South West Trains - Advice Needed

[Newbie 62]

Hi there,

I would be ever so grateful for any advice re an incident that occurred at London Waterloo a few weekends ago:

My husband and I boarded a South West train to London Waterloo at Hersham at approximately 18.50. We were rushing to a friends birthday and I did not have time to buy a ticket before boarding the train. There were also 2 people waiting at the only ticket machine at Hersham which is notoriously slow at the best of times. I intended to buy a ticket on the train however a ticket inspector did not come through the carriage and I could also not see one on the concourse at Waterloo once we arrived.

I next made an huge error of judgement and attempted to use my Oyster card to get through the barriers at Waterloo. I thought this would be the next best option after not being able to buy a ticket however I did not realise that my Oyster card did not have the required amount of credit on and hence my touch out failed. I am aware that Hersham is outside of the Oyster payment area however I panicked when I got to Waterloo and can only say that I made a serious mistake in trying to pay for my journey in this way.

An attendant promptly escorted me to a revenue officer who then started to question me about my ticket and travel. I explained all of the above and offered to pay for my ticket and a penalty fare. He said that 'there are no more penalty fares' and stated that he would be taking my oyster card to be used as evidence and then called someone to presumably check my name and address. He then produced a list of 5 questions and started again to question me regarding my journey and ticket. At this stage, I asked for an explanation of the process and also for him to confirm who he had phoned and who he would be sending my oyster card to. English was not his first language so communication was difficult (his manner in dealing with me was also bordering on aggressive) however the only thing he could tell me was that he would be 'reporting the fact of the matter'. My husband, seeing my distress, also asked him to explain who the questions/answers would be sent to but the officer refused to speak to him and instead repeatedly asked me if I would answer his 5 questions or if I was refusing. I answered his questions stating my origin and destination etc and again reiterated the information above re the ticket. He asked me to sign the questions however I refused to do this as he could not tell me who they would be sent to (or why he was asking them) so he wrote on his notepad that I had refused to sign. He gave me a card with contact details on for South West Trains on the front and on the back was a 'receipt' for my Oyster card with his badge number and the time date etc. He told me to call the number for South West Trains however he could not confirm if this was for me to get my Oyster card back or the reason why I needed to call them.
An attendant then let me through the barriers at Waterloo.

As I mentioned above, I made a huge error of judgement when trying to use my Oyster card to pay for my journey and I am extremely embarrassed about this whole situation. I take full responsibility for my actions and realise that me running late is not an excuse for not having a valid ticket. I'm also very worried about the potential prosecution by South West trains as a result of my stupidity and actions.

I used to commute into London and have been a regular user of South West trains for 1 year with no previous record of anything like this happening before.

I have not been contacted by South West trains as yet however my question is if I can preempt any potential action by contacting them beforehand and offering to pay relevant costs to them in their dealings with this matter. I understand from reading through posts on this site that I was in violation of a number of byelaws however I would really like to avoid this going to court and I would like to settle this matter as soon as possible.

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Stigy]

Hi, try not to panick at this stage. You were reported for offences and will need to await SWT to get in touch. Your actions, to be honest did appear to point towards a dil liberate act of fare evasion, although I appreciate this wasn't necessarily the case. When they contact you, reply accordingly. The offences differ in respect of penalties, but worst case scenario a conviction under s5(3)a of the Regulation if railways act (fare evasion basically) is more serious than that of one under a Railway Byelaw.

For first offences where only one offence occurred, they might be prepared to settle matter administratively. You do t mention your husband much, how was he dealt with?

 

[455driver]

No point contacting them because there is a process to follow and it will be followed regardless.

fare evasion from Esher, Hersham and Walton on Thames is rife with a lot of people using |Oyster (stations down the newline are the same) and it is being 'addressed' as we speak.

In a month or 3 when your case gets to the top of the pile SWT will probably send you a letter for your version of events as to what happened that day, keep it accurate, brief and concise, dont waffle as it doesnt help anyone. The fact you left insufficient time to buy your ticket (why didnt you use the machine beside the counter?) and then tried to fraudulently use Oyster is your fault so you will need to come up with a better excuse than that.

Nothing to do but sit and wait.

 

[tony6499]

Forget the rubbish about him not speaking English and acting aggressively for a start, everyone who gets caught comes out with this sort of thing.

Stick to the plain facts of what you did not what happened when you were caught and now just wait.

 

[MikeWh]

In a month or 3 when your case gets to the top of the pile SWT will probably send you a letter for your version of events as to what happened that day, keep it accurate, brief and concise, dont waffle as it doesnt help anyone. The fact you left insufficient time to buy your ticket (why didnt you use the machine beside the counter?) and then tried to fraudulently use Oyster is your fault so you will need to come up with a better excuse than that.

Nothing to do but sit and wait.

Although as that is effectively what happened it's probably best to say that and express sincere regret for your actions.

Also 455driver, it was the machine that had a queue if you read the first post again. What do you now drive?

 

[455driver]

Although as that is effectively what happened it's probably best to say that and express sincere regret for your actions.
Also 455driver, it was the machine that had a queue if you read the first post again.

I missed the bit about the machine, I read it as 2 people queueing at the window.

What do you now drive?

Still got some 444s and 450s to drive (my last train for SWT should be a 12 coach 450 unless I can swap for a 455 job ) and then in a few months it will be some little Alexander buses based diseasel multiple units. I do look forward to the pasties though!

Got to do all the corporate induction stuff at Paddington first and the Hotel food comes highly recommended, I am looking forward to that more than the poxy little trains I will be driving.

 

[Newbie 62]

Many thanks for the responses. I shall wait for their letter and reply with an accurate version of the events and with regret for my actions.

My husband has a season ticket which he used on the day so there were no issues with him. He tried to help explain the situation to the inspector although this didn't appear to help and the inspector would only speak to me.
I appreciate the guard had a job to do and will not mention my previous comments when SWT contact me.

This is definitely a first time offence for me. I'm hoping they will check my Oyster history as they will be able to see that I have never used it to pass through the gates at Waterloo before this incident. Not sure if this would even help but seems like it is a waiting game from here on in...

 

[island]

The inspector presumably does not know you and therefore had no reason to deal with a random passerby, which, as far as he could tell, your husband was.

When you chose to join a train without a ticket at a station with ticketing facilities, you committed a criminal offence under the Railway Bye-Laws. Your subsequent actions such as failing to actively seek out the guard on the train and attempting to use your Oyster card to exit on arrival are likely to be construed as a more serious criminal offence under the Regulation of Railways Act carrying a maximum fine of £1,000 and a criminal record. Had you asked an attendant to purchase a ticket on arrival, it is much more likely that you would have been dealt with by the issue of a penalty fare.

South West Trains may decide to deal with the matter out of court, such as by accepting a payment in respect of the administrative costs connected with the offence you committed and the fare you chose not to pay. This happens frequently and amounts mentioned often range from £50-80. The chances of this happening are, however, reduced in respect of passengers who have come to their attention before, or who, like you, were uncooperative when dealing with revenue protection staff.

Right now there is nothing to do other than wait for the letter from South West Trains which is likely to be sent in several weeks' time.

As per the above advice, before attempting to muddy the waters with accusations of aggressive behaviour or poor command of English on the part of the revenue protection officer, I would encourage you to reflect on the incident and consider (a) how much this is relevant to the instant criminal case, and (b) whether the behaviour was really genuinely aggressive or whether it was in fact making you uncomfortable about the offence you committed.

Good luck.