Short fare letter and response

[Jude07]

Hello,

I noticed a lot of help has been offered to others on this forum for help with fines and prosecutions.

About 5 weeks ago I was travelling from East Didsbury to Manchester Piccadilly. I had worked late an don’t normally get the train as I get a lift with my flatmate so I didn’t have a ticket in advance, there is also nowhere to buy a ticket at this station. When I arrived in MP station I joined the queue to buy a ticket. I had the bright idea of trying to save a bit of money and to say I got on at Mauldeth Road. When I said this he asked if I had a voucher, I had no idea what he meant so told him no. He printed the ticket and then passed me to his colleague who asked me where I started my journey, as I had a ticket for MRd in my hand I said from here. He explained the voucher system they had in place so they knew I had not travelled from here so I came clean and told him I had started my journey from ED. He took my details and yesterday I received a letter asking to explain my side of the events on the back of the letter, I have been honest and consistent with what happened and apologised but I am worries sick I may go to court. I have offered to pay for the admin charges and said I will never do this again and have told friends who had done this and they too have been deterred from doing this.

Does anyone know what I can expect for short fairing? I have to admit I have no leg to stand on but I’m worries they’re going to take me to court and I’ll get a criminal record. This is my first offence.

Any help will be much appreciated.

Jude07

 

[reb0118]

Others will reply in more detail shortly. In essence you have committed a criminal offence namely a RoRA 1889 offence in that you knowingly and wilfully paid for a lower priced fare rather than the correct fare due. You have admitted this, and the fact that you did this to save money. The railway probably has enough evidence to prosecute you now but is giving you a chance to offer an explanation and any mitigation.

That said it is normally Northern's policy to offer an administrative penalty plus the fare due for passengers who have not come to their attention before. This is not guaranteed though as each case is dealt with on its own merits.

After responding, keep it brief, factual, & simple, expect to wait awhile for a decision. Most railway prosecution departments are quite small and there is normally a serious backlog of outstanding cases.

It is a waiting game here on in. (Saving up for a "fine" is no bad thing either it won't do you any harm.)

 

[bb21]

If you are aiming for an out-of-court settlement, then being honest, apologising and offering to pay their costs is pretty much all you can do. They will write back with an indication of the sum they are looking for if they are inclined to do so. Some people also ring the TOC afterwards, say, a week after posting their response, but there is no guarantee that it will move things along quicker. That said, we have had some reported success after a phone call. You are not obliged to ring them of course.

If they insist on taking you to court and refuse to budge, then there is not much else you can do to avoid it.

reb0118 is pretty much spot on.

Others will reply in more detail shortly. In essence you have committed a criminal offence namely a RoRA 1889 offence in that you knowingly and wilfully paid for a lower priced fare rather than the correct fare due. You have admitted this, and the fact that you did this to save money. The railway probably has enough evidence to prosecute you now but is giving you a chance to offer an explanation and any mitigation.

Yes, it is a Section 5(3a) offence and the TOC has sufficient evidence for a successful prosecution I believe.

 

[Jude07]

Thanks for the responses. I'm hoping it will be settled out of court. I have explained how I realise this is a monumental mistake and have apologised several times. Hopefully common sense will prevail. I know you can't quote exact figures as each case is different but does anyone know roughly how much the settlement may be?

 

[bb21]

I know you can't quote exact figures as each case is different but does anyone know roughly how much the settlement may be?

Evidence suggests that Northern have a tendency to ask for £80 plus the fare owed, but obviously be prepared for a request for more.