SWR Repeated Fare Evasion — Advice Needed!

[VeryCold]

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some advice regarding a serious issue I’m currently facing with South Western Railway (SWR).

Back in April 2025, I was stopped by a revenue protection officer at London Waterloo. I had a ticket from Vauxhall to Waterloo, but I had actually travelled from London Road (Guildford). When questioned, I panicked and said I had come from Clandon instead — one station closer — which I now realise only made things worse.

The officer took my ID, scanned my ticket, asked some questions, and said that because I hadn’t done anything like this before apparently, I’d just receive a letter. That was it — no fine or penalty notice at the time.

However, yesterday I received an email from SWR saying they’re investigating not only that incident, but also 82 other journeys over the past 1.5 years that they believe may have involved deliberate fare evasion. Unfortunately, they’re right. I didn’t always buy the correct tickets for my full journeys.

They’ve attached a spreadsheet with the journeys in question and asked me to explain each one. There’s also 1 incident of the same kind that happened after I had already been stopped which is displayed in the table. I’ve been told to respond within 7 days.

I truly regret what I did and I’m terrified this could go to court.

Is it possible to settle this out of court? Any advice would be massively appreciated. I have attached the email below.

Thank you in advance.

 

[jfollows]

Welcome to the forum!

If you respond acknowledging your deliberate fare evasion, that you understand the potential implications, that you have learned your lesson and will not do it again, and would like to settle for payment of fares due plus their investigation costs, they will likely agree to settle.

They will want full single fares for each journey, with no credit for discounted fares purchased.

£17.70 per single journey.
82 return journeys would be about £2,900
Plus £150

Of that order.

If you go to court you’ll probably end up with a fine plus £2,900 costs awarded anyway, plus a criminal record.

If you want to know exact fares for different journeys, see https://www.brfares.com/!expert?orig=GLD&dest=1072&period=20250608 for example.

 

[notmyrealname]

Hi.

Are you able to go back over your records and see if that agrees with what SWR are saying? It sounds to me as if they're open to a conversation to hopefully avoid going to court, you just need to be honest with them. And start paying the right fare to show that you've learned a lesson from this.

 

[VeryCold]

Welcome to the forum!

If you respond acknowledging your deliberate fare evasion, that you understand the potential implications, that you have learned your lesson and will not do it again, and would like to settle for payment of fares due plus their investigation costs, they will likely agree to settle.

They will want full single fares for each journey, with no credit for discounted fares purchased.

£17.70 per single journey.
82 return journeys would be about £2,900
Plus £150

Of that order.

If you go to court you’ll probably end up with a fine plus £2,900 costs awarded anyway, plus a criminal record.

If you want to know exact fares for different journeys, see https://www.brfares.com/!expert?orig=GLD&dest=1072&period=20250608 for example.

I’m more than willing to settle, it’s just that I’m unsure whether they’ll agree even if I cooperate given the fact that I technically provided false information and repeated the violation once more

 

[jfollows]

I’m more than willing to settle, it’s just that I’m unsure whether they’ll agree even if I cooperate given the fact that I technically provided false information and repeated the violation once more

Look at similar cases on this forum; they’ll settle as long as you‘re apologetic and they believe you won’t do it again.

The false information is trivial, essentially they’re used to it. Lots of people don’t tell the truth in the heat of the moment when stopped. They will settle.

 

[VeryCold]

Look at similar cases on this forum; they’ll settle as long as you‘re apologetic and they believe you won’t do it again.

Thank you so much, this gives me some hope.
Another thing that might be worth mentioning is I’m not a UK citizen — do you think this will have an effect on my immigration status or make them treat the case differently?

 

[jfollows]

Thank you so much, this gives me some hope.
Another thing that might be worth mentioning is I’m not a UK citizen — do you think this will have an effect on my immigration status or make them treat the case differently?

I don’t think there is any reason why they would treat you differently, no. They probably have no reason to know, even.
I can’t advise on immigration status, firstly because I honestly don’t know and secondly because this forum will not do so as a matter of policy, it’s beyond our remit.

 

[AndroidBango]

Thank you so much, this gives me some hope.

You will have to be squeaky clean from now on - come to their attention again and persuading them to settle a second time will be very difficult.

 

[VeryCold]

Hi.

Are you able to go back over your records and see if that agrees with what SWR are saying? It sounds to me as if they're open to a conversation to hopefully avoid going to court, you just need to be honest with them. And start paying the right fare to show that you've learned a lesson from this.

I haven’t examined every single instance in detail yet as I’ve been trying to figure out how to approach everything, but the majority of what they’ve highlighted seems legit.
I did start buying the right tickets at the ticket machine as I usually get Travelcards, hopefully they’ll be able to see that on the system somehow

 

[AlterEgo]

I did start buying the right tickets at the ticket machine as I usually get Travelcards, hopefully they’ll be able to see that on the system somehow

They won't be able to see that.

 

[VeryCold]

They won't be able to see that.

Even if I paid with the same card that’s linked to my trainline account?

 

[jfollows]

Even if I paid with the same card that’s linked to my trainline account?

Almost certainly not. As in, they won’t be able to see that, no.
I prefer to buy tickets from ticket offices or, if forced to, ticket machines for this reason. Although not always. That said, all my purchases are legit, I just don’t like the idea of being tracked, and I do use this site’s purchase route also.

 

[soil]

Thank you so much, this gives me some hope.
Another thing that might be worth mentioning is I’m not a UK citizen — do you think this will have an effect on my immigration status or make them treat the case differently?

it's illegal to provide immigration advice to individuals except by regulated lawyers/advisers. you should do your own research or seek specialist advice.

 

[VeryCold]

Almost certainly not. As in, they won’t be able to see that, no.
I prefer to buy tickets from ticket offices or, if forced to, ticket machines for this reason. Although not always. That said, all my purchases are legit, I just don’t like the idea of being tracked, and I do use this site’s purchase route also.

I just checked my trainline purchase history on the app and apparently I repeated the same violation a few more times after they stopped me, however only 1 such instance is visible on the table they sent me. I honestly don’t know what I was thinking. Should I come clean about this if they haven’t asked about it initially, or is it better to consult a solicitor at this stage?

 

[jfollows]

I just checked my trainline purchase history on the app and apparently I repeated the same violation a few more times after they stopped me, however only 1 such instance is visible on the table they sent me. I honestly don’t know what I was thinking. Should I come clean about this if they haven’t asked about it initially, or is it better to consult a solicitor at this stage?

In general, if you are honest with them but offer to pay for unpaid fares due, you do not need a solicitor. Do you want to pay extra £100s or more? If you let them work out what they want from you, then you can decide whether or not to pay it, or contest it. In the latter case you may want to engage a solicitor. In the former probably not.

Ultimately it’s up to SWR to tell you how much they want from you to settle out of court, you don’t need to guess an amount. If you then pay up, that’s the end of it.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 1 Aug 2025 ==

it's illegal to provide immigration advice to individuals except by regulated lawyers/advisers. you should do your own research or seek specialist advice.

You may well be right, but honestly I don’t care whether or not it’s illegal. I break the law all the time. But I know this forum won’t provide this kind of advice and that’s more of a reason for me not to. The rules of our moderators matter to me more than the law!

 

[VeryCold]

You may well be right, but honestly I don’t care whether or not it’s illegal. I break the law all the time. But I know this forum won’t provide this kind of advice and that’s more of a reason for me not to. The rules of our moderators matter to me more than the law!

This honestly made my day, thank you

I know this is a lot to ask and you helped so much already, but could you please proofread my draft letter and tell me whether it sounds ok?

Dear X,


I am writing in response to your email regarding my rail travel and the review of my ticket history.


I would like to sincerely apologise for travelling without valid tickets on multiple occasions. These actions began before I graduated in July 2024 and continued afterwards, during a time of financial stress and uncertainty. I made a series of poor decisions under pressure — choices I now fully regret and take full responsibility for.


When I was stopped on April 8th, I incorrectly stated that I had boarded at Clandon, when I had actually boarded at London Road (Guildford), one station earlier. I was extremely nervous and misunderstood what was being asked. While it was not an intentional attempt to mislead, I now realise how serious and inappropriate that response was. I deeply regret not giving the correct information at the time and take full responsibility for both my actions and my words.


As an international student, I wasn’t fully aware of the legal consequences of fare evasion in the UK and wrongly assumed it was a minor issue. I now fully understand the gravity of my actions and their implications.


Since then, I’ve taken full responsibility and reflected seriously on my behaviour. This has been a difficult but important lesson, and I am committed to ensuring it never happens again.


I have completed the spreadsheet honestly and to the best of my knowledge. I would be very grateful for the opportunity to resolve this matter out of court. I am willing to pay all outstanding fares along with any reasonable administrative costs incurred, and I am prepared to do so promptly. I sincerely hope that, given my full cooperation and genuine remorse, this matter can be brought to a close without further action.


Yours faithfully,


X

 

[notmyrealname]

Hi.

Someone else will comment on the content of your letter but I would just say that if 'Dear X' is to a person whose name you have, then you finish with Yours sincerely. Otherwise it's Dear Sir or Madam and Yours faithfully.

 

[VeryCold]

Hi.

Someone else will comment on the content of your letter but I would just say that if 'Dear X' is to a person whose name you have, then you finish with Yours sincerely. Otherwise it's Dear Sir or Madam and Yours faithfully.

Fixed it, thank you!

 

[jfollows]

The only thing I would change is to remove the word “reasonable” from your offer to pay costs.
Simply because you don’t have a say in the matter, they can ask for what they like, whether or not you believe it to be reasonable is irrelevant, your choice is to pay what they want or go to court.
But it’s a nit, otherwise your letter seems fine to me.

 

[furlong]

The word reasonable is quite correct. (Any unreasonable behaviour can ultimately be taken up with the DfT.)

 

[flythetube]

The word reasonable is quite correct. (Any unreasonable behaviour can ultimately be taken up with the DfT.)

Ah London Road Guildford, a well known fare dodge location, hence reguiar revenue blocks there !!

Most people start their journey there to avoid the gates at Guildford.

Would you normally have boarded at Guildford or London Road Guildford?

Was the purpose of boarding at London Road to avoid checks at Guildford and then just you had a short fare Vauxhall to Waterloo ticket purely to open the gates to exit?

Thus you had intent to avoid any fare at all if you could have apart from the Vauxhall to Waterloo ticket.

A journey which would normally be undertaken by Oyster / Contactless and highly unusual to be by paper / e-ticket.

 

[John R]

Ah London Road Guildford, a well known fare dodge location, hence reguiar revenue blocks there !!

Most people start their journey there to avoid the gates at Guildford.

Would you normally have boarded at Guildford or London Road Guildford?

Was the purpose of boarding at London Road to avoid checks at Guildford and then just you had a short fare Vauxhall to Waterloo ticket purely to open the gates to exit?

Thus you had intent to avoid any fare at all if you could have apart from the Vauxhall to Waterloo ticket.

A journey which would normally be undertaken by Oyster / Contactless and highly unusual to be by paper / e-ticket.

I’m not sure what this adds. The OP has admitted what they have been doing from the outset.

As for whether “reasonable” is worth including, I would not, for the simple reason that I don’t think it helps the tone of the response, as it is imposing a condition on SWR and implies they might not be. Which might be seen as a bit rich given why the correspondence is happening.

Finally, to the OP, you did this a few times after you were stopped, but only one is included in the letter, so it may well be that they requested the info before those occurrences. It is up to you whether or not to come clean, to avoid any subsequent correspondence about them. The general view here tends to be that they could not prosecute you for those, as they did not stop you, but they could file a civil claim, and you might just feel that you want to cover everything now to eliminate that possibility.

 

[Snow1964]

Finally, to the OP, you did this a few times after you were stopped, but only one is included in the letter, so it may well be that they requested the info before those occurrences. It is up to you whether or not to come clean, to avoid any subsequent correspondence about them. The general view here tends to be that they could not prosecute you for those, as they did not stop you, but they could file a civil claim, and you might just feel that you want to cover everything now to eliminate that possibility.

Yes need to think very carefully about the timeline.

It doesn't make logical sense if you reply that you now understand the gravity of the situation, but you continued to do it after their letter. It would look hollow.

Possibly you have some interim repeats (between being caught and the letter). Your letter is good and in sections, but it could be interpreted two ways, did you learn lesson after being caught (presumably not if you repeated the fare evasion), or only when letter came.

You mention doing it again, was that before or after their letter, if after (and you were reading it from their side) would you actually believe it. There is a general view you don't need to incriminate yourself with further occasions. But need to bear in mind that you are now on their system, and if you are ever caught again expect much tougher treatment.

 

[VeryCold]

You mention doing it again, was that before or after their letter, if after (and you were reading it from their side) would you actually believe it. There is a general view you don't need to incriminate yourself with further occasions. But need to bear in mind that you are now on their system, and if you are ever caught again expect much tougher treatment.

Thanks for the reply!
I didn’t receive any physical letters, and I definitely stopped before getting the email — the last instance was at the beginning of June.
Do you think it’s likely that they’ll further check my history post-incident? I’m just wondering why they haven’t done it already

 

[soil]

Ah London Road Guildford, a well known fare dodge location, hence reguiar revenue blocks there !!

Most people start their journey there to avoid the gates at Guildford.

It's a long, hilly walk from Guildford. While direct Guildford trains are much faster, if one lives near London Road, doesn't like walking, etc., then one would travel from there.

 

[Snow1964]

Do you think it’s likely that they’ll further check my history post-incident? I’m just wondering why they haven’t done it already

Know one really knows,

If you accept a big payment as alternative to possible court then might just use number they already have, but can't rule out them updating it.

If they go to court then likely to prepare a proper final schedule which is more likely to be reviewed

 

[reece23]

Hi,

I hope you are well! What was the outcome in this situation?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Hi,

I hope you are well! What was the outcome in this situation?

@reece23.Welcome to the forum. If you do need specific advice for some similar issue of your own, please create your own thread. And kindly note the following (below) when doing so...

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...

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[jfollows]

You can also see that the original poster has not been back since 4 August. They got what they wanted and didn’t need any more from the forum. We’re accustomed to that. It’d always be nice to know the final outcome, but most people don’t bother to tell us.