Possible TFL prosecution

[Supernovae999]

Hi there good evening,
I ll try to be short

Few days ago I had been caught by TFL operators evading the fare.
They asked me why, what happened: I travelled from tottenham court road to custom house and from custom house seen the DLR train towards Beckton about to leave, so I ran and deliberately didn't tap in. For a variety of circumstances that day I was very eager to get home as soon as possible.

Explained that to the operators, at first they wanted to report me to TFL but then they said "we are also human" that they "wouldn't do anything" but still they took my ID (at the moment I had with me only my student ID card (which doesn't show any address or DOB)

I am sorry for my actions. Just one of those days, more unique than rare.

Anyway I was wondering: if they want to prosecute me can they do that just with student ID card and no address?

 

[jacksonbang]

Isn't the price between TCR and either Custom House or Beckton exactly the same? Why are you tapping in at CH again? I haven't been there since the Elizabeth Line opened I will admit...

 

[tskir]

Technically yes, they could trace your address from your student ID, and technically yes, they could prosecute you if they wanted to; but I doubt they will go to such lengths. If they wanted to pursue this, they would likely have just asked you for your address on the spot.

However I think (TfL experts may correct me here if I'm wrong) they will probably add your name from the ID to the database of people they've seen before, so if you are caught the second time, you can expect no leniency from them whatsoever and they will proceed straight to prosecution and criminal record for you. So you need to be extra careful any time you use the TfL services from now on.

 

[island]

Isn't the price between TCR and either Custom House or Beckton exactly the same?

It is.

Why are you tapping in at CH again? I haven't been there since the Elizabeth Line opened I will admit...

You have to touch out at the ticket gates to exit the EL station and touch in again for the DLR.

 

[Supernovae999]

Isn't the price between TCR and either Custom House or Beckton exactly the same? Why are you tapping in at CH again? I haven't been there since the Elizabeth Line opened I will admit...

Hi Jack thank for your reply.

I think TFL asks customers to tap in again when taking DLR to avoid wrongfully charge fares; also Elisabeth lines have their own turnstiles in each station anyway. Btw what I also showed them is that I tapped at TCR, tapped out Elisabeth line at CH and then didn't tap in for DLR.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 13 Jun 2024 ==

Technically yes, they could trace your address from your student ID, and technically yes, they could prosecute you if they wanted to; but I doubt they will go to such lengths. If they wanted to pursue this, they would likely have just asked you for your address on the spot.

However I think (TfL experts may correct me here if I'm wrong) they will probably add your name from the ID to the database of people they've seen before, so if you are caught the second time, you can expect no leniency from them whatsoever and they will proceed straight to prosecution and criminal record for you. So you need to be extra careful any time you use the TfL services from now on.

Hi tskir, thank for your reply.
Well to have access to my data and should ask the university to give my own data. I don't think is so easy as a process. Universities should not be allowed to give addresses and personal informations without a court order. Unless there s particular agreements between the institution and TFL (???)

They can add me to their database I don't mind bc I pay my fares.

 

[MikeWh]

I think TFL asks customers to tap in again when taking DLR to avoid wrongfully charge fares; also Elisabeth lines have their own turnstiles in each station anyway. Btw what I also showed them is that I tapped at TCR, tapped out Elisabeth line at CH and then didn't tap in for DLR.

Custom House is an absolute nightmare for interchanging between DLR and EL. As you say, all core EL stations are fully gated, but conversely almost none of the DLR stations are. Whoever designed the new EL station at Custom House forgot to plan to install validators for the DLR at the top of the escalator by the side gate to the EL station. This means it's not obvious where you are supposed to touch in/out. I've written about it on my site: https://oysterfares.com/elizabeth-line-updates-interchanging-and-farringdon-custom-house/ if you are interested.

Oh dear! At Custom House they installed a brand new escalator to take passengers from the DLR platform to the side gateline for the Elizabeth line. The problem is that you don’t pass any validators to touch out from the DLR before going through the gates to enter the EL station. Initially they patched the side gateline so that it would end an open DLR journey. Sadly that patch was removed, probably at the time of the September fares revision, possibly inadvertantly. They have made the side gateline entrance only so at least the problem only exists one way.

It is possible that they let you off when they reaalised that you had actually paid the correct fare. I wouldn't worry about what's happened, but try to make sure you always touch a validator as well as the gateline in future. There's a nice diagram of the station on that page on my site.

 

[tskir]

Well to have access to my data and should ask the university to give my own data. I don't think is so easy as a process. Universities should not be allowed to give addresses and personal informations without a court order

Under GDPR it is possible to request personal data for the purposes of prevention of fraud, but you are quite right, this would be a very complicated process for TfL and this is why I don't at all think they will even bother, especially given the very minor nature of your transgression.

Unless there s particular agreements between the institution and TFL (???)

Yes, your university and TfL definitely won't have a pre-existing agreement; but it's worth pointing out that it appears that Trainline and major train operating companies have some sort of agreement where train companies can easily look up people's travel history, as we've seen on this forum. This is not relevant for your particular situation here with TfL, I'm just sharing this as general information.

 

[Supernovae999]

Custom House is an absolute nightmare for interchanging between DLR and EL. As you say, all core EL stations are fully gated, but conversely almost none of the DLR stations are. Whoever designed the new EL station at Custom House forgot to plan to install validators for the DLR at the top of the escalator by the side gate to the EL station. This means it's not obvious where you are supposed to touch in/out. I've written about it on my site: https://oysterfares.com/elizabeth-line-updates-interchanging-and-farringdon-custom-house/ if you are interested.


It is possible that they let you off when they reaalised that you had actually paid the correct fare. I wouldn't worry about what's happened, but try to make sure you always touch a validator as well as the gateline in future. There's a nice diagram of the station on that page on my site.

Hi Mike, thanks for your reply

I don't see why I would have paid the correct fare: travelling from CH to gallions reach would be free of charge starting from TCR?

Hi Tskir, thanks again for your reply
I m thinking right now that they could find my address just finding my account with TFL (I do possess an oyster student card as well)

Under GDPR it is possible to request personal data for the purposes of prevention of fraud, but you are quite right, this would be a very complicated process for TfL and this is why I don't at all think they will even bother, especially given the very minor nature of your transgression.


Yes, your university and TfL definitely won't have a pre-existing agreement; but it's worth pointing out that it appears that Trainline and major train operating companies have some sort of agreement where train companies can easily look up people's travel history, as we've seen on this forum. This is not relevant for your particular situation here with TfL, I'm just sharing this as general information.

 

[island]

I don't see why I would have paid the correct fare: travelling from CH to gallions reach would be free of charge starting from TCR?

TfL fares are (for the most part) zone based. Custom House and Gallions Reach are both in zone 3, so the fare from central London to either of them is the same.

 

[Supernovae999]

TfL fares are (for the most part) zone based. Custom House and Gallions Reach are both in zone 3, so the fare from central London to either of them is the same.

Hi Island, thanks for your reply

Wait...
So you re saying there s no been fare evasion?

 

[island]

Hi Island, thanks for your reply

Wait...
So you re saying there s no been fare evasion?

It sounds as though you have paid the correct fare, despite your error in not touching in properly.

 

[Supernovae999]

I will update the thread in few weeks.

Thank you guys for the response