SWR fare evasion - updated, letter received

[trismus]

I have read a few threads about this, but unfortunately can’t see anywhere where someone posts what their actual outcome has been.

Unfortunately, I was stopped last week at Waterloo as it was flagged up that I just bought my ticket within the last 10 minutes. The reason was is I don’t have barriers at my station so on occasion I do forget to buy the ticket and I only remember when I get off at Waterloo.

However, I have had occasions in the past few months since summer where I have bought a shorter ticket which is fair evasion of course. Obviously realising the risk I have not done this for the past month. I did this twice in November. And six times in October, and eight times in September. For reference I commute four days a week.

As they have taken all my details to investigate, I’m aware that this will probably all be revealed and I would like to know what outcomes people have actually had. I am happy to pay any fine, but I am obviously worried about prosecution and a criminal record.

I can see lots of useful advice people have given which seems to be wait for them to contact me and then respond to truthfully and accordingly however I would like to know if people have been prosecuted as this is causing me a lot of anxiety!

Grateful for any advice and obviously appreciate what I have done is wrong

 

[30907]

Assuming this is SE from your location, then they are generally willing to settle out of court.
Whether you short-fared or not, you were committing an offence by boarding without a ticket.

incidentally, a 4-day commute in peak hours might be slightly cheaper with a season ticket; buying for odd periods (over a month) means you can cut the cost slightly.

 

[jfollows]

I suggest you read https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/please-read-before-posting-in-disputes-prosecutions.77759/

There are lots of outcomes documented here.

SWR is usually prepared to settle out of court if you engage with them. Which is not a “fine” although it might feel like one.

Posting what you’ve received would be helpful to enable us to tailor advice to your circumstance.

 

[z444z]

I can see lots of useful advice people have given which seems to be wait for them to contact me and then respond to truthfully and accordingly however I would like to know if people have been prosecuted as this is causing me a lot of anxiety!

People do get prosecuted but this is usually when they don’t respond to the letter, or send a really bad response. It’s very likely you’ll be able to get a settlement. Try to put it out of your mind until the letter arrives, then come back here for help.

 

[trismus]

People do get prosecuted but this is usually when they don’t respond to the letter, or send a really bad response. It’s very likely you’ll be able to get a settlement. Try to put it out of your mind until the letter arrives, then come back here for help.

Thanks I will be happy to engage with them with them when they write to me, so I will re-post once I get the letter to get more help thank you!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Dec 2025 ==

I suggest you read https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/please-read-before-posting-in-disputes-prosecutions.77759/

There are lots of outcomes documented here.

SWR is usually prepared to settle out of court if you engage with them. Which is not a “fine” although it might feel like one.

Posting what you’ve received would be helpful to enable us to tailor advice to your circumstance.

Sorry, I don’t know why I wanted to anonymous my location for some reason but it was south western

 

[Titfield]

Prosecutions arise from:
(1) Industrial scale fare evasion - though in the forums experience this means repeated fare evasion over many years.
(2) Failure to respond
(3) Responding with a couldn't careless attitude which suggests that the fare evasion will continue.
(4) Foul or abusive language either at the time of any stop or in correspondence
(5) Fraud in its legal meaning (very rarely seen)
(6) Forgery of rail tickets / railcards etc.
(7) Not telling the truth when responding to the letter. (They know that at the time of the stop that people are less than truthful and they tend to ignore this).

The goal of the rail companies is (1) to get the money owed (2) to stop the evasion.

If they can achieve this through an out of court settlement they are content.

 

[trismus]

Prosecutions arise from:
(1) Industrial scale fare evasion - though in the forums experience this means repeated fare evasion over many years.
(2) Failure to respond
(3) Responding with a couldn't careless attitude which suggests that the fare evasion will continue.
(4) Foul or abusive language either at the time of any stop or in correspondence
(5) Fraud in its legal meaning (very rarely seen)
(6) Forgery of rail tickets / railcards etc.
(7) Not telling the truth when responding to the letter. (They know that at the time of the stop that people are less than truthful and they tend to ignore this).

The goal of the rail companies is (1) to get the money owed (2) to stop the evasion.

If they can achieve this through an out of court settlement they are content.

Thank you this is very reassuring.

 

[planetv]

Thank you this is very reassuring.

Hello, please do share if you heard back from the rail operator?

 

[z444z]

Hello, please do share if you heard back from the rail operator?

If you have a similar problem please start your own thread, it’s too confusing otherwise. Btw these follow up messages very rarely result in an update.

 

[planetv]

Ah no problem. Sorry I am not familiar with how these forums work but thank you for letting me know.

 

[z444z]

Ah no problem. Sorry I am not familiar with how these forums work but thank you for letting me know.

That’s okay!

 

[trismus]

I haven’t a letter yet, but from reading the forums can take months!

 

[planetv]

I haven’t a letter yet, but from reading the forums can take months!

Thank you so much for responding. Please will you be able to share an update when you do receive the letter.

 

[trismus]

Yes of course, I’m sure I’ll be needing the advice from the expert responders here! Since this happened I’ve been following all the threads on here so i imagine as have the same feeling!

 

[planetv]

Thank you so much. Reallly appreciate it

 

[trismus]

Hi all, I have received the letter which I have attached. Main points is that on this occasion I was stopped I had the correct ticket from my start station but as I had purchased it when I arrived at Waterloo it was not valid, the revenue protection officer took a photo of my e-ticket (I understand now boarding without a valid ticket is an offence). They have not made any mention of my historic short faring that I had done in the previous few months mentioned in my original post above so I do want to be cautious about this as I understand they will likely look in to this further.

I have drafted a response so would really appreciate feedback, and also whether it is better to email or write to them to respond?
Dear Prosecutions team



Ref: ….



I am writing in response to the letter I received after I was stopped by revenue protection on X DATE



On this occasion I had boarded the train at X in a rush and had forgotten to buy a ticket, and purchased this at Waterloo. I understand that is an offence to board a train without a valid ticket, and I am extremely apologetic of this action and it was not my intention to commit this offence. Forgetting to do this is no excuse and I should have taken greater care in ensuring that I had a valid ticket. I understand the impact invalid tickets have on SWR and is incredibly unfair to commuters with valid tickets.



I am sincerely apologetic that I did this and do not intend to do this ever again - I have since ensured that I always buy my ticket in advance of boarding the train. I would be grateful if you would consider to settle this without legal proceedings and I will promptly pay the owed fare and administrative costs as set out by your team if given the opportunity to do so.



Kind regards

NAME..


.....
.

 

[z444z]

whether it is better to email or write to them to respond?

You can do whichever is more convenient for you. SWR are happy to correspond via email, unlike some other companies.

Your draft is good, but given that you have a history of short faring (and SWR do tend to look into this) I think it's best that you drop the story that this was a mistake, whether or not it's true, as it might cause SWR to have doubts as to how honest you're being. I've made a few little changes below, and highlighted some sections in bold for you to fill in with your own words. Once that's done please post it here so we can review it before you send it off.

Ref: ….

Dear Prosecutions team

I am writing in response to the letter I received after I was stopped by revenue protection on X DATE

On this occasion I had boarded the train at X and did not purchase a ticket until arriving at Waterloo. I now understand that I must hold a valid ticket before boarding a train, [APOLOGISE FOR NOT DOING SO]. I understand the impact this has on SWR and that it's incredibly unfair to other passengers. [SOMETHING ABOUT ENSURING THAT FUTURE JOURNEYS WILL BE FULLY COMPLIANT WITH THE RULES]

I would be grateful if you would consider settling this matter without legal proceedings. I will promptly pay the owed fare and administrative costs if given the opportunity to do so.

Kind regards

NAME..

 

[trismus]

You can do whichever is more convenient for you. SWR are happy to correspond via email, unlike some other companies.

Your draft is good, but given that you have a history of short faring (and SWR do tend to look into this) I think it's best that you drop the story that this was a mistake, whether or not it's true, as it might cause SWR to have doubts as to how honest you're being. I've made a few little changes below, and highlighted some sections in bold for you to fill in with your own words. Once that's done please post it here so we can review it before you send it off.

Thank you for your advice, I have amended my draft based on your recommendations and hope to email this off first thing tomorrow morning.


Dear Prosecutions team
Ref: ….

I am writing in response to the letter I received after I was stopped by revenue protection on X DATE

On this occasion I had boarded the train at X in a rush and did not purchase a ticket until arriving at Waterloo. I now understand that I must hold a valid ticket before boarding a train and I am extremely apologetic of this action. I should have taken greater care in ensuring that I had a valid ticket. I understand the impact invalid tickets have on SWR and is incredibly unfair to commuters with valid tickets.

I do not intend to do this ever again - I have since ensured that I always buy my ticket in advance of boarding the train.

I would be grateful if you would consider settling this matter without legal proceedings. I will promptly pay the owed fare and administrative costs if given the opportunity to do so.

Kind regards
Name..

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

Would be grateful for further review to let me know if this is okay to send off

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 19 Jan 2026 ==

I’ll go ahead and send that as it is then- thanks

 

[z444z]

Sorry for the delay, I have been meaning to get to this, please give me until later this evening to review

 

[trismus]

Sorry for the delay, I have been meaning to get to this, please give me until later this evening to review

Ok sure thanks so much

 

[z444z]

Again apologies for leaving you hanging for so long, yes that looks good

 

[trismus]

No thank you again for helping me out! I have emailed them and will keep the thread updated with their reply/ outcome.

 

[trismus]

Hi all I emailed them but still no response/ acknowledgement, is it worth me chasing up? I have checked it was sent to the correct email

 

[Trudy79]

Did you ever get a response

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Did you ever get a response

Hi @Trudy79 - welcome to the forum!

I know you are asking the original poster on this thread for their experience, but just as a heads-up: if you want more specific help about your position, we'll ask you to start your own thread. That's because it's much easier for us to keep things straight in our heads if we're only looking at one problem at a time.