Investigation

[thame]

A ticket operator at Chilterns railways seized my paper ticket at London Marylebone station from Wembley, I bought the ticket online on my Trainline account.
He said I have evade fare because my ticket shows that it was printed at High Wycombe, I explained to him that I work at High Wycombe as a support worker but I have a colleague that drives through m24, and planned to drop me at Wembley station along his way, so I had bought the ticket and printed at High Wycombe so that I can easily catch the next train from Wembley.
He said my explanation doesn’t make sense due to the timing and seized my paper ticket saying they will investigate and prosecute, I am afraid that if they are able to check my Trainline account they might find patterns of fare evasion or buying half journey tickets.
I am very concerned because of my DBS, what should I do and what’s the worst case scenario
Also I’ve been caught fare evading before and was issued a fine which I paid in time and resolved..
I am willing to pay a fine if they issue one
Please offer advise

 

[30907]

1. Was the previous incident dealt with by a Penalty Fare, or were you taken to court? Assuming it was the first, I doubt it will matter.

2. Now that you have been caught short-faring, you must expect Chiltern to investigate further and you may find they identify previous occasions and invite you to pay back all those fares. Their letter to you may only mention the one incident, however. Either way they will almost certainly agree to settle out of court if you engage with them.

3. For now there is little you can do, though you could check the amount of the fares you should have paid in anticipation of having to settle. When they get in touch, please come back, upload the letter (redacted) and we will happily advise.

 

[thame]

1. Was the previous incident dealt with by a Penalty Fare, or were you taken to court? Assuming it was the first, I doubt it will matter.

2. Now that you have been caught short-faring, you must expect Chiltern to investigate further and you may find they identify previous occasions and invite you to pay back all those fares. Their letter to you may only mention the one incident, however. Either way they will almost certainly agree to settle out of court if you engage with them.

3. For now there is little you can do, though you could check the amount of the fares you should have paid in anticipation of having to settle. When they get in touch, please come back, upload the letter (redacted) and we will happily advise.

Thank you for your response. The previous incident was a penalty fare issued on the spot and I paid. I will be awaiting their letter if they send one, however I recently moved address and that was around September last year I am worried what if they sent the letter to my previous address? I’ve checked on my Trainline to see if I’m able to change my address but it’s not showing address history so I don’t know which address I have on it if it’s the old one or new one.
Is there a chance they contact me by email? These are my questions? And is there a maximum cap I can be asked to pay?

 

[AlterEgo]

Thank you for your response. The previous incident was a penalty fare issued on the spot and I paid. I will be awaiting their letter if they send one, however I recently moved address and that was around September last year I am worried what if they sent the letter to my previous address?

Did you give your correct address when stopped?

And is there a maximum cap I can be asked to pay?

No. You will need to pay all of the evaded fares back, at the Anytime rate most likely. That's £18 single. They can dig back up to six years of your transaction history.

 

[swt_passenger]

Also I’ve been caught fare evading before and was issued a fine which I paid in time and resolved..
I am willing to pay a fine if they issue one

Just to be accurate, you were ‘issued a penalty fare’ the first time. You will not be issued a penalty fare this time, because they aren’t ever issued later, ie after the event through the post. The TOC will not issue a fine now either. They will either accept compensation from you in the form of an agreed out of court settlement, or if not they can take you to court, and that’s where you would receive a fine. You though, want to avoid going to court, so don’t say to them that you‘re ‘willing to pay a fine’.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

A ticket operator at Chilterns railways seized my paper ticket at London Marylebone station from Wembley, (...) I had bought the ticket and printed at High Wycombe so that I can easily catch the next train from Wembley.

Did the machine print a receipt as well as the ticket - and if so, have you kept that receipt?

It would be really helpful if you have got the receipt, because tickets (and I think receipts) have the date and time they were printed on them. If you can show that your ticket was printed days or hours before you used it then that supports your story. If, on the other hand, it shows that you printed the ticket at Wycombe just before the train left there, that could be a problem: it's pretty unlikely (and depending on the traffic, could be impossible) that someone would pop into Wycombe station to print a ticket, then get a lift to Wembley and join the train that they could have caught at Wycombe.

 

[SECR 65]

Did you buy the ticket from Trainline to then collect from a machine in person?

A question for other members, if this is the case, then can Chiltern still view ticketing history?

If the seized ticket was not bought through Trainline, then would this mean that Chiltern could not see the Trainline account and therefore only deal with the isolated incident?

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Did the machine print a receipt as well as the ticket - and if so, have you kept that receipt?

It would be really helpful if you have got the receipt, because tickets (and I think receipts) have the date and time they were printed on them. If you can show that your ticket was printed days or hours before you used it then that supports your story. If, on the other hand, it shows that you printed the ticket at Wycombe just before the train left there, that could be a problem: it's pretty unlikely (and depending on the traffic, could be impossible) that someone would pop into Wycombe station to print a ticket, then get a lift to Wembley and join the train that they could have caught at Wycombe.

Just to add to this, the fact that Chiltern have the ticket of course means that they are able to check when it was printed.

 

[AlterEgo]

Did you buy the ticket from Trainline to then collect from a machine in person?

A question for other members, if this is the case, then can Chiltern still view ticketing history?

If the seized ticket was not bought through Trainline, then would this mean that Chiltern could not see the Trainline account and therefore only deal with the isolated incident?

The OP mentions they bought the ticket from Trainline and that they are worried about their Trainline account being checked and that the RPI noticed the timings made no sense for the story the OP gave. Which, for the avoidance of doubt, is obviously not true and no reasonable person would believe it. They are basically caught hook line and sinker with a long audit trail. Yes, Chiltern can see all the purchases and will get it with a data access request. They know exactly when the ticket was printed and may even have requested CCTV of that morning at High Wycombe Station, which will show the OP collecting their ticket from a specified machine at X time and where they went next. (Onto the train of course)

 

[thame]

Did you give your correct address when stopped?

No. You will need to pay all of the evaded fares back, at the Anytime rate most likely. That's £18 single. They can dig back up to six years of your transaction history.

He didn’t ask for my address, he only took the ticket and said he would investigate with it. I bought the ticket on Trainline and then printed it out at the machine.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 May 2026 ==

The seized ticket was bought on Trainline, and I printed it out at the train station.

 

[Haywain]

The seized ticket was bought on Trainline, and I printed it out at the train station.

And then what did you really do?

 

[toffeedanish]

I am willing to pay a fine if they issue one
Please offer advise

It would be highly unusual for someone to be willing to pay a fine (as mentioned up thread, only a court will be issuing a fine) if they had not been evading a fare. If you are honest in this thread then people will offer good advice.

 

[CyrusWuff]

it's pretty unlikely (and depending on the traffic, could be impossible) that someone would pop into Wycombe station to print a ticket, then get a lift to Wembley and join the train that they could have caught at Wycombe.

Even with a totally clear run, you'd struggle to do High Wycombe to Wembley Stadium in any less than 40 minutes in a car. It's then another 15 minutes or so by train into Marylebone.

Meanwhile, the fastest trains from High Wycombe to Marylebone take around 30 to 35 minutes and don't stop at Wembley Stadium.

As such, arriving at Marylebone anywhere under an hour after the ticket was printed will be a second red flag (the first being that it was printed at High Wycombe.)

 

[thame]

And then what did you really

It would be highly unusual for someone to be willing to pay a fine (as mentioned up thread, only a court will be issuing a fine) if they had not been evading a fare. If you are honest in this thread then people will offer good advice.

I meant to say penalty fare, not fine

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 May 2026 ==

I meant to say penalty fare, not fine

If there’s nothing really I can do, I will wait till the letter comes, then take it from there. I’ll also post the letter on this thread

 

[SECR 65]

If there’s nothing really I can do, I will wait till the letter comes, then take it from there. I’ll also post the letter on this thread

It isn't normally advised to contact the railway before they contact you first. If there is serious fraud or something along those lines involved then it's possible you might want to consider looking at enlisting the help of a solicitor. That said, you are likely to be able to settle out of court with the advice from the forum, so a solicitor wouldn't normally be neccecary. Otherwise, nothing you can really do before the letter arrives.

 

[WesternLancer]

A ticket operator at Chilterns railways seized my paper ticket at London Marylebone station from Wembley, I bought the ticket online on my Trainline account.
He said I have evade fare because my ticket shows that it was printed at High Wycombe, I explained to him that I work at High Wycombe as a support worker but I have a colleague that drives through m24, and planned to drop me at Wembley station along his way, so I had bought the ticket and printed at High Wycombe so that I can easily catch the next train from Wembley.
He said my explanation doesn’t make sense due to the timing and seized my paper ticket saying they will investigate and prosecute, I am afraid that if they are able to check my Trainline account they might find patterns of fare evasion or buying half journey tickets.
I am very concerned because of my DBS, what should I do and what’s the worst case scenario
Also I’ve been caught fare evading before and was issued a fine which I paid in time and resolved..
I am willing to pay a fine if they issue one
Please offer advise

I’m afraid your story is not believable.

If you want to stick with it you ultimately need to get the friend who gives you a lift to be prepared to state that they do this, potentially in a court.
Lying in court is a very serious matter, and almost certainly considered by the court to be more serious than any sort of fare evasion offence.

My advice would be to apologise to the railway for what you have been doing, and offer to pay the what you owe in evaded fares in the hope they won’t prosecute you in court.

Avoid talking about getting lifts to Wembley unless you can substantiate it with clear evidence, and in future get your ticket issued from a ticket machine at Wembley station.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 May 2026 ==

Even with a totally clear run, you'd struggle to do High Wycombe to Wembley Stadium in any less than 40 minutes in a car. It's then another 15 minutes or so by train into Marylebone.

Meanwhile, the fastest trains from High Wycombe to Marylebone take around 30 to 35 minutes and don't stop at Wembley Stadium.

As such, arriving at Marylebone anywhere under an hour after the ticket was printed will be a second red flag (the first being that it was printed at High Wycombe.)

Sounds like in a worst case scenario it might open the driver up to awkward questions about speeding on the journey

 

[CyrusWuff]

Avoid talking about getting lifts to Wembley unless you can substantiate it with clear evidence, and in future get your ticket issued from a ticket machine at Wembley station.

Or use Pay As You Go (unless you need a physical ticket to claim back on expenses), given that's £3.60 Off-Peak or £4.80 Peak, where a paper ticket is £7.00 Single.

Sounds like in a worst case scenario it might open the driver up to awkward questions about speeding on the journey

Given the M40/A40 route has both fixed and average speed cameras, "spirited" driving would almost certainly result in a ticket, yes.

 

[MotCO]

Is Wembley the last station before Marylebone? If so, it is probably often used as a station to buy tickets from if you are trying to evade fares in order to exit the barriers at Marylebone. As such, insoectors are aware of this and look out for this dodge.

Also, why did you call in at High Wycombe to pick up the ticket when you could easily have picked it up from Wembley? Surely it was an unneccesay stop in a car, and it would be quicker to pick it up at Wembley.

Sorry, your story does not stack up. If you want good advice on this forum, please tell us the actual facts. Short faring is not the end of the world, but we need to know what actually happened to give you the best advice.

 

[185143]

Is Wembley the last station before Marylebone? If so, it is probably often used as a station to buy tickets from if you are trying to evade fares in order to exit the barriers at Marylebone. As such, insoectors are aware of this and look out for this dodge.

Also, why did you call in at High Wycombe to pick up the ticket when you could easily have picked it up from Wembley? Surely it was an unneccesay stop in a car, and it would be quicker to pick it up at Wembley.

Sorry, your story does not stack up. If you want good advice on this forum, please tell us the actual facts. Short faring is not the end of the world, but we need to know what actually happened to give you the best advice.

Yes it is, yes it is. And yes they most certainly are.

"Of all the things that didn't happen, this didn't happen the most" springs to mind with this one. Not a chance Chiltern will buy the story of having conveniently stopped to collect a ticket at High Wycombe and just so coincidentally happens to be dropped off at Wembly Stadium to get the train into Marylebone. Anyone genuinely being dropped off to travel onwards into London would get dropped off at a tube station and use Contactless/Oyster PAYG. Chiltern aren't stupid.

 

[WesternLancer]

Or use Pay As You Go (unless you need a physical ticket to claim back on expenses), given that's £3.60 Off-Peak or £4.80 Peak, where a paper ticket is £7.00 Single.


Given the M40/A40 route has both fixed and average speed cameras, "spirited" driving would almost certainly result in a ticket, yes.

Thanks for those informed observations.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 May 2026 ==

Is Wembley the last station before Marylebone? If so, it is probably often used as a station to buy tickets from if you are trying to evade fares in order to exit the barriers at Marylebone. As such, insoectors are aware of this and look out for this dodge.

Also, why did you call in at High Wycombe to pick up the ticket when you could easily have picked it up from Wembley? Surely it was an unneccesay stop in a car, and it would be quicker to pick it up at Wembley.

Sorry, your story does not stack up. If you want good advice on this forum, please tell us the actual facts. Short faring is not the end of the world, but we need to know what actually happened to give you the best advice.

We used to see loads of cases involving tickets from Wembley in the forum, especially when TIL company had the outsourced contract for fares evasion prosecution work from Chiltern Trains.

Chiltern then seemed to take the work back in house and rarely seem to feature here much now. It may be that they even had a fundamental review of thier processes.

But given they run trains without guards iirc they must get lots of people claiming they travel from Wembley I’d think.

 

[Haywain]

But given they run trains without guards iirc they must get lots of people claiming they travel from Wembley I’d think.

Removing the option of having tickets from Wembley Stadium to Marylebone as eTickets has made it more difficult.

 

[WesternLancer]

Removing the option of having tickets from Wembley Stadium to Marylebone as eTickets has made it more difficult.

Aha. I didn’t know that. Thanks.
A sensible decision I would think.