddington, i was travelling from cardiff but had the ticket from cardiff to swindon and decided to stay on the train as i really couldn't be bothered to wait the 5 hours for my coach which was taking me to london, when i arrived to london i realised i obviously couldn't get through the barriers so decided to quickly try buy a ticket from reading to london to get through but while i was doing this one of the revenue people realised and started asking me for my ticket etc in which he scanned and it showed him i bought the ticket 1 minute ago so he knew i didn't have a ticket then said he was going to interview me etc, he asked for my ID and took pictures of my railcard, tickets and email then asked me some brief questions then said id get contacted by GWR about what will happen next but that's all he said, he didn't say how long it'll take or even how they will contact me so i didn't really think twice about except for just waiting for it to turn up and to never try to do that again (first ever time trying to do it). i did some research and it says i have 21 days to resolve the issue or it can be taken to court which as a full time university student has me worried as i really don't want to go to court especially for some thing so silly and with the days being 21 days meaning the 23.11.2025 the time is nearly ran out but ive had no contact at all, not even through the post so i dont know what to do or what i should be doing right now. Any advice would be much appreciated, Thank you.

 

[AlterEgo]

The 21 days thing is for penalty fares. You haven't, and won't be penalty fared; you were reported for prosecution instead.

GWR will write to you anytime in the next 5-6 months asking for your side of the story. Once this letter arrives, come back here and we will be able to help you draft a letter to settle the matter out of court instead of being prosecuted for the offence.

 

[MarlowDonkey]

i did some research and it says i have 21 days to resolve the issue or it can be taken to court

I think you need to revisit your research. The general understanding is that they have six months to bring a prosecution for fare evasion. In practice they seem to write with a threat of prosecution but are mostly prepared to offer an out of court settlement as an alternative. In other words they demand money to go away. They look for something like £ 150 plus the most expensive fare for the journey with a missing ticket.

There are numerous threads started by people who have been caught without valid tickets.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

GWR's specific policy is in https://www.gwr.com/-/media/gwr-sc-...Revenue-Protection-Policy-January-2023-v2.pdf: The section 'What could happen if you do not pay your fare' starting on page 11 is probably the most relevant bit.

You can also read around this on GWR's website at https://www.gwr.com/help-and-support/penalties-and-enforcements which links to other documents as well.

 

[baileyjw]

The 21 days thing is for penalty fares. You haven't, and won't be penalty fared; you were reported for prosecution instead.

GWR will write to you anytime in the next 5-6 months asking for your side of the story. Once this letter arrives, come back here and we will be able to help you draft a letter to settle the matter out of court instead of being prosecuted for the offence.

appreciate the reply it was just was i saw on their "GWR Revenue Protection Policy" that's why. Would it be anytime within the next 5-6 months? just a pain as im never at home of course as im at uni and can sometimes be quick difficult for my mother to let me know if something has arrived for me. Thanks.

 

[baileyjw]

I think you need to revisit your research. The general understanding is that they have six months to bring a prosecution for fare evasion. In practice they seem to write with a threat of prosecution but are mostly prepared to offer an out of court settlement as an alternative. In other words they demand money to go away. They look for something like £ 150 plus the most expensive fare for the journey with a missing ticket.

There are numerous threads started by people who have been caught without valid tickets.

Okay, thank you very much for the reply and advice it was just something i saw on their 'GWR Revenue Protection Policy'. I shall look into and read a little bit of the other threads. Appreciate the help

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 19 Nov 2025 ==

GWR's specific policy is in https://www.gwr.com/-/media/gwr-sc-...Revenue-Protection-Policy-January-2023-v2.pdf: The section 'What could happen if you do not pay your fare' starting on page 11 is probably the most relevant bit.

You can also read around this on GWR's website at https://www.gwr.com/help-and-support/penalties-and-enforcements which links to other documents as well.

Yea this was exactly what i was reading into and where i've got my so called knowledge from. Any idea of next steps? Thanks.

 

[30907]

The 21 days starts from when they make their offer to settle out of court, not from when you commit the offence.

 

[z444z]

Hello all, first time posting and asking for help so i'm sorry if i miss anything, i was Interviewed under caution at Paddington on 02.11.2025 for not having a ticket from swindon to paddington, i was travelling from cardiff but had the ticket from cardiff to swindon and decided to stay on the train as i really couldn't be bothered to wait the 5 hours for my coach which was taking me to london, when i arrived to london i realised i obviously couldn't get through the barriers so decided to quickly try buy a ticket from reading to london to get through but while i was doing this one of the revenue people realised and started asking me for my ticket etc in which he scanned and it showed him i bought the ticket 1 minute ago so he knew i didn't have a ticket then said he was going to interview me etc, he asked for my ID and took pictures of my railcard, tickets and email then asked me some brief questions then said id get contacted by GWR about what will happen next but that's all he said, he didn't say how long it'll take or even how they will contact me so i didn't really think twice about except for just waiting for it to turn up and to never try to do that again (first ever time trying to do it). i did some research and it says i have 21 days to resolve the issue or it can be taken to court which as a full time university student has me worried as i really don't want to go to court especially for some thing so silly and with the days being 21 days meaning the 23.11.2025 the time is nearly ran out but ive had no contact at all, not even through the post so i dont know what to do or what i should be doing right now. Any advice would be much appreciated, Thank you.

You can expect a letter or email from GWR within the next 6 months at most, probably in the first half of this period though. They’ll threaten prosecution but will likely offer an out-of-court settlement as an alternative - expect this to be around £150 plus the Anytime fare for your full journey which is £149.50. So £300.

They will look at your purchasing history and if you’ve done this before, or have other purchases that are suspicious, they may ask you about those or include the cost of them in their settlement offer.

You don’t need to do anything until you hear from them.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Yea this was exactly what i was reading into and where i've got my so called knowledge from. Any idea of next steps?

Wait for them to write to you. Then start counting the 21 days.

 

[baileyjw]

The 21 days starts from when they make their offer to settle out of court, not from when you commit the offence.

Perfect thank you, that's all i need, assuming that they'll contact me through the post? as a letter, if this is the case is the next step just waiting for a letter to arrive?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 19 Nov 2025 ==

Wait for them to write to you. Then start counting the 21 days.

thanks

 

[WesternLancer]

to add to the helpful advice already given here is a copy of general advice often given on this forum which may be of help to you to give you an idea of the process and what you should expect as things progress.

I'm afraid any saving you hoped to make by combining a train and coach journey is going to be wiped out by your decision to stay on the train without a ticket and then try to dodge the fare when you arrived at Paddington with a 'short ticket' - had you actually bought a ticket from Swindon whilst on the train (but before the train stopped at Swindon) you would have been in the clear as the ticket would have been valid.

anyway - here's the general advice for you:


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 may / 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.
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, or take steps to save it up between now and when they write to you.


* The Reading to Paddington ticket wasn't valid because you only bought it on arrival at Paddington, not before the train stopped at Reading

I'm afraid an Anytime Day Single from Swindon to London is £87.90 so that is the fare they are likely to ask you for (had you bought before train stopped at Swindon I suspect you could have got a 'Super Off Peak Single' at £36.70 (further discounted for your Railcard which likely now won't happen either) , if the time of the day was suitable. You might need to budget for c£200+ to resolve all this if you are offered an out of court settlement.

 

[z444z]

I'm afraid an Anytime Day Single from Swindon to London is £87.90 so that is the fare they are likely to ask you for

Surely they’ll want £149.50 for the entire journey Cardiff-Paddington? I suspect they won’t see this any differently than other short tickets, and they certainly charge people all the way to Waterloo even if they had a valid ticket from Clapham Junction onwards.

 

[WesternLancer]

Surely they’ll want £149.50 for the entire journey Cardiff-Paddington? I suspect they won’t see this any differently than other short tickets, and they certainly charge people all the way to Waterloo even if they had a valid ticket from Clapham Junction onwards.

one can't be sure I suppose. GWR are usually reasonable if you are reasonable with them - and I can't see what was not valid about the Cardiff - Swindon ticket from what we have been told. The OP's story is that they opted to change plans en route but failed to regularise this at the necessary time on the journey.

Would a deliberate short farer buy a ticket from Cardiff as far as Swindon? Seems a bit unlikely to me.

The OP will get a chance to set out their side of the story - will depend on if GWR believe them or not I suppose.

To @baileyjw make sure you keep and can supply a copy of / or proof of purchase of your ticket for the part of the trip as far as Swindon when you are responding to GWR in due course.

 

[z444z]

GWR are usually reasonable if you are reasonable with them.

Fair enough, I guess it doesn’t hurt to ask but I’d be prepared for them to ask for the full amount just in case.

I’d also suggest keeping a copy of the coach ticket to add further credibility to the idea that this was a last-minute bad decision rather than premeditated fare evasion.

 

[WesternLancer]

Fair enough, I guess it doesn’t hurt to ask but I’d be prepared for them to ask for the full amount just in case.

I’d also suggest keeping a copy of the coach ticket to add further credibility to the idea that this was a last-minute bad decision rather than premeditated fare evasion.

good points

 

[baileyjw]

thank you everyone for your help and advice, i have taken screen shots of all the train tickets and even my coach ticket so now i guess i shall wait for GWR to send me a letter. Fingers crossed this all gets resolved easily and as straight forward as possible ( yes i know this would never of happened if i decided just not to do that ). Thanks all.