Short fare travel irregularity report

[jacey88]

Hello all,
This morning, I was travelling from Byfleet and New Haw (BFN) 6.10am~ to Surbiton (SUR) [£6.70], I checked the ticket price around 5.40am and thought it was expensive so I decided to buy a ticket from on the SWR app from Walton on Thames (WAL) to Surbiton instead [£5.05]. I have 26-30 Railcard it is still active. And unfortunately, being honest, I have done that a few times since I changed from evening shift to night shift last month as it actually doubled or even triple the price.

Off peak day return ticket was bought and when I was about to reach weybridge (WYB), I got caught something called short fare from what the paper printed out from them. They just tell me to wait for a mail but I have no idea what they want as I thought they can just ask me to pay up what I didn't pay.

I do feel nervous about that, I didn't know doing that is a crime or fraud after checking what the TIR is on google. I do regret doing it once I realised that I must purchase the ticket from where I exactly travel from, and before the travel time, else it is breaking the railway laws.

I haven't looked through all the related post yet so I'm not sure how the mail they are going to send me looks like as it will differ in person and I am not sure how long it will take. I will need advise to how I can settle this outside the court and what shall I do as I'm too anxious now.

Thank you everyone

 

[Trainman40083]

Well, at this stage you will have to wait for the letter. You must buy a ticket before you board the train, where facilities exist. I would expect SWR will be having a look into your ticket buying history. They will send you a letter asking you to explain yourself, a d you will probably be asked to pay for full fare tickets for all your journeys, and an administration fee of around £150.

 

[SECR 65]

Welcome to the forum,

There isn't really much you can do until the letter arrives; make sure you check your post and your emails (inc spam) regularly. Did you give the inspector an accurate postal address?

SWR settle outside of court in the vast majority of cases, so prosecution is highly unlikely, provided you cooperate and take responsibility for your actions. SWR are likely to look through your ticket purchase history and charge you the anytime single fare for each journey without a valid ticket, plus an admin fee, which could be low three figures.

It sounds like you have looked through other threads, and you will see by searching for 'SWR' the letter that they will normally send, and draft responses from others. When the letter arrives, upload it to the forum (with personal details redacted) and we can assist with drafting a reply. If you have not recieved contact in about 4-5 months, let us know and we can suggest options for next steps. This is because SWR only have 6 months to start the prosecution process.

I understand that this is making you very anxious, but unfortunately all you can do now is wait for the letter. In the meantime, have a read of other threads, and make sure to always purchase a correct ticket for your journey before boarding the train from now on. Try not to worry too much: you will get good advice here, and are unlikely to be prosecuted, provided you cooperate as I said above.

Do let us know if you have any questions - someone will know the answer.

 

[jacey88]

Well, at this stage you will have to wait for the letter. You must buy a ticket before you board the train, where facilities exist. I would expect SWR will be having a look into your ticket buying history. They will send you a letter asking you to explain yourself, a d you will probably be asked to pay for full fare tickets for all your journeys, and an administration fee of around £150.

For all journey as in the journeys that is other than Surbiton to byfleet and new haw? As I think these 2 stations are the only 2 I commute between 98% for works, what if some day hit into those days that has engineering work or delayed or cancelled and I bought till a station before byfleet? Will they count that in too?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Jun 2026 ==

Did you give the inspector an accurate postal address?

Yes they asked my name my bday my postcode and address but it came out they misheard or clicked the wrong flat and the paper printed the wrong address, but I went and tell him about this and he said he will put a note, I'm not sure if he did it or not. So I suppose I will have a mail in the future

SWR settle outside of court in the vast majority of cases, so prosecution is highly unlikely, provided you cooperate and take responsibility for your actions.

Thats reassure me a bit, I will take full responsibility for my actions, since I now know that I shouldn't be doing that.

SWR are likely to look through your ticket purchase history and charge you the anytime single fare for each journey without a valid ticket, plus an admin fee, which could be low three figures.

It shocked me when I see some £1000+ forum so I got a bit nervous too. Without a valid ticket, I usually commute from Surbiton to byfleet and new haw, will they assume Surbiton to another station are all invalid?

It sounds like you have looked through other threads, and you will see by searching for 'SWR' the letter that they will normally send, and draft responses from others. When the letter arrives, upload it to the forum (with personal details redacted) and we can assist with drafting a reply. If you have not recieved contact in about 4-5 months, let us know and we can suggest options for next steps. This is because SWR only have 6 months to start the prosecution process.
I understand that this is making you very anxious, but unfortunately all you can do now is wait for the letter. In the meantime, have a read of other threads, and make sure to always purchase a correct ticket for your journey before boarding the train from now on. Try not to worry too much: you will get good advice here, and are unlikely to be prosecuted, provided you cooperate as I said above.

Thank you very much, I will read other threads too. Also I will keep here updated once I receive the mail and get a draft ready after that.

 

[SECR 65]

The address which was accidentally the wrong flat, would your neighbour living there be able to bring round any post if it was sent there?

You can ask SWR to send you a list of all journeys they have flagged (don't do this at the moment though) and you can tell them which ones you did have a ticket for e.g. because you have a friend living there or a work office.

I don't think you will be charged thousands of pounds in your case. If you've only made the journey a few times, and the anytime single is less than a tenner, you're looking at low 3 figures for an overall settlement amount including the admin fee.

 

[Swedenorer]

It shocked me when I see some £1000+ forum so I got a bit nervous too. Without a valid ticket, I usually commute from Surbiton to byfleet and new haw, will they assume Surbiton to another station are all invalid?

They might - you'll have to wait and see.

You can begin to assess what they might want which will the £6.50 anytime for the number of suspicious journeys in the OP they find. You will get no credit for the £5.05 already spent. (So each journey will actually have cost you £11.55. Which is why they will usually settle.)

A weekly season is £51.70 would that suit you in the future?

 

[jacey88]

They might - you'll have to wait and see.

You can begin to assess what they might want which will the £6.50 anytime for the number of suspicious journeys in the OP they find. You will get no credit for the £5.05 already spent. (So each journey will actually have cost you £11.55. Which is why they will usually settle.)

A weekly season is £51.70 would that suit you in the future?

As I have the 26 - 30 discount Railcard, buying single and return will be cheaper compared to weekly season ticket.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 7 Jun 2026 ==

The address which was accidentally the wrong flat, would your neighbour living there be able to bring round any post if it was sent there?

You can ask SWR to send you a list of all journeys they have flagged (don't do this at the moment though) and you can tell them which ones you did have a ticket for e.g. because you have a friend living there or a work office.

I don't think you will be charged thousands of pounds in your case. If you've only made the journey a few times, and the anytime single is less than a tenner, you're looking at low 3 figures for an overall settlement amount including the admin fee.

Thank you for your reply, the neighbour unfortunately is not too well reputation so I do hope the inspector actually correct it. But if somehow they got the mail and throw them....what should I do? Or maybe it is too early to ask this question?

 

[SECR 65]

This is a slightly tricky situation. In your case you are very unlikely to be prosecuted provided you recieve and respond to their correspondence.
Therefore, it is of utmost importance that the letter reaches you.
SWR might possibly email you instead of sending a letter, but I suspect this is unlikely for the initial letter.

You could email SWR prosecutions and, using the reference number on your TIR, ensure they have the correct address on file. This is, to some extent, a risk as they may forget about your case and contacting them would remind them, but seeing as you got a TIR, and SWR seem to be on top of cases currently, I doubt they'll drop it.

So I would personally suggest this approach. BUT I would appreciate the thoughts of other members as to whether this is a good idea so don't email them yet because we need to know what other members think. Also, anything you send them, post the draft on here first so members can check and suggest any refinements.

I'm sure someone knows the best email to use to contact them - or you might be able to find it on another thread.

 

[WesternLancer]

This is a slightly tricky situation. In your case you are very unlikely to be prosecuted provided you recieve and respond to their correspondence.
Therefore, it is of utmost importance that the letter reaches you.
SWR might possibly email you instead of sending a letter, but I suspect this is unlikely for the initial letter.

You could email SWR prosecutions and, using the reference number on your TIR, ensure they have the correct address on file. This is, to some extent, a risk as they may forget about your case and contacting them would remind them, but seeing as you got a TIR, and SWR seem to be on top of cases currently, I doubt they'll drop it.

So I would personally suggest this approach. BUT I would appreciate the thoughts of other members as to whether this is a good idea so don't email them yet because we need to know what other members think. Also, anything you send them, post the draft on here first so members can check and suggest any refinements.

I'm sure someone knows the best email to use to contact them - or you might be able to find it on another thread.

I’ve got this info and a simple address clarification template the op could use if they want to. Suggested it on a recent thread but can’t find which one at the moment.

I’ll post it here later on in case it’s of use.

----------------------------------

for example - something along these lines:


SWR e-mail

prosecutions@swrailway.com

Prosecutions Department
SWR


Today's Date

Dear Sir/ Madam

I was stopped on x date at y location and questioned about the validity of my rail ticket.

I was given this ref number xxxxx [If you were given a ref number - otherwise delete this line]

The paper I was given by the member of staff has my address wrongly recorded on it.

Please note my correct name and address is xxx

My e-mail address is: xxxx

I would be grateful if you could correct this address so that I receive anything you may need to send me.

Yours faithfully

 

[jacey88]

Today I met one of the inspector again, but yes I do but the train ticket. However when I showed her the 26 - 30 Railcard, she said I couldn't use it until 9.30am. Nothing happened, she only tell me about that, I was shocked again by these swr rules, since I also used these Railcard in all the previous morning commute, will it also affect my short fare tir?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 Jun 2026 ==

This is a slightly tricky situation. In your case you are very unlikely to be prosecuted provided you recieve and respond to their correspondence.
Therefore, it is of utmost importance that the letter reaches you.
SWR might possibly email you instead of sending a letter, but I suspect this is unlikely for the initial letter.

You could email SWR prosecutions and, using the reference number on your TIR, ensure they have the correct address on file. This is, to some extent, a risk as they may forget about your case and contacting them would remind them, but seeing as you got a TIR, and SWR seem to be on top of cases currently, I doubt they'll drop it.

So I would personally suggest this approach. BUT I would appreciate the thoughts of other members as to whether this is a good idea so don't email them yet because we need to know what other members think. Also, anything you send them, post the draft on here first so members can check and suggest any refinements.

I'm sure someone knows the best email to use to contact them - or you might be able to find it on another thread.

Looking through the thread, will it be better to send them an email after 5 months? Thank you

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 Jun 2026 ==

I’ve got this info and a simple address clarification template the op could use if they want to. Suggested it on a recent thread but can’t find which one at the moment.

I’ll post it here later on in case it’s of use.

----------------------------------

for example - something along these lines:


SWR e-mail

prosecutions@swrailway.com

Prosecutions Department
SWR


Today's Date

Dear Sir/ Madam

I was stopped on x date at y location and questioned about the validity of my rail ticket.

I was given this ref number xxxxx [If you were given a ref number - otherwise delete this line]

The paper I was given by the member of staff has my address wrongly recorded on it.

Please note my correct name and address is xxx

My e-mail address is: xxxx

I would be grateful if you could correct this address so that I receive anything you may need to send me.

Yours faithfully

Thank you very much for the template, such a nice forum and people here

 

[SuspectUsual]

Today I met one of the inspector again, but yes I do but the train ticket. However when I showed her the 26 - 30 Railcard, she said I couldn't use it until 9.30am. Nothing happened, she only tell me about that, I was shocked again by these swr rules, since I also used these Railcard in all the previous morning commute, will it also affect my short fare tir?

What you were told is not correct. You can use a 26-30 card before 9:30 but:

- there is a £12 minimum fare before 9:30 so depending on the cost of your ticket you may get no discount at all (if the full price ticket is £12 or less), some discount (if the full price ticket is £12 to roughly £18 the discount will be applied but only until the fare paid hits £12), or in full if the ticket is about £18 or more

- this doesn't apply to advance tickets

- this doesn't apply at weekends or on bank holidays

Nothing is every simple on the railway

I suspect the reason nothing happened is that if your ticket was scanned the device said everything was fine, despite what her (incorrect) brain was telling her

 

[Krokodil]

Today I met one of the inspector again, but yes I do but the train ticket. However when I showed her the 26 - 30 Railcard, she said I couldn't use it until 9.30am. Nothing happened, she only tell me about that, I was shocked again by these swr rules,

That railcard has a minimum fare of £12 before 10am Mon-Fri (excluding public holidays)

 

[SECR 65]

Looking through the thread, will it be better to send them an email after 5 months? Thank you

As I said above, if you don't recieve SWR's initial letter, they are very likely to prosecute you.

Therefore, I would suggest you contact them as suggested by @WesternLancer in post #9. I would advise you to do this now (next few days) rather than waiting, otherwise you could end up in court without your knowledge.

Post #9 has a very helpful template - there's no need for it to be longer than this. Keep it simple and just confirm your address. You won't skip the prosecution departments queue by doing this, so it could still be a few months before you hear from them about possible action againgst you.

 

[WesternLancer]

Today I met one of the inspector again, but yes I do but the train ticket. However when I showed her the 26 - 30 Railcard, she said I couldn't use it until 9.30am. Nothing happened, she only tell me about that, I was shocked again by these swr rules, since I also used these Railcard in all the previous morning commute, will it also affect my short fare tir?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 Jun 2026 ==


Looking through the thread, will it be better to send them an email after 5 months? Thank you

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 Jun 2026 ==


Thank you very much for the template, such a nice forum and people here

Have a read of the railcard t&c s either on the official railcard website or pick up the railcard leaflet from a rack at ticket office at a station.

This is why a season ticket might be better option as it has no time restrictions / minimum fare. but of course you can compare them price wise. And the railcard can be used for discounts on other journeys.

 

[AlterEgo]

Today I met one of the inspector again, but yes I do but the train ticket. However when I showed her the 26 - 30 Railcard, she said I couldn't use it until 9.30am. Nothing happened, she only tell me about that, I was shocked again by these swr rules, since I also used these Railcard in all the previous morning commute, will it also affect my short fare tir?

Were you travelling before 10am on a ticket which cost less than £12? Byfleet and New Haw to Surbiton?

 

[reb0118]

These questions are important. At what days & times do you travel? If any of these are before 10:00 on a Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays) what times do select for travel, and why?

 

[jacey88]

What you were told is not correct. You can use a 26-30 card before 9:30 but:

- there is a £12 minimum fare before 9:30 so depending on the cost of your ticket you may get no discount at all (if the full price ticket is £12 or less), some discount (if the full price ticket is £12 to roughly £18 the discount will be applied but only until the fare paid hits £12), or in full if the ticket is about £18 or more

Ah yes my ticket was less than £12, she is correct. My train ticket was usually around 6am to 7am. 9th June was Tuesday and I travel before 7am

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Jun 2026 ==

These questions are important. At what days & times do you travel? If any of these are before 10:00 on a Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays) what times do select for travel, and why?

9th June I bought a return ticket from byfleet and new haw to Surbiton, the morning train is 6.11am to Surbiton and 20.14pm to byfleet and new haw, the price was 9.40£, however the price seems to be the same when I bought the 6.11am at original price (6.50) and evening at the discounted price (2.90). So now I'm not really sure anymore. To make myself safe, I was buying everything in single ticket every since

 

[Krokodil]

Ah yes my ticket was less than £12, she is correct. My train ticket was usually around 6am to 7am. 9th June was Tuesday and I travel before 7am

Just to clarify, how do you buy your ticket? Booking office/vending machine/app etc?

 

[jacey88]

Just to clarify, how do you buy your ticket? Booking office/vending machine/app etc?

I bought it through swr app, I think it didn't really apply the discount for the morning ticket when I bought a return ticket during Mon to Fri

 

[Krokodil]

I bought it through swr app, I think it didn't really apply the discount for the morning ticket when I bought a return ticket during Mon to Fri

So presumably you'd tell the app your origin and destination, and a rough departure time. Then does it show you a list of train times?

 

[jacey88]

So presumably you'd tell the app your origin and destination, and a rough departure time. Then does it show you a list of train times?

These 2 are the single train from byfleet and new haw to Surbiton with and without the Railcard, they are the same price. But in Saturday it came down to £4.30 so I assume it will do the discount itself during weekend

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 7 Jul 2026 ==

It's been 1 month but I didn't receive any letter yet so I sent the address clarification email today.

 

[jacey88]

Received my letter

 

[SECR 65]

Ok here we go


You'll need to say...

• That you're sorry for what happened and for not having a valid ticket.
• You understand what you did was wrong and the understand the importance of having a valid ticket.
• You will always make sure you have a valid ticket in future.
• You wish to keep the matter out of court and are willing to pay the outstanding fare plus any administrative costs incurred by SWR.

I do apologise if I have missed any nuance which is relevant to your case.

When you've drafted a reply, upload it here and we can have a look at it.

Do feel free to ask any questions you have - someone (unlikely to be me this week) can answer them.

 

[WesternLancer]

Received my letter

Received my letter

Thanks for uploading - I'm guessing you don't really have any mitigating factors to put forward given you made an intentional choice not to pay the correct fare (something you can refer to in your reply to them as a 'serious error of judgment' perhaps - so basically the content advice suggested by @SECR 65 in post #23 is what to include.

Have a look at some other SWR threads for examples that people have drafted (or also plenty of examples on Thameslink threads you can find using similar format) - draft something up and post it here for checking before you send it off.

You don't need to mention the other occasions if you do not wish to do so - since they are not asking about them in what they have sent you - but SWR usually take a look at buying records for other journeys and it's thus likely that after you respond they will probably ask you about them too - potentially sending you a list of travel they think is suspicious asking you if you can account for any of it as legitimate journeys - but you can respond to that if / when they ask - you will see it on other threads.

 

[jacey88]

Ok here we go


You'll need to say...

• That you're sorry for what happened and for not having a valid ticket.
• You understand what you did was wrong and the understand the importance of having a valid ticket.
• You will always make sure you have a valid ticket in future.
• You wish to keep the matter out of court and are willing to pay the outstanding fare plus any administrative costs incurred by SWR.

Dear who?,

I am writing to respond to your letter dated xx regarding the incident from Byfleet and New Haw to Surbiton.

I sincerely apologise for deciding to purchase a short fare ticket for my journey due to a sudden increase in budget from my usual evening return ticket to anytime ticket in May.

I had acknowledged now that it is forbidden to purchase a wrong ticket and I will take full responsibility for my actions.

Since the incident, I have ensured that I purchased valid tickets for all of my journeys, I can assure you that this will not happen again.

I would be grateful for the opportunity to resolve this matter without the need for court proceedings. I am prepared to pay the outstanding fare plus any administrative costs incurred.

Yours sincerely,
My name.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Aug 2026 ==

What shall I put as the tile of the email and who exactly I'm am writing to? Can I write the name Susan from the letter?

 

[SuspectUsual]

What shall I put as the tile of the email and who exactly I'm am writing to? Can I write the name Susan from the letter?

Susan Gray may or may not be a real person - companies sometimes use fake names for outbound comms - but nevertheless you should take it in good faith and reply "Dear Ms Gray"

Include the reference number from your letter, so it looks like this:

Dear Ms Gray

Your ref: xxxxxxxxx

I am writing....

 

[WesternLancer]

Dear who?,

I am writing to respond to your letter dated xx regarding the incident from Byfleet and New Haw to Surbiton.

I sincerely apologise for deciding to purchase a short fare ticket for my journey due to a sudden increase in budget from my usual evening return ticket to anytime ticket in May.

I had acknowledged now that it is forbidden to purchase a wrong ticket and I will take full responsibility for my actions.

Since the incident, I have ensured that I purchased valid tickets for all of my journeys, I can assure you that this will not happen again.

I would be grateful for the opportunity to resolve this matter without the need for court proceedings. I am prepared to pay the outstanding fare plus any administrative costs incurred.

Yours sincerely,
My name.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Aug 2026 ==

What shall I put as the tile of the email and who exactly I'm am writing to? Can I write the name Susan from the letter?

Second para of the draft needs work.
An increase in budget implies you had more money. Whereas I suspect you mean the cost of tickets went up and you didn’t want to pay that much.
Personally I’d just leave the first part of the sentence which apologises for what you did.
Maybe also say that you now accept it’s not fair on other passengers who do pay correctly when some people do not.

 

[jacey88]

Second para of the draft needs work.
An increase in budget implies you had more money. Whereas I suspect you mean the cost of tickets went up and you didn’t want to pay that much.
Personally I’d just leave the first part of the sentence which apologises for what you did.
Maybe also say that you now accept it’s not fair on other passengers who do pay correctly when some people do not.

I meant to mean a sudden increase of what I usually paid. Like from usually £3.55 to 6+3=£12. I set budget for transport, so i thought increase in budget meant I need to use more money than before.
I will take the second part off, i thought we need to tell the reason why we decided to buy a short fare ticket.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Aug 2026 ==

Susan Gray may or may not be a real person - companies sometimes use fake names for outbound comms - but nevertheless you should take it in good faith and reply "Dear Ms Gray"

Include the reference number from your letter, so it looks like this:

Dear Ms Gray

Your ref: xxxxxxxxx

I am writing....

Thank you for clarifying that, something new for me. What abiut the Subject of the email, shall i put Short Fare Prosecution?

 

[WesternLancer]

I meant to mean a sudden increase of what I usually paid. Like from usually £3.55 to 6+3=£12. I set budget for transport, so i thought increase in budget meant I need to use more money than before.
I will take the second part off, i thought we need to tell the reason why we decided to buy a short fare ticket.

If you feel you need to give such a reason I’d say
‘This was an error of judgment on my part, resulting from a situation where money was short’ or something like that.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Aug 2026 ==

Thank you for clarifying that, something new for me. What abiut the Subject of the email, shall i put Short Fare Prosecution?

Subject : probably state ‘ response to letter of xx date reference number xxxx’

It’s about making it easy for them to match your reply to their set of hundreds of similar cases all being dealt with at the same time in a busy office.

Include your full name and postal address in your reply e mail too. For the same reason.

 

[jacey88]

How about this new draft?

Dear Ms Gray,

Ref:xx

I am writing to respond to your letter dated xx regarding the incident from Byfleet and New Haw to Surbiton.

I sincerely apologise for deciding to purchase a short fare ticket for my journey. This was an error of judgment on my part, resulting from a situation where money was short due to change in enployment. Now I had realised it is not fair on other passengers who do pay correctly when some people do not.

I had acknowledged now that it is forbidden to purchase a wrong ticket and I will take full responsibility for my actions.

Since the incident, I have ensured that I purchased valid tickets for all of my journeys, I can assure you that this will not happen again.

I would be grateful for the opportunity to resolve this matter without the need for court proceedings. I am prepared to pay the outstanding fare plus any administrative costs incurred.

Once again I sincerely apologise for the incident.

Yours sincerely,
My name.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Aug 2026 ==

.

Include your full name and postal address in your reply e mail too. For the same reason.

I will put all these before the 'I am writing to'