Issued Witness statement receipt

[SD2323]

Hello everyone,


I would appreciate some advice regarding a recent Thameslink/GTR revenue protection matter.


I am 29 years old and regularly travel between Gatwick Airport and Haywards Heath for work. I hold a valid Network Railcard.


On 16 June 2026, I finished work earlier than expected and left Gatwick Airport at around 9am. I had previously purchased a ticket for a later train at approximately 10:30am because it was around £2 cheaper. Rather than waiting for the booked service, I boarded an earlier train.


During the journey, I was approached by a revenue protection inspector. The inspector advised that I was travelling on an earlier train than the one for which my ticket had been booked. He also informed me that the ticket had been purchased using a 16-25 Railcard discount, even though I do not hold a 16-25 Railcard.


I showed the inspector my valid Network Railcard. However, he explained that my Network Railcard would not have been valid for that morning journey and would only have been valid later in the day.


I was polite and cooperative throughout the inspection. I provided my correct name and address, answered all questions honestly and apologised for the mistakes. I also asked whether I could simply pay a penalty fare or any additional amount required there and then, but I was advised that the matter would be dealt with by correspondence and that GTR would write to me.


I was issued with a Witness Statement Receipt which states that Thameslink Southern Great Northern will contact me in due course.


This is the first time I have received a Witness Statement Receipt and I am quite worried about what happens next.


I would be grateful for advice on the following:

1. How long does GTR usually take to send the first letter?
2. Is an administrative settlement a realistic possibility in circumstances such as these?
3. What is the usual process after receiving a Witness Statement Receipt?
4. Is there anything I should do now other than wait for correspondence?

Thank you for any guidance

 

[WesternLancer]

Hello everyone,


I would appreciate some advice regarding a recent Thameslink/GTR revenue protection matter.


I am 29 years old and regularly travel between Gatwick Airport and Haywards Heath for work. I hold a valid Network Railcard.


On 16 June 2026, I finished work earlier than expected and left Gatwick Airport at around 9am. I had previously purchased a ticket for a later train at approximately 10:30am because it was around £2 cheaper. Rather than waiting for the booked service, I boarded an earlier train.


During the journey, I was approached by a revenue protection inspector. The inspector advised that I was travelling on an earlier train than the one for which my ticket had been booked. He also informed me that the ticket had been purchased using a 16-25 Railcard discount, even though I do not hold a 16-25 Railcard.


I showed the inspector my valid Network Railcard. However, he explained that my Network Railcard would not have been valid for that morning journey and would only have been valid later in the day.


I was polite and cooperative throughout the inspection. I provided my correct name and address, answered all questions honestly and apologised for the mistakes. I also asked whether I could simply pay a penalty fare or any additional amount required there and then, but I was advised that the matter would be dealt with by correspondence and that GTR would write to me.


I was issued with a Witness Statement Receipt which states that Thameslink Southern Great Northern will contact me in due course.


This is the first time I have received a Witness Statement Receipt and I am quite worried about what happens next.


I would be grateful for advice on the following:

1. How long does GTR usually take to send the first letter?
2. Is an administrative settlement a realistic possibility in circumstances such as these?
3. What is the usual process after receiving a Witness Statement Receipt?
4. Is there anything I should do now other than wait for correspondence?

Thank you for any guidance

Welcome
might be some time before they contact you eg six to eight weeks.

If you have not heard in about 4 months come back here for advice on what to consider at that stage.

So was this travelling in the peak with an off peak ticket?
Then using a railcard you don’t have / are not eligible for to get round the restrictions the network railcard has (not valid at the time of day and minimum fare?), deliberately in order to avoid paying the correct fare? That’s probably what the inspector suspected.

They may investigate your purchase history to see how often you have been doing this.
That’s the most likely reason you weren’t given a Penalty Fare when you asked for one. Ie they suspect you owe them more than £50 for doing this over time. Is that likely?

Have you been given Penalty Fares before?

You should still have a good chance of an out of court settlement so long as you receive and respond to their letter in due course.

 

[SECR 65]

Welcome to the forum,

1. How long does GTR usually take to send the first letter?

It could be a number of months. If you have not heard anything in around 4-5 months, come back to the forum and let us know so we can advise on possible next steps. The first letter will usually be a Notice of Intention to Prosecute

1. Is an administrative settlement a realistic possibility in circumstances such as these?

Yes - GTR settle out of court in almost all cases, provided you recieve their correspondence, and reply to it cooperatively. The cost will usually be the anytime single fare for your journey, plus an admin fee, likely low three figures.

1. What is the usual process after receiving a Witness Statement Receipt?

Your details will be passed on to the back office team, who will usually eventually send a Notice of Intention to Prosecute letter, which seems to always come by physical post.

1. Is there anything I should do now other than wait for correspondence?

Not really. There's no need to incriminate yourself. At least for the first four months. GTR have up to 6 months if they want to prosecute you. Sometimes if they're running out of time they will send a Single Justice Proceedure Notice and attempt to go straight to court. This is why you could consider contacting them after 4 or 5 months, to avoid the case being sent straight to court.

Provided you gave the inspector a correct name and postal address, all you can really do is wait. Have a look at some other GTR threads to get an idea of what the letter looks like etc.

 

[WesternLancer]

Hello everyone,


I would appreciate some advice regarding a recent Thameslink/GTR revenue protection matter.


I am 29 years old and regularly travel between Gatwick Airport and Haywards Heath for work. I hold a valid Network Railcard.


On 16 June 2026, I finished work earlier than expected and left Gatwick Airport at around 9am. I had previously purchased a ticket for a later train at approximately 10:30am because it was around £2 cheaper. Rather than waiting for the booked service, I boarded an earlier train.


During the journey, I was approached by a revenue protection inspector. The inspector advised that I was travelling on an earlier train than the one for which my ticket had been booked. He also informed me that the ticket had been purchased using a 16-25 Railcard discount, even though I do not hold a 16-25 Railcard.


I showed the inspector my valid Network Railcard. However, he explained that my Network Railcard would not have been valid for that morning journey and would only have been valid later in the day.


I was polite and cooperative throughout the inspection. I provided my correct name and address, answered all questions honestly and apologised for the mistakes. I also asked whether I could simply pay a penalty fare or any additional amount required there and then, but I was advised that the matter would be dealt with by correspondence and that GTR would write to me.


I was issued with a Witness Statement Receipt which states that Thameslink Southern Great Northern will contact me in due course.


This is the first time I have received a Witness Statement Receipt and I am quite worried about what happens next.


I would be grateful for advice on the following:

1. How long does GTR usually take to send the first letter?
2. Is an administrative settlement a realistic possibility in circumstances such as these?
3. What is the usual process after receiving a Witness Statement Receipt?
4. Is there anything I should do now other than wait for correspondence?

Thank you for any guidance

If you do this journey for work regularly you should consider getting a season or flexi season ticket as a way of legitimately reducing your travel cost.
It would be valid at any time.

It would be something you can tell them you have done instead of wrongly using railcard discounts.

 

[SD2323]

Welcome
might be some time before they contact you eg six to eight weeks.

If you have not heard in about 4 months come back here for advice on what to consider at that stage.

So was this travelling in the peak with an off peak ticket?
Then using a railcard you don’t have / are not eligible for to get round the restrictions the network railcard has (not valid at the time of day and minimum fare?), deliberately in order to avoid paying the correct fare? That’s probably what the inspector suspected.

They may investigate your purchase history to see how often you have been doing this.
That’s the most likely reason you weren’t given a Penalty Fare when you asked for one. Ie they suspect you owe them more than £50 for doing this over time. Is that likely?

Have you been given Penalty Fares before?

You should still have a good chance of an out of court settlement so long as you receive and respond to their letter in due course.

Thank you for your reply.





No, I have never previously been issued with a Penalty Fare or received a Witness Statement Receipt.





The journey was from Gatwick Airport to Haywards Heath. I had booked a ticket for a later train at approximately 10:30am because it was slightly cheaper, but I finished work earlier than expected and travelled on an earlier service at around 9am instead.





I hold a valid Network Railcard and showed it to the inspector. However, he explained that the Network Railcard would not have been valid for that particular morning journey.





I fully appreciate that mistakes were made on my part. I cooperated throughout, provided my correct details, apologised to the inspector and asked whether I could simply pay a Penalty Fare or any additional amount there and then, but I was advised that the matter would be dealt with by correspondence and that GTR would write to me.





I do have a few additional questions if anyone is able to advise.





I regularly travel for work and hold a valid Network Railcard. Having looked back, I am concerned that on some occasions I may have selected a 26-30 Railcard option when booking instead of my Network Railcard. I am still checking my booking history and do not currently know how many times this may have occurred.





On previous journeys, I have had tickets checked by inspectors and have shown my Network Railcard when asked, and no issues were raised at the time.





Would GTR normally have access to previous booking history through Trainline if they decided to investigate further?





If they do review previous bookings, would this normally be mentioned in the first letter they send, or only later in the process?





Would it be better to wait and see what is contained in the letter before responding, or should any concerns about previous bookings be raised proactively?





Thank you again for your advice

 

[SECR 65]

I do have a few additional questions if anyone is able to advise.

I regularly travel for work and hold a valid Network Railcard. Having looked back, I am concerned that on some occasions I may have selected a 26-30 Railcard option when booking instead of my Network Railcard. I am still checking my booking history and do not currently know how many times this may have occurred.

This is not really allowed, but hopefully you would only be charged when there is financial loss to the railway.

On previous journeys, I have had tickets checked by inspectors and have shown my Network Railcard when asked, and no issues were raised at the time.

Would GTR normally have access to previous booking history through Trainline if they decided to investigate further?

They would have access, but GTR don't usually bother looking from our experience.

If they do review previous bookings, would this normally be mentioned in the first letter they send, or only later in the process?

I think it would be mentioned initially.

Would it be better to wait and see what is contained in the letter before responding, or should any concerns about previous bookings be raised proactively?

Yes, wait and see what they say. There is no real benefit to getting in touch at this stage.

Thank you again for your advice

 

[SD2323]

Thank you everyone for your help and advice. I really appreciate the time taken to respond to my questions and explain the process. I understand that the best course of action now is to wait for correspondence from GTR and respond promptly when it arrives. I will update this thread once I receive any letter or if there are any further developments.





Thank you again for all your assistance.

 

[AlterEgo]

Would GTR normally have access to previous booking history through Trainline if they decided to investigate further?

Yes. If they decide to investigate further they will be able to see up to 6 years of booking history, and scan data showing which times tickets were used.

Would it be better to wait and see what is contained in the letter before responding, or should any concerns about previous bookings be raised proactively?

You should wait and see what they ask. But adding 16-25 and 26-30 discounts when you have no business doing so is a clear attempt to attempt to avoid the fare due; you know the Network Railcard is not valid before 10am whereas those age-restricted railcards are, and have attempted to engineer a situation where you think you can claim plausible deniability "oh sorry wrong railcard" - but this mistake is very difficult to make or justify making, especially repeatedly.

Nonetheless it isn't in your interests to 'fess up to the historic occasions; GTR often don't bother to do a data trawl because they are, to be frank, very lazy. And that might work in your favour.

 

[Haywain]

you know the Network Railcard is not valid before 10am whereas those age-restricted railcards are

And those railcards give a discount when the fare would be subject to the Network Railcard minimum fare, so there is clear fare evasion taking place.

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you everyone for your help and advice. I really appreciate the time taken to respond to my questions and explain the process. I understand that the best course of action now is to wait for correspondence from GTR and respond promptly when it arrives. I will update this thread once I receive any letter or if there are any further developments.





Thank you again for all your assistance.

Look at the Railcard website and familiarise yourself with the rules that apply to the railcard you have - they are pretty clearly stated (not just in the small print T&Cs) - when they are valid for use and things like minimum fares is what you should look at especially.

Note - 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 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.

 

[SD2323]

I might have done it 2-3 times before other than that i have always paid full fare or network railcard and i also i deeply regret doing the mistake i did, and also money is tight for me, do you know approximately how much penalty to expect?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Jun 2026 ==

And do they always check previous history for everyone? Although I will never ever do this again in future.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

do you know approximately how much penalty to expect?

You can work it out from what @WesternLancer has already said:

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.

 

[pelli]

I am 29 years old and regularly travel between Gatwick Airport and Haywards Heath for work. I hold a valid Network Railcard.
[...]
The inspector advised that I was travelling on an earlier train than the one for which my ticket had been booked. He also informed me that the ticket had been purchased using a 16-25 Railcard discount, even though I do not hold a 16-25 Railcard.
[...]
However, he explained that my Network Railcard would not have been valid for that morning journey and would only have been valid later in the day.

you know the Network Railcard is not valid before 10am whereas those age-restricted railcards are

And those railcards give a discount when the fare would be subject to the Network Railcard minimum fare, so there is clear fare evasion taking place.

Indeed, between Gatwick Airport and Haywards Heath even the Anytime Day Return at £10.30 is below the Network Railcard minimum fare of £13.00, so on a weekday the ticket would not be discountable by a Network Railcard at all. Hence, all cases of applying a 16-25 or 26-30 railcard to this journey on a weekday (including the Tuesday in question) are "simply" cases of a railcard discount applied when no valid railcard was held and full fare should have been paid - whether the journey was before or after 10am doesn't matter.

 

[SD2323]

Yes. If they decide to investigate further they will be able to see up to 6 years of booking history, and scan data showing which times tickets were used.


You should wait and see what they ask. But adding 16-25 and 26-30 discounts when you have no business doing so is a clear attempt to attempt to avoid the fare due; you know the Network Railcard is not valid before 10am whereas those age-restricted railcards are, and have attempted to engineer a situation where you think you can claim plausible deniability "oh sorry wrong railcard" - but this mistake is very difficult to make or justify making, especially repeatedly.

Nonetheless it isn't in your interests to 'fess up to the historic occasions; GTR often don't bother to do a data trawl because they are, to be frank, very lazy. And that

Indeed, between Gatwick Airport and Haywards Heath even the Anytime Day Return at £10.30 is below the Network Railcard minimum fare of £13.00, so on a weekday the ticket would not be discountable by a Network Railcard at all. Hence, all cases of applying a 16-25 or 26-30 railcard to this journey on a weekday (including the Tuesday in question) are "simply" cases of a railcard discount applied when no valid railcard was held and full fare should have been paid - whether the journey was before or after 10am doesn't matter.

Thank you for the clarification.
Just to clarify one point, the journey on Tuesday was a single journey from Gatwick Airport to Haywards Heath rather than a return ticket. I am not disputing that the wrong railcard was applied and I fully accept responsibility for that. I am simply trying to understand the fare rules and whether the fact it was a single ticket rather than a return makes any difference to the position you have outlined.
I understand the point you are making regarding the fare rules and appreciate you taking the time to explain them.

At this stage, I will wait for the letter from GTR and seek further advice once I know exactly what they are alleging. Thankyou again for the help.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Jun 2026 ==

Thank you again to everyone who has taken the time to respond.

I understand the points that have been made and I fully accept that I made a mistake. Looking back, trying to save such a small amount of money was not worth it at all, and I genuinely regret the situation I have put myself in.

I am feeling quite worried about the matter, but I understand that the best thing I can do now is wait for correspondence from GTR and respond appropriately once I know exactly what they are investigating.

Thank you again for all the advice and guidance. I will update the thread when I receive any further communication from GTR.

 

[Haywain]

Just to clarify one point, the journey on Tuesday was a single journey from Gatwick Airport to Haywards Heath rather than a return ticket. I am not disputing that the wrong railcard was applied and I fully accept responsibility for that. I am simply trying to understand the fare rules and whether the fact it was a single ticket rather than a return makes any difference to the position you have outlined.

A single will be cheaper than a return albeit not by much, so will still be subject to the minimum fare rule which means there is no discount.