SWR Investigation letter - Please help!

[observer_101]

Hi all

I have received a letter from SWR after its Travel Irregularity Report after an incident in April. The letter says "Did travel on a Railway without having previously paid the fare with intent to avoid payment thereof."

The context is here that I found a discounted oyster card at start of my journey at Zone 6 station which had its barriers open (London), I tried to use it (being stupid and dumb) at Waterloo and it didn't work as the Oyster had long expired. I admitted my mistake.

Could I get some advice please? I particularly concerned about the "avoid payment thereof" part of the allegation and need some help in drafting a response to avoid prosecution.

Many thanks,

 

[AlterEgo]

What sort of discounted Oyster card was it?

 

[SECR 65]

Would you be able to upload the letter with personal details redacted?

 

[observer_101]

I don’t remember the exact Oyster card… I think it was a 16-18 Zip one maybe? It was long expired when they checked in Waterloo anyway!

Letter as below!

 

[spotify95]

Thankfully you were stopped by South Western Railways rather than TfL instead, because if it was the latter, they would not take such a view of the matter.

SWR have sent you their standard letter. They will want to make sure that you don't do anything like this again...so if you apologize to them and ask nicely if they will settle the matter, then you'll probably be offered a settlement (at the full Anytime rates applicable to your journey, plus an admin charge). There's plenty of advice on these forums about what your reply should include - basically be apologetic and show remorse.

General advice on these sorts of matters is as follows:

Firstly, you committed a criminal offence by travelling with an invalid ticket and railway companies are entitled to prosecute you in the Magistrates Court if they want to. The good news is they will normally offer an out of court settlement to people who co-operate with them and who haven't come to their attention before.

Next, what happens is the railway company will write to you. The letter will go to the address that you gave them / on any of your ID they checked so you need to be able to access hard copy post at that address as they often send things that way (but also check e-mail and spam). It is extremely important that you reply, and you'll only have a limited time to do so (often 14 days from the date on their communication).

When you receive the letter post a redacted copy of it in this thread, along with your draft reply and forum members will proof read it for you. You'll find lots of example letters you can use in this section of the forum but the reply basically needs to mention:

- That you are sorry for what has happened
- What you have learned from the incident and will not do this again
- That you are keen to settle the matter without the need for court action
- Offer to pay the outstanding fare and the railway company’s administrative costs in dealing with the matter

The railway will probably offer you an out of court settlement. Expect to have to pay the cost of the fare for the journey you made at the full Anytime rate with no credit given for the invalid ticket you purchased. In addition they will charge an admin fee, typically £150. They will also audit your online ticket purchase history and if this shows you've purchased other tickets that were not valid (eg railcard discounted tickets when you did not have a valid railcard, or tickets for only part of the journey, or tickets bought after boarding the train you travelled on ) they will probably factor the cost of these journeys into the settlement offer. Depending on how many journeys you've made over the period concerned this could end up being expensive.

Settlements usually have to be paid in full within a few days of them being offered so if money is tight you might want to think about how you will raise the sum required at short notice.

 

[observer_101]

Thanks, would this draft (used AI to help me write) be okay to send to SWR? I’m getting quite anxious about it!

Dear Prosecutions Team,

I am writing in response to your letter regarding the incident on 29 April 2026.

Firstly, I would like to sincerely apologise for travelling without having a valid ticket. I understand that passengers are responsible for ensuring they have the correct ticket before travelling and I regret that this did not happen on this occasion.

I would also like to explain that English is not my first language and I have difficulties with reading and written communication due to dyslexia. While I understand that these circumstances do not excuse my mistake, they can sometimes make it difficult for me to understand ticketing requirements and information when travelling.

I deeply regret the incident and any inconvenience caused to South Western Railway. This was not an attempt to cause loss or inconvenience and I am very sorry for the situation that has arisen.

I respectfully ask whether this matter may be resolved without court proceedings. I am willing to pay the outstanding fare together with any reasonable administrative costs incurred by South Western Railway in dealing with this matter.

I assure you that I have learned from this experience and will take greater care in future to ensure I have the correct ticket before travelling.

Thank you for taking the time to consider my explanation. I would be very grateful if you could take these circumstances into account when deciding how to proceed.

 

[SECR 65]

Thanks, would this draft (used AI to help me write) be okay to send to SWR? I’m getting quite anxious about it!

Generally looks good.

Only things I would say is it's slightly awkward the use of 'inconvenience' twice in paragraph 3. Maybe in the first occurrence it could be substituted with 'deprivation'? [Admittedly, it took me a couple of minutes searching for synonyms and that's the best I came up with.]

Possibly also remove 'reasonable' in the 6th paragraph?

Other members may have other suggestions.

 

[AlterEgo]

You can't claim your dyslexia or the fact you have English as a second language made you pick up a discounted Oyster card that wasn't yours and you thought it was within the rules. A 16-18 Zip card has a child's name and face on it. You know you can't use it. Don't waste their time like this.

 

[John R]

You can't claim your dyslexia or the fact you have English as a decond language made you pick up a discounted Oyster card that wasn't yours and you thought it was within the rules. A 16-18 Zip card has a child's name and face on it. You know you can't use it. Don't waste their time like this.

I agree with this point.

I would also suggest that the wording

and will take greater care in future to ensure I have the correct ticket before travelling

implies that you were careless, were unaware that you needed a ticket before boarding, or just didn't understand the ticketing system. Whereas, bluntly, you knew very well you were trying to travel without paying. So I don't think it's appropriate.