Short stop fraud allegation advice

[UnitedFan2021]

I was today stopped at a station just as I was about to go through the barriers to exit, a revenue protection officer stopped me and said my ticket looked suspicious and said he thought I'd purchased a ticket from a nearby station and but then actually travelled from a further away station to avoid paying the higher fee (something I believe he called short stop fraud?). He took me to one side and started asking me questions. I didn't answer his questions (only gave him my address) and asked to leave as I was running late for work. He agreed to let me leave, but said they will be investigating my account and that I will be contacted by letter by the Revenue Recovery Department after the review.

They will find several tickets purchased from the same nearby station as the one he said he suspected to be short stop fraud. I imagine the fine will be the difference in price between the two tickets (from the closest station to my address price vs from the nearby station price) multiplied by the number of times this transaction appears in my travel history, plus any admin fees/fines they decide to add.

The initial allegation of short stop fraud here is speculative, to then suggest every ticket I've ever bought from that nearby station is allegedly short stop fraud is even more speculative.

Fundamentally, I want to avoid court. What's the best option when the letter does come? Pay the fee or appeal? How often are these appeals succesful?

 

[Watershed]

Your post appears to avoid answering the one question which matters which is. Have you actually done this? If not, there are definitely going to be grounds for fighting this.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

...he thought I'd purchased a ticket from a nearby station and but then actually travelled from a further away station to avoid paying the higher fee (something I believe he called short stop fraud?).

Welcome to the forum. This is more usually called "Short faring".

 

[Puffing Devil]

As you weren't stopped on the train and you effectively gave a "no comment" interview, the train company has no evidence to show that you short-fared, or that any of your other journeys were "short stops".

From now on, you need to buy the proper ticket for your journey, ideally from a new account from a new retailer not associated with your previous journeys, and get a new email address for that account. I'm guessing you're not using the forum's ticketing site - that would be a good option, and the link is at the top of the page. Then there will be a minimal link between your previous and your future actions, stopping any connection.
Then wait for the train company to write to you and post the letter here, details blocked out, for more advice.

 

[Trainman40083]

I'd suggest, that if and when you are caught, you would end up paying the single fare from your station to your destination, NOT the difference in fare.

 

[WesternLancer]

I'd suggest, that if and when you are caught, you would end up paying the single fare from your station to your destination, NOT the difference in fare.

Indeed at the peak Anytime fare plus circa £150 admin fee if wishes to avoid court prosecution for the criminal offence that not having a valid ticket is.

They would not let someone just pay the difference as then they would never pay the correct fare to start with. Knowing if all they had to do was pay the difference on the occasion they were caught.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Dec 2025 ==

Fundamentally, I want to avoid court. What's the best option when the letter does come? Pay the fee or appeal? How often are these appeals succesful?

There’s no right of appeal for this but you can put your points to the magistrates in court if they prosecute you.

They will write to you and it’s up to you how you reply. That would be the only time outside of court process you could really’appeal’ to them.

It’s clear the inspector suspected fare evasion. Probably correctly.

Depends on which railway company this was as to how aggressively they pursue you. Might help if you tell us who stopped you.

 

[z444z]

I’m going to assume you have been short faring because if you hadn’t you probably would have mentioned it.

The no comment interview was the right thing to do and may be enough to prevent this actually going anywhere. You’re on their radar now and if you continue to evade fares they will catch you. Other than paying the correct fare from now on, ideally using a different retailer, different email and maybe a different payment card too, there’s nothing to do until the letter arrives. When it does, come back here for help.

 

[UnitedFan2021]

Indians at the peak Anytime fare plus £150 admin fee if wishes to avoid court prosecution for the criminal offence that not having a valid ticket is.

They would not let someone just pay the difference as then they would never pay the correct fare to start with.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Dec 2025 ==


There’s no right of appeal for this but you can put your points to the magistrates in court if they prosecute you.

They will write to you and it’s up to you how you reply.

It’s clear the inspector suspected fare evasion. Probably correctly.

Depends on which railway company this was as to how aggressively they pursue you. Might help if you tell us who stopped you.

GWR. I had a browse through some of the other forums and it seems they're less aggressive than some of the other railway companies.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Dec 2025 ==

Indians at the peak Anytime fare plus £150 admin fee if wishes to avoid court prosecution for the criminal offence that not having a valid ticket is.

They would not let someone just pay the difference as then they would never pay the correct fare to start with.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Dec 2025 ==


There’s no right of appeal for this but you can put your points to the magistrates in court if they prosecute you.

They will write to you and it’s up to you how you reply.

It’s clear the inspector suspected fare evasion. Probably correctly.

Depends on which railway company this was as to how aggressively they pursue you. Might help if you tell us who stopped you.

Would that £150 admin fee apply to each instance of suspected fraud? Or would that be an overall.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Dec 2025 ==

Welcome to the forum. This is more usually called "Short faring".

Thank you, must've misheard the guy.

 

[z444z]

Would that £150 admin fee apply to each instance of suspected fraud? Or would that be an overall.

Overall. We have seen higher admin fees for more complex cases involving more journeys but I’m not sure if GWR does that.

 

[UnitedFan2021]

Overall. We have seen higher admin fees for more complex cases involving more journeys but I’m not sure if GWR does that.

Thank you

 

[WesternLancer]

GWR. I had a browse through some of the other forums and it seems they're less aggressive than some of the other railway companies.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Dec 2025 ==


Would that £150 admin fee apply to each instance of suspected fraud? Or would that be an overall.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Dec 2025 ==


Thank you, must've misheard the guy.

GWR are reasonable in their approach. One Admin fee applies to all cases they identify and seek to pursue.

GWR have recently started to seek payment for un paid fare debts via the civil court. Not a criminal prosecution but requires a lower burden of proof for them to achieve.

When they write to you or if they do it will start to become clear what their approach is to your case.

 

[Cell2025]

Your post appears to avoid answering the one question which matters which is. Have you actually done this? If not, there are definitely going to be grounds for fighting this.

Still not actually answered so far as I can see.

 

[UnitedFan2021]

Still not actually answered so far as I can see.

Apologies, I initially thought it might impact the quality of the advice I get. However, having read a number of different threads now, I can see help is given for a range of situations.

As I'm sure you suspect, I am on the wrong side of this case. What I did was really careless, my main aim now is to try and mitigate the damage as much as possible.

 

[Starmill]

Still not actually answered so far as I can see.

I don't think the word choice in the first post leaves room for doubt personally. If they hadn't actually been short faring they would have said so.

 

[SuspectUsual]

What I did was really careless

No. It wasn’t careless. It was deliberate.

It doesn’t really matter to people helping you here, but as and when you have to write to GWR it absolutely will.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Thank you, must've misheard the guy.

Quite possibly. Could you possibly now provide some background, as per the following thread. Best not to drip feed the information.

Please read before posting in Disputes & Prosecutions

Guidance for those asking for advice: Please bear in mind the following, when asking for advice in this section: We need to know all relevant facts in order to assist you, including, for example: The stations* where you actually started & finished your journey The stations* where you changed...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[Spaceship323]

If they do investigate your ticket buying history they'll simply check where you allegedly caught the train, and compare it to where you actually live. Do you actually use the station you've bought tickets from? If they don't match they will want to know why

 

[UnitedFan2021]

Quite possibly. Could you possibly now provide some background, as per the following thread. Best not to drip feed the information.

Please read before posting in Disputes & Prosecutions

Guidance for those asking for advice: Please bear in mind the following, when asking for advice in this section: We need to know all relevant facts in order to assist you, including, for example: The stations* where you actually started & finished your journey The stations* where you changed...

www.railforums.co.uk

Sure.

The physical journey I take is from Oldfield Park to Bristol Temple Meads (£10.70 open return). The ticket I use to get through the barriers at Bristol Temple Meads is an Open Return from Montpelier (£2.10 open return).

I tend to purchase the Montpelier -> Bristol Temple Meads ticket on Trainline as the train pulls into Temple Meads. Having looked back at my travel history, I've done this on 27 different occasions.

These are the only cases in which I've done something like this. I use the GWR trains frequently and pay the correct amount for all other journeys.

I hold a valid 16-25 Railcard; however, as of the past couple of months, I've not been getting any discounts, I think because of the season.

In terms of outcomes, I want to mitigate the damage as much as possible. An out-of-court settlement would be very much preferred.

 

[AlterEgo]

The initial allegation of short stop fraud here is speculative, to then suggest every ticket I've ever bought from that nearby station is allegedly short stop fraud is even more speculative.

That very much depends on the specifics of the case - if your origin station was barriered and there is no scan, you may be asked how you accessed, and have historically accessed, the platform, as your ticket won't have been scanned there. It is also possible that your origin station was revenue blocked by staff (that is, it was impossible to access the platform that day without a scan), so they will *know* you didn't board from there.

A lot of this depends on which stations are involved - where did you actually board, the train, where was your ticket valid *from*, and where did you alight and come across the inspector? Bear in mind they have your home address, and will infer from this that you start from your local station.

Fundamentally, I want to avoid court. What's the best option when the letter does come? Pay the fee or appeal? How often are these appeals succesful?

There is no option to "appeal" - you will either be prosecuted, or you will not. You may be asked to give evidence by way of reply to the train company, which is your option to dispute the sequence of events.

 

[z444z]

If they don't match they will want to know why

I’m sure they will, but the OP would be under no obligation to answer their questions. The starting station not matching someone’s home address isn’t anywhere near enough evidence for a conviction. The same applies to all of @AlterEgo’s points except the possibility of a revenue block. There’s also the possibility that they have CCTV but that’s very unlikely.

I suspect GWR will realise they have insufficient evidence to prosecute, and they’ll either give up completely, bring a civil claim, or they’ll plough on anyway and try to bully the OP into a settlement under threat of prosecution. Whether or not the OP accepts such a settlement would depend on if they’re willing to risk prosecution on the assumption that no CCTV or revenue block evidence exists.

From experience of previous cases where it’s been doubtful that sufficient evidence for a conviction exists, I think it’s likely GWR will take the third option.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Dec 2025 ==

I tend to purchase the Montpelier -> Bristol Temple Meads ticket on Trainline as the train pulls into Temple Meads.

Ah I hadn’t seen this when I left my last comment. Was this the case on the occasion you were stopped? That would change things because if you bought the ticket after the train departed Montpelier it would likely be possible to prove that you committed the offence of boarding a train without a valid ticket, without having to prove where you actually boarded.

I've done this on 27 different occasions.

27 return journeys will probably be charged (in a settlement offer) as 54 single Anytime fares, so 54x£10.10=£545.40, plus probably a £150 admin fee for a total of £695.40. It’s rare that we see railcard discounts applied even when validly held, or fares paid taken into account, or anything other than Anytime fares used when calculating settlements.

 

[Starmill]

I suspect GWR will realise they have insufficient evidence to prosecute, and they’ll either give up completely, bring a civil claim, or they’ll plough on anyway and try to bully the OP into a settlement under threat of prosecution.

The outcome of this is also at risk of being influenced by whether or not the person at GWR has read this thread. The case isn't exactly going to be hard to identify.

The question in #2 and #12 probably shouldn't have been so freely answered, given the answer was already quite apparent.

 

[UnitedFan2021]

Was this the case on the occasion you were stopped?

Yes it was.

27 return journeys will probably be charged (in a settlement offer) as 54 single Anytime fares, so 54x£10.10=£545.40, plus probably a £150 admin fee for a total of £695.40. It’s rare that we see railcard discounts applied even when validly held, or fares paid taken into account, or anything other than Anytime fares used when calculating settlements.

Thank you.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Dec 2025 ==

The outcome of this is also at risk of being influenced by whether or not the person at GWR has read this thread. The case isn't exactly going to be hard to identify.

The question in #2 and #12 probably shouldn't have been so freely answered, given the answer was already quite apparent.

I had thought this at first, hence the vague initial post. But to be frank, I feel a case like mine would be hard to battle having read some other examples. Keen just to get as much help as possible now in limiting the damage, I'm hoping the additional info will help better inform any advice.

 

[AlterEgo]

I tend to purchase the Montpelier -> Bristol Temple Meads ticket on Trainline as the train pulls into Temple Meads.

They may have all the evidence they need, then. If you just bought it and it was impossible to have been purchased before any train departed Montpelier to arrive into Temple Meads at the time you were stopped then the Bylaw offence is essentially proven.

 

[Tetchytyke]

The outcome of this is also at risk of being influenced by whether or not the person at GWR has read this thread. The case isn't exactly going to be hard to identify.

The contents of this thread are useless to them evidentially, even if they have read it.

They can see where the OP lives, which is presumably in Bath/Oldfield Park, and they can see the OP had bought a lot of tickets from Montpelier to Bristol Temple Meads. They can also see when the tickets were purchased and when the tickets were scanned to exit the station at Bristol.

The fact they stopped the OP gives them all the evidence they need to prosecute for that specific offence. What someone has said under pseudo-anonymity on an internet forum is not evidence.

I suspect GWR will offer a settlement based on the OP’s actual journeys. If there are some journeys where the OP genuinely did travel from Montpelier then the OP will need to explain these, as GWR’s starting position will be all these tickets were used illegally. They probably can’t prosecute for these but then they don’t have to, as they can just prosecute for the incident where they caught the OP red-handed.

 

[fandroid]

The purchasing of the tickets after leaving Montpelier is the clincher. They've got you there. You won't be able to negotiate the settlement down at all unless you can prove that some of the journeys actually started at Montpelier or anywhere else short of Bath Oldfield Park.

 

[Haywain]

The purchasing of the tickets after leaving Montpelier is the clincher.

In this case it's without leaving Montpellier, but the point still stands. I imagine arrival at Temple Meads would have been at a rather different time to trains from Montpellier as well.

 

[tatitiliti]

I was today stopped at a station just as I was about to go through the barriers to exit, a revenue protection officer stopped me and said my ticket looked suspicious and said he thought I'd purchased a ticket from a nearby station and but then actually travelled from a further away station to avoid paying the higher fee (something I believe he called short stop fraud?). He took me to one side and started asking me questions. I didn't answer his questions (only gave him my address) and asked to leave as I was running late for work. He agreed to let me leave, but said they will be investigating my account and that I will be contacted by letter by the Revenue Recovery Department after the review.

They will find several tickets purchased from the same nearby station as the one he said he suspected to be short stop fraud. I imagine the fine will be the difference in price between the two tickets (from the closest station to my address price vs from the nearby station price) multiplied by the number of times this transaction appears in my travel history, plus any admin fees/fines they decide to add.

The initial allegation of short stop fraud here is speculative, to then suggest every ticket I've ever bought from that nearby station is allegedly short stop fraud is even more speculative.

Fundamentally, I want to avoid court. What's the best option when the letter does come? Pay the fee or appeal? How often are these appeals succesful?

Regardless, you were very smart to reply with ‘no comment’ to the questions that attempt to incriminate you except for your legal obligation of providing a correct name and address.

You’ll get a letter in due course but I would just decline to comment in writing. I highly doubt they have enough to bring a prosecution on the back of that. They can then decide if they’d like to probably lose in court, but this is of course up to your tolerance for potentially having to attend. If you want to guarantee avoidance of court, a couple of hundred pounds and a letter without admission but willing to pay a settlement fee to close the case should do the trick.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

You’ll get a letter in due course but I would just flat out deny it all or decline to comment in writing.

As the OP has told us

As I'm sure you suspect, I am on the wrong side of this case.

We wouldn't in general give the advice that I have bolded above, in that to flat out deny it all wouldn't be telling the truth. Without getting into moral arguments about whether one is entitled to defend yourself by lying, if the railway are convinced that they know the truth and that you are lying, that's not going to encourage them to believe that you will buy the right train ticket in future. And practically speaking, that's mainly what the railway wants to get out of this process. So it's worth not alienating them even at this point when it's likely that they will be writing and threatening court action.

 

[AlterEgo]

You’ll get a letter in due course but I would just flat out deny it all

Not wise, because that would be a lie.

or decline to comment in writing. I highly doubt they have enough to bring a prosecution on the back of that.

They do. There can be no way the OP has boarded a train at Montpelier if they bought their ticket upon entering Bristol Temple Meads, and regardless, purchasing at such a time constitutes an invalid ticket as of a few weeks ago. There is enough evidence to progress the case.

 

[dosxuk]

You’ll get a letter in due course but I would just flat out deny it all or decline to comment in writing. I highly doubt they have enough to bring a prosecution on the back of that. They can then decide if they’d like to probably lose in court, but this is of course up to your tolerance for potentially having to attend.

I'm not sure I'd rate their chances in court as that low, as the OP would obviously have to tell the truth once things got to that stage. Lying in court is, to put it politely, a really bad idea.