No letter has arrived. It's been over 6 months.

[John Beef]

Hello all,

I've been following this forum since the 26th of October, 2024, when I was stopped at the barriers for purchasing a ticket after reaching the destination, the reality was I purchased a ticket with the correct railcard at the destination out of panic as I had a ticket with a higher railcard discount. I was told by the Chiltern RP I will be receiving a letter in 6 weeks time.

Since then, I've made it a point to be completely honest with the system and have bought tickets using the correct railcard. I regret that I had to go through this experience before I decided to change. It's discouraging that this circumstance was necessary for me to think, even though the threat of prosecution works well as a deterrent. I truly apologize for what I did, and I will take responsibility for any fallout. I will, however, make every effort to prevent a criminal record. When the time comes, I'm ready to be open and honest with Chiltern, and I'll do everything in my power to quickly recover any money that was lost as a result of my actions.

What's worrying me now, though, is that this incident happened more than six months ago, and I haven't heard anything since. I did give my correct address to the RP. Should I be proactive and get in touch with them, or is this lengthy process typical? I'm worried that they might have made an unsuccessful attempt to get in touch with me.

Grateful for any advice, in advance.

 

[AlterEgo]

If it happened more than six months ago the company cannot now lay court papers in the magistrates’ court, and you can discount prosecution as an outcome. It’s not in your interests to chase this up; would you chase the police for a status on your case if you were arrested and bailed? No.

No news is good news. If there are any further developments return and let us know.

 

[Pushpit]

Staff from Chiltern appear to read this forum.

 

[CyrusWuff]

Staff from Chiltern appear to read this forum.

It's a reasonably safe bet that staff from most train companies, TfL, Rail Delivery Group and the DfT read the forums.

 

[Elecman]

You may not be in the clear yet as Chiltern could have laid papers at the court at the last moment but the court haven’t yet issued the summons orbit is still in the post

 

[John Beef]

You may not be in the clear yet as Chiltern could have laid papers at the court at the last moment but the court haven’t yet issued the summons orbit is still in the post

Entirely plausible now thinking about it, thanks for considering.

 

[John Beef]

Update - almost 2 weeks have passed, and still no letter. Checked everywhere that I know of.

I am digressing here, could it be the RP was being unusually altrustic and decided to give a good old scare instead or was this simply dumb luck?

Suffice to say, I'll take either and learn from this experience.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

@John Beef. Are you saying that when you were stopped, you had bought both an inappropriately half-priced discounted ticket (no accompanying, in date, valid railcard?), as well as some other (one-third off) railcard discounted ticket only purchased just before exiting at the destination station? Which, I think, would have cost more than buying the correct ticket in the first place.

 

[Hadders]

It normally takes longer than two weeks for a letter to arrive. More likely to be a couple of months.

 

[John R]

It normally takes longer than two weeks for a letter to arrive. More likely to be a couple of months.

It’s now been seven months though. We would normally suggest that the OP is in the clear, provided a letter or email has not gone astray.

 

[Hadders]

It’s now been seven months though. We would normally suggest that the OP is in the clear, provided a letter or email has not gone astray.

Having re-read the thread, I agree.

As long as the correct contact details were given it seems highly unlikely that more than one letter would have gone astray, so it seems as thouygh Chiltern cannot proceed with this case.