No railcard - witness statement receipt

[wolf17]

Hi all

I am wondering if someone could help. On Thursday I was travelling from Lancing to Blackfriars and had accidentally purchased a ticket with 26-30 railcard applied. For context, my 16-25 railcard expired at the beginning of October and I have not purchased any tickets with a railcard since. I was just checking the prices for a 26-30 and forgot to take this off before I bought my ticket, although completely understand that this means I didn’t have a valid ticket for travel. The inspector asked to see my railcard to which I said had expired not realising the ticket was purchased with a railcard, but in any event even if mine was valid it was purchased with the 26-30 option so assuming it would’ve been invalid anyway. The inspector took down my details and said that I should upload a railcard to the link on the witness statement receipt which I don’t have. As they were aware I didn’t have one, I’m not sure if they misunderstood me. I said I was happy to pay a fine and that it was a complete accident but they said they don’t know if I’ve done it before (which I haven’t!). My work also pays for my commute so there is genuinely no reason for me to purchase the wrong ticket on purpose. I know the general consensus is to not contact GTR until they contact you however it’s only been a few days and I have extreme anxiety over it. If anyone has advice on whether anything should be uploaded to the link on the witness statement please let me know. Thank you!

 

[John R]

I would wait, and I'm afraid your few days are likely to be several weeks if not months. Looking at some other GTR cases atm there seems to be a delay of 3 or 4 months.

However, once they contact you, come back here and we can give you advice on how to respond, but a quick perusal of cases here will soon throw up examples similar to yours. But I would try and minimise your anxiety - so long as you respond apologising, promising not to do it again, and ask very nicely for a settlement, GTR is highly unlikely to take you to court. It will end up costing you a couple of hundred pounds, but that will be the end of the matter.

We get a lot of cases here where people were "just checking the price with a railcard" and I'm sure investigators hear the same excuse time and again as well. Given the discount is a third off, and the same as your expired 16-25 railcard, I suspect they will be rather cynical of the excuse, so I would probably not mention it in any letter in case it throws doubt in their mind as to the honesty of your response.

 

[WesternLancer]

Further to @John R advice I have seen it said on here that if you have been given an upload link for your Railcard (I believe this relates to the 'forgotten railcard policy' whereby if you can show you had a valid one once per year then no further action is taken if you proove it by uploading a copy) - you could use that link to upload a brief letter saying that unfortunately you don't have the correct railcard to upload, apologise, and say you would be keen to resolve the matter appropriately if they would like to let you know how to go about that. Keep it brief and polite. Include your postal address and case ref number off the witness statement for them to use. Don't offer to pay 'fines' or words like that - just keep it more general like 'resolve things by paying anything that is owed in respect of this' or some such wording.

This might appear to be helpful and co-operative and indicate you are not ignoring what you were asked to do by the ticket inspector. You would then wait to see how they reply and take it from there - but of course you can ask for more advice here as you require.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Further to @John R advice I have seen it said on here that if you have been given an upload link for your Railcard (I believe this relates to the 'forgotten railcard policy' whereby if you can show you had a valid one once per year then no further action is taken if you proove it by uploading a copy) - you could use that link to upload a brief letter saying that unfortunately you don't have the correct railcard to upload, apologise, and say you would be keen to resolve the matter appropriately if they would like to let you know how to go about that.

I'm not convinced this will work any more (if it ever did). Have a look at the letter the OP received in post #1 of https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/intention-to-prosecute-letter.294613/, which seems to specifically rule this course of action out.

 

[WesternLancer]

I'm not convinced this will work any more (if it ever did). Have a look at the letter the OP received in post #1 of https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/intention-to-prosecute-letter.294613/, which seems to specifically rule this course of action out.

ah - point noted - that letter uploaded there may help the OP here know what to expect.

 

[wolf17]

Thanks all! Would you advise to upload my expired railcard so that they can see the journeys which had this applied were valid?

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Thanks all! Would you advise to upload my expired railcard so that they can see the journeys which had this applied were valid?

If I've understood things correctly, you haven't yet had a letter from the railway. So wait until you get a letter, and see what they're asking. If they're only asking about the one occasion when you didn't have a railcard, there's no point in sending details of an expired card. But if they ask you about journeys when the old card was still valid, that will be a bit different.

 

[wolf17]

Hi all

It’s been almost 5 months and yet to have heard. I’ve seen a couple of posts recently on here where GTR has gone straight to sending an SJN when close to the 6 month limit.

Would it be worth emailing them and reaching out first? Ideally I would like to avoid a situation where the SJN is issued even though I note they are usually willing to settle once they do this anyway.

Any advice is appreciated!

 

[WesternLancer]

Hi all

It’s been almost 5 months and yet to have heard. I’ve seen a couple of posts recently on here where GTR has gone straight to sending an SJN when close to the 6 month limit.

Would it be worth emailing them and reaching out first? Ideally I would like to avoid a situation where the SJN is issued even though I note they are usually willing to settle once they do this anyway.

Any advice is appreciated!

If you are keen to avoid that situation then I suspect it is worth contacting them* (or actively thinking about doing so) because it is a nuisance if the first you hear is SJPN as you can see from other cases in my view - let us know if you need the address

do you have any paperwork with a ref number?

do you have evidence of the valid railcard that you did have and when it expired? - see if you can find that.

I would keep it very simple (and probably not get into the detail of your railcard error) - you could try uploading it to the link you were given but I would also print a hard copy - and ideally post it tracked postage.


eg along these lines:

Dear Sir / Madam

Your Ref:

On x date at y location I was stopped by railways staff and questioned about the railcard discount on my ticket.

I was expecting to hear from GTR about this incident in due course but some time has now gone by and I have not received any correspondence.

I would be keen to resolve the matter if there are outstanding issues. With that in mind I would be grateful if you could let me know if I should expect anything further.

I can be contacted by post at: xxxx (ideally this should match the address you gave on the day)

and by e-mail at: xxxx

Please let me know if you require any further information.

Yours faithfully

etc

*EDIT - I see a helpful and perfectly valid alternative view from @Mattplans in post #10 for you to weigh up the options!

 

[Mattplans]

This is a valid concern. I would not worry yet because you were stopped 3 months 3 weeks ago so it’s not really “nearly 5 months” as you say, although I can appreciate you are worried about the situation.

https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/notice-of-intention-to-prosecute-gtr.296021/ - this is one of the most recent cases I can see with a timeline between first stop and first correspondence; it took about 4 months. I would say you are about 2 weeks off the mark before I would personally initiate communications

As you are no doubt aware they have 6 months and you’re over halfway there. I’m sure you are also aware that they have a large backlog and it is usually 4-5 months before they start communications
Postage usually takes 2 dates - one poster said it took 9.

1. Offence on 13 Nov 2024 – correspondence dated 17 Feb 2025 (3 months, 4 days)
2. Offence on 15 Jan 2025 – correspondence posted to this forum on 27 Mar 2025 (2 months, 12 days)
3. Offence on 30 Jan 2025 – correspondence dated 16 April 2025 (2 months, 17 days)
4. Offence on 4 Feb 2025 – correspondence posted to this forum on 2 May 2025 (2 months, 29 days)
5. Offence on 10 Feb 2025 – correspondence received 11 May 2025 (3 months, 1 day)
6. Offence on 26 Mar 2025 – correspondence dated 10 July 2025 (3 months, 14 days)
7. Offence on 2 Apr 2025 – correspondence dated 30 July 2025 (3 months, 28 days)
8. Offence on 13 June 2025 – correspondence received 2 Sep 2025 (2 months, 20 days)
9. Offence on 2 Jul 2025 – correspondence received 18 Nov 2025 (4 months, 16 days)
10. Offence on 23 July 2025 – correspondence dated 1 Dec 2025 (4 months, 8 days)
11. Offence on 24 Jul 2025 – correspondence posted to this forum on 4 Dec 2025 (4 months, 10 days)
12. Offence on 30 July 2025 – correspondence dated 3 Dec 2025 (4 months, 3 days)
13. Offence on 11 Aug 2025 – correspondence received 12 Dec 2025 (4 months, 1 day)
16. Offence on 03 Sep 2025 – correspondence dated 22 Dec 2025 (3 months, 19 days)
17. Offence on 05 Oct 2025 – correspondence dated 12 Jan 2026 (3 months, 7 days)
18. Offence on 20 Oct 2025 – correspondence posted to this forum on 3 Feb 2026 (3 months, 14 days)

 

[wolf17]

This is a valid concern. I would not worry yet because you were stopped 3 months 3 weeks ago so it’s not really “nearly 5 months” as you say, although I can appreciate you are worried about the situation.

https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/notice-of-intention-to-prosecute-gtr.296021/ - this is one of the most recent cases I can see with a timeline between first stop and first correspondence; it took about 4 months. I would say you are about 2 weeks off the mark before I would personally initiate communications

As you are no doubt aware they have 6 months and you’re over halfway there. I’m sure you are also aware that they have a large backlog and it is usually 4-5 months before they start communications

Thanks for pointing out the date - got a little ahead of myself! I will give it a few more weeks and then I may reach out.

 

[wolf17]

If you are keen to avoid that situation then I suspect it is worth contacting them* (or actively thinking about doing so) because it is a nuisance if the first you hear is SJPN as you can see from other cases in my view - let us know if you need the address

do you have any paperwork with a ref number?

do you have evidence of the valid railcard that you did have and when it expired? - see if you can find that.

I would keep it very simple (and probably not get into the detail of your railcard error) - you could try uploading it to the link you were given but I would also print a hard copy - and ideally post it tracked postage.


eg along these lines:

Dear Sir / Madam

Your Ref:

On x date at y location I was stopped by railways staff and questioned about the railcard discount on my ticket.

I was expecting to hear from GTR about this incident in due course but some time has now gone by and I have not received any correspondence.

I would be keen to resolve the matter if there are outstanding issues. With that in mind I would be grateful if you could let me know if I should expect anything further.

I can be contacted by post at: xxxx (ideally this should match the address you gave on the day)

and by e-mail at: xxxx

Please let me know if you require any further information.

Yours faithfully

etc

*EDIT - I see a helpful and perfectly valid alternative view from @Mattplans in post #10 for you to weigh up the options!

Yes I still have the statement I was given which has a reference on.

I have proof of my rail cards going back 7 years and these were all renewed continuously so there’s no gaps between them. I’ve also now got my 26-30 railcard. As mentioned I will give it a few more weeks and then come back here - thank you

 

[WesternLancer]

Yes I still have the statement I was given which has a reference on.

I have proof of my rail cards going back 7 years and these were all renewed continuously so there’s no gaps between them. I’ve also now got my 26-30 railcard. As mentioned I will give it a few more weeks and then come back here - thank you

Great. You are well prepared.

How many tickets did you buy with the railcard wrongly applied?

 

[wolf17]

Great. You are well prepared.

How many tickets did you buy with the railcard wrongly applied?

Just the one from that day!

 

[Mattplans]

Thanks for pointing out the date - got a little ahead of myself! I will give it a few more weeks and then I may reach out.

No worries. For your benefit, and for the benefit of future individuals who may be weary about how long GTR takes - as the forum's most popular TOC - I have edited a list into my earlier post of some turnaround dates between getting
caught and receiving first correspondence. Note I definitely missed some recent cases as it's not the easiest thing to search for.

They seem to be taking about 3 months 2 weeks on avg. I could only find 4/18 recent cases where GTR actually took longer than 4 months to make contact. I found no cases (although it is a limited set of data) where GTR took longer than 5 months to make contact. It's for this reason I am now questioning the previous assumption that GTR issue SJPN when they are running out of time as it doesn't look like they frequently run out of time - based only on the cases posted on this forum obviously. I think it is more likely that those posters who received a SJPN "first" may have missed the earlier Notice of Intent to prosecute from GTR. While they clearly have a backlog, it's not so bad that they need to resort to sending arbitary SJPNs so they do not have a 'loss'.

Based on this info, I personally would not let it exceed 4m 3w. Then I would start to question whether I had missed the letter, given incorrect details etc. It's probably then in your interests to make initial contact.

I just wanted to check that you still have the reference number from when you were given the MG11/witness statement slip from the inspector? if you have - all good. if you haven't, it might be difficult for them to identify your case if you decide to contact them first, so perhaps you should give them extra time

 

[WesternLancer]

Just the one from that day!

So thus won’t be costly to resolve with GTR in that sense I would think/ hope.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 25 Feb 2026 ==

No worries. For your benefit, and for the benefit of future individuals who may be weary about how long GTR takes - as the forum's most popular TOC - I have edited a list into my earlier post of some turnaround dates between getting
caught and receiving first correspondence. Note I definitely missed some recent cases as it's not the easiest thing to search for.

They seem to be taking about 3 months 2 weeks on avg. I could only find 4/18 recent cases where GTR actually took longer than 4 months to make contact. I found no cases (although it is a limited set of data) where GTR took longer than 5 months to make contact. It's for this reason I am now questioning the previous assumption that GTR issue SJPN when they are running out of time as it doesn't look like they frequently run out of time - based only on the cases posted on this forum obviously. I think it is more likely that those posters who received a SJPN "first" may have missed the earlier Notice of Intent to prosecute from GTR. While they clearly have a backlog, it's not so bad that they need to resort to sending arbitary SJPNs so they do not have a 'loss'.

Based on this info, I personally would not let it exceed 4m 3w. Then I would start to question whether I had missed the letter, given incorrect details etc. It's probably then in your interests to make initial contact.

I just wanted to check that you still have the reference number from when you were given the MG11/witness statement slip from the inspector? if you have - all good. if you haven't, it might be difficult for them to identify your case if you decide to contact them first, so perhaps you should give them extra time

Superb research work there and as added to your earlier post.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Superb research work there and as added to your earlier post.

I'll only whisper it, but this may be a beneficial use of AI in that this website contains a lot of information but very little structured data: AI is good at wading through this sort of stuff to extract gems.

 

[Mattplans]

I'll only whisper it, but this may be a beneficial use of AI in that this website contains a lot of information but very little structured data: AI is good at wading through this sort of stuff to extract gems.

100% - and thank you Western for your comments. I was able to use AI here to format the hyperlinks and calculate the amount of time but I did have to search “gtr” and see what cases came up. Lots of limitations including that not every thread involving GTR may mention “GTR”, although highly likely moreso from the frequent contributors. I undoubtedly missed some recent cases but we can still see a basic pattern based on the info available

It’s definitely worth using the ‘deep research’ tool on GPT for a task like this the next time an opportunity presents itself to see if it can complete the task itself.

 

[wolf17]

Hi all

Just coming back on here as I haven’t heard so I think I will be proactive and write to them this week and send a copy of the letter in the post and via email. Please could I just check the right addresses to send the correspondence to? Thank you!

 

[WesternLancer]

Hi all

Just coming back on here as I haven’t heard so I think I will be proactive and write to them this week and send a copy of the letter in the post and via email. Please could I just check the right addresses to send the correspondence to? Thank you!

If this is GTR the contact details are:

Their address is
Prosecutions Department, Govia Thameslink Railway, Eastside Offices, Kings Cross Railway Station, London N1C 4AX.

Here is an e-mail address for them that might be of help

email: gtr.prosecutions@gtrailway.com – This mailbox cannot be used to appeal - so you may need to send a letter (second class stamp would suffice) or try an e-mail but also print it off and post it - probably just handwrite at the top 'as sent by e-mail' - and sign it. Make sure your full name, postal address and any ref number they gave you is on whatever you post or e-mail.