Railway Witness Statement on Thameslink

[Haywain]

At just after midday on the XXX, I was stopped by a Revenue Protection Inspector on the Thameslink service, and I was unable to provide a ticket that was valid for my entire journey.

You can leave this out as they know why they sent you a letter.

 

[hereforanswers]

Alright, I’ll get rid of that.

Also, how do I send the response to Thameslink? And do I send it with the original letter I got?

 

[Hadders]

Also, how do I send the response to Thameslink? And do I send it with the original letter I got?

You need to write a letter to GTR. It's best if you can print this out on A4 paper. Make sure the letter includes:

Your name and address
The case reference number
The date the reply was written
That you sign it

I would send the letter by Royal Mail 1st Class Signed For so you can confirm receipt. Make sure you keep a copy of what you've sent them.

There's no need to enclose their letter in your reply as long as the case reference number is in your reply. Do keep their letter until the case is resolved.

 

[hereforanswers]

Great.

After I send my letter how long would it typically take from me to hear back regarding the settlement offer, proposing they decide to settle? And will this also be sent via the post, as I noticed you have mentioned there is only a short window to pay the settlement?

 

[WesternLancer]

Great.

After I send my letter how long would it typically take from me to hear back regarding the settlement offer, proposing they decide to settle? And will this also be sent via the post, as I noticed you have mentioned there is only a short window to pay the settlement?

could be 4 to 8 weeks maybe - depends how busy they are with other people they have caught

if you look at other threads involving Thameslink where people have updated things as they have progressed through the same process as you, you can work out a timeline from the point they post here, got a letter, replied to it, got an outcome, closed the matter etc.

The time they give you to pay bears no relation to the time they spend looking into your case! Having said that we had one last week where they replied with an offer to settle within 2 or 3 hours (there were particular circumstances to the case tho).

This may be a helpful example as you can work out all the dates from the relatively short thread

Intention to Prosecute letter from Govia Thameslink. Please Help

Hi, I received a letter in the post today from Govia Thameslink Railway with the title "Notice of Intention to prosecute". In October, I boarded the 2046 train from Radlett to St Albans City arriving at 2052. I was in a hurry to catch the train so I only bought the ticket online after boarding...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[hereforanswers]

2 or 3 hours is so quick!

How could they reply that fast? Surely not through a letter.

I am asking this because once I send my letter I am worried If I am away from the house for too long, say a few days, I might miss the deadline to pay.

 

[WesternLancer]

2 or 3 hours is so quick!

How could they reply that fast? Surely not through a letter.

I am asking this because once I send my letter I am worried If I am away from the house for too long, say a few days, I might miss the deadline to pay.

I did say that case had unusual circs (which is why we say on here 'every case is different') but you can find the case if you have a look at a few recent threads if you want - basically it involved lost correspondence and experts here advised how to communicate with them by e-mail which is usually not accepted but there were extenuating circumstances in the case.

A few days when you are away will not cause a problem. Most important thing for you to do is to save up the money and have it ready in a bank account so you can make immediate and full payment.

 

[Hadders]

Most train companies normally allow a couple of weeks to pay a settlement.

On some threads, I mention that people need to be in a position to pay it in full within a few days if it’s likely to be a large sum, to make the point that they will have to find, what to them, could be a significant sum quite quickly. Many people mistakenly think they will be able to pay in instalments which isn’t normally the case.

 

[hereforanswers]

Heres my revised version:

Prosecutions Department

Eastside Offices

Kings Cross Railway Station Seaford

London N1C 4AX


XXXX



Reference: XXX



Dear Fare Evasion Manager,



Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to respond to your letter that I received on the XX XX XXXX



On the XX XX XXXX, I boarded a train at Farringdon station after switching from the London Underground service. However, I made the negligent decision of not buying a ticket before boarding the train. Later into my journey, a Revenue Protection Inspector scanned my ticket, realised I had bought it after boarding, and subsequently took my details.



I want to sincerely apologise for my actions, they were careless, irresponsible, and inexcusable. I fully acknowledge the seriousness of what I have done, as I have not only pushed the financial burden onto Thameslink, but also onto other abiding passengers. I am ashamed that I have contributed to something as unethical as fare evasion, and I now understand how damaging it is towards Thameslink’s services. Since this incident, I can assure you I have purchased all of my tickets well before boarding, and I will continue to do so.



I would be extremely grateful for the opportunity to settle this misconduct out of court. I intend to make amends for my actions by paying the full correct fare and any additional administrative costs.



Again, I would like to express my most sincere apologies for this incident.



Yours faithfully,


Thoughts and opinions?

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Thoughts and opinions?

You might want to remove your name from the signature on the version that you are showing to the whole internet (obviously you need it on the version you send to the railway.)

 

[hereforanswers]

My bad, thanks for pointing that out!

 

[Fawkes Cat]

My bad, thanks for pointing that out!

Apart from that, I think the letter's fine. It's a bit overwritten (negligent? Subsequently? misconduct?) but some people do talk like that so please don't worry about changing anything.

If I were you, I would get the letter on its way, and then try not to worry too much more about it.

 

[hereforanswers]

Thats great to hear, thank you!

I do agree with what you say, and I think my academic writings have influenced the ways I type lol.

 

[TheJester]

Just thinking out loud.
Is the OP sharing the exact text of a reply to a TOC who are currently investigating a single incident of purchase on board, when the OP has admitted short-faring in this thread, possibly not the best thing to do?

I’m sure the TOC fare evasion staff do read this forum and now may be digging deeper?

 

[hereforanswers]

To be fair TheJester it is very common for individuals within this space to post their responses before actually sending it. Its a way to make sure the responses are up to par. At least, that is why i have done iit

 

[TheJester]

To be fair TheJester it is very common for individuals within this space to post their responses before actually sending it. Its a way to make sure the responses are up to par. At least, that is why i have done iit

Understand that, but you've admitted to short faring and then shared a letter then can identify you by.

Good luck with that.

 

[hereforanswers]

I have read many posts in which people have done the exact same thing.

 

[Hadders]

Just thinking out loud.
Is the OP sharing the exact text of a reply to a TOC who are currently investigating a single incident of purchase on board, when the OP has admitted short-faring in this thread, possibly not the best thing to do?

I’m sure the TOC fare evasion staff do read this forum and now may be digging deeper?

We see loads of people sharing letters they propose to send to train operating companies in this section, it is something we've specifically asked people to do for years.

I'm not aware of anyone ever being disadvantaged by posting this sort of thing. On the contrary, our proof reading has a track record of helping people to secure more favourable outcomes.

 

[hereforanswers]

You need to write a letter to GTR. It's best if you can print this out on A4 paper. Make sure the letter includes:

Your name and address
The case reference number
The date the reply was written
That you sign it

I would send the letter by Royal Mail 1st Class Signed For so you can confirm receipt. Make sure you keep a copy of what you've sent them.

There's no need to enclose their letter in your reply as long as the case reference number is in your reply. Do keep their letter until the case is resolv

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 13 Jan 2025 ==

Dear Fare Evasion Manager,



Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to respond to the notice of intention to prosecute letter that I received on the XXXX



On the XX XX XXXX, I boarded a train at Farringdon station before I had purchased my train ticket. Later into my journey, an inspector scanned my ticket, realised what I had done, and subsequently took my details.



I want to sincerely apologise for my actions, they were careless, irresponsible, and inexcusable. I now understand it is illegal to board a train before purchasing a ticket. I fully acknowledge the seriousness of my actions, as they have pushed the financial burden onto Thameslink and other passengers. This incident has taught me a valuable lesson, and since I have ensured that I have purchased all of my train tickets well before boarding, and I will continue to do so.



I would be extremely grateful for the opportunity to settle this matter without the need for court action. I intend to make amends by offering to pay the outstanding fare and any administrative costs you consider appropriate.



Thank you for considering my request. I look forward to your response and I deeply appreciate your time and understanding



Yours faithfully,

Made some slight changes, let me know what you guys think. I also wanted to say I really appreciate each and every one who has commented on this thread, you have all been so helpful. I cannot thank you enough!

 

[BazingaTribe]

We see loads of people sharing letters they propose to send to train operating companies in this section, it is something we've specifically asked people to do for years.

I'm not aware of anyone ever being disadvantaged by posting this sort of thing. On the contrary, our proof reading has a track record of helping people to secure more favourable outcomes.

There was one person who did come to the attention of the TOC regarding an admission of short-faring here after having been stopped for using a simple off-peak ticket at peak time, but they had accidentally shared their name on the site. That seems to be the trigger point rather than sharing a letter with us.

 

[hereforanswers]

Hi Guys, I am planning on sending off my letter tomorrow! If i could get a final review that would be great! See Above

 

[methecooldude]

Hi Guys, I am planning on sending off my letter tomorrow! If i could get a final review that would be great! See Above

You sent that that 1 minute to 11 last night, and it's not even 5PM yet. I would assume the experts are probably still not at their personal devices and will get back to you a bit later.

 

[hereforanswers]

Good point!

I made some more changes

Dear Fare Evasion Manager,



Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to respond to the notice of intention to prosecute letter that I received on the XXX



On the XXX, I boarded a train at Farringdon station before I had purchased my train ticket. Later into my journey, an inspector scanned my ticket, realised what I had done, and subsequently took my details.



I want to sincerely apologise for my actions, they were careless, irresponsible, and inexcusable. I fully acknowledge the seriousness of what I have done, as I have pushed the financial burden onto Thameslink and other passengers. I am ashamed that I have contributed to something as unethical as fare evasion, and I now understand how damaging it is towards Thameslink’s services. Since this incident, I have committed to purchasing all of my train ticket well before boarding, and I will continue to do so.



I would be extremely grateful for the opportunity to settle this matter without the need for court action. I am prepared to pay the appropriate fare and any administrative costs you consider appropriate.



Thank you for considering my request. I look forward to your response and I deeply appreciate your time and understanding



Yours faithfully,

 

[BRX]

Not that I expect it has any effect on the outcome, but do you want the reader to think that (a) you intended to buy a ticket (and were simply unaware of the requirement to do so before boarding) or (b) you intended to evade the fare and only bought the ticket because you saw the inspectors?

 

[hereforanswers]

To be honest, I’m not too sure, somewhere in the middle. I quite like one of my older drafts. I think i’ll just post that one tmw. I don’t want to spend way too much time making the absolute perfect letter. The most important thing is getting it sent.

 

[BRX]

There is no middle - either you intended to evade or you didn't. Depending on which is the version you want to present, there are different bits of what you've written that don't really make sense.

Personally I would avoid all that by not engaging in explanations or performative apologies, and stick to the straight fact that for whatever reason you did not have a valid ticket, and politely request that an out of court agreement can be made. But that approach doesn't seem to match the recieved wisdom here.

 

[hereforanswers]

Well, I definitely don’t want my letter to come off that I have made a simple mistake. It was quite the opposite. So, how would you suggest that I alter my response?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 14 Jan 2025 ==

Well, I definitely don’t want my letter to come off that I have made a simple mistake. It was quite the opposite. I did intend to evade the fare, so how would you suggest that I alter my response?

Also, I agree with your point. I don’t want to engage in any explanations I simply want to apologise, show them I’ve learnt from this, and kindly ask for an out of court settlement. And I believe I had done this in my response.

 

[BRX]

I boarded a train at Farringdon station before I had purchased my train ticket. Later into my journey, an inspector scanned my ticket,

This implies that you boarded the train with the intention of buying a ticket.

If you didn't, then I would say:

I boarded a train at Farringdon station without a train ticket, and only bought one when I realised there was going to be a ticket inspection.

And arguably instead of saying

Since this incident, I have committed to purchasing all of my train ticket well before boarding,

you should say

Since this incident, I have committed to purchasing valid tickets for all of my train journeys.

 

[hereforanswers]

Alright, I agree the wording for those are more suitable. However, you suggested I avoid engaging in explanations and or performative apologies.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Jan 2025 ==

Also, in many other responses people simply say they did not have a valid ticket, and offer no excuse for it.

 

[Hadders]

Cutting to the chase, I think your prposed letter is ok and I'd be surprised if you don't obtain a favourable outcome.