Travel Irregularity Report

[Asmi86]

Hello Everyone!!
I received a letter from the South Western Railway prosecution department on 15th Aug 2026, four months after an officer reported the incident and issued a travel irregularity report while I was travelling from Waterloo station to Poole. Actually, my brother purchased an online ticket and the discounted fare was selected, which was linked to a specific railcard, and I realised that it was not valid for me. I have never been in this situation before, and it was my first time travelling long distance via train as I usually commute by bus, and I did not possess a railcard before this incident. When the officer requested to provide the railcard, I was not able to fulfil his request and i panicked in that moment. I have fewer days tor espond to this letter. I am more than happy to pay fine and settle this matter outside of the court and avoid prosecution. i have attached the letter in this post. Any help, advice and suggestions will be much appreciated.

 

[AlterEgo]

Which railcard was selected? Was it one which you would otherwise qualify for but haven't bought?

 

[Asmi86]

It was 26-30 railcard.

 

[John R]

Does your brother have a 26-30 Railcard?
You may get asked to explain any other purchases with a railcard that he has made on the account, as they will initially suspect you have been using those tickets too.

 

[Asmi86]

He does have a 26-30 railcard. He didn't had any purchases for me except the one he got for me that day. I only travel once by the train from London to Poole with the ticket he bought online for me.

 

[WesternLancer]

Hello Everyone!!
I received a letter from the South Western Railway prosecution department on 15th Aug 2026, four months after an officer reported the incident and issued a travel irregularity report while I was travelling from Waterloo station to Poole. Actually, my brother purchased an online ticket and the discounted fare was selected, which was linked to a specific railcard, and I realised that it was not valid for me. I have never been in this situation before, and it was my first time travelling long distance via train as I usually commute by bus, and I did not possess a railcard before this incident. When the officer requested to provide the railcard, I was not able to fulfil his request and i panicked in that moment. I have fewer days tor espond to this letter. I am more than happy to pay fine and settle this matter outside of the court and avoid prosecution. i have attached the letter in this post. Any help, advice and suggestions will be much appreciated.

In general terms you need to reply to this seeking to persuade them not to take legal action against you for travelling without a valid ticket

This is the general sort of thing you need to cover in your reply at this stage:

If you draft a reply forum members will proof read it for you to check it before you send it. 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

- if it is true (definitely under no circumstances lie to them as that could unravel badly) that this only happened on the one occasion when your brother bought the ticket for you then you need to explain that in your reply

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.

 

[Asmi86]

This is the response draft I prepared for the letter that I received seeking an explanation. I would really appreciate it if somebody could proofread the reply that I drafted before I send it to the concerned department. Thank you in advance.

Response to the letter draft​

Dear Prosecutions Department,

I am writing in response to your letter dated 4 August 2026 regarding the incident that occurred during my journey on 3 April 2026.

I sincerely apologise for travelling with an invalid discounted ticket. I was travelling from Waterloo to Poole on South Western Railway using a ticket purchased online by my brother. When purchasing the ticket, he unintentionally selected a discounted fare linked to his 26–30 Railcard and then forwarded the ticket to me. At the time, I did not realise that the discount was specific to his Railcard and was therefore not valid for my journey. When the officer questioned me, I stated that I did not have a railcard with me.

I fully accept that it was my responsibility as the passenger to check the ticket and ensure that I was travelling with a valid fare. I acknowledge that I should have checked the ticket conditions carefully before travelling, regardless of who purchased the ticket, and I accept full responsibility for this oversight.

I genuinely regret my mistake and am sincerely sorry for the situation it has caused. I had no intention of avoiding the correct fare or travelling improperly. Nevertheless, I recognise that I should have taken greater care to verify the ticket before travelling, and I sincerely regret that I failed to do so.

I have taken this matter seriously and have learned from the experience. In future, I will personally check the fare, ticket conditions and any applicable restrictions before travelling. This was an isolated mistake, and I assure you that I will not make the same mistake again.

I respectfully ask South Western Railway to take my circumstances, sincere apology and genuine remorse into consideration and, if possible, exercise discretion in resolving this matter without prosecution. I am fully willing to pay the outstanding fare together with any reasonable administrative costs incurred by South Western Railway. I genuinely wish to take responsibility for my mistake, put the matter right and resolve it promptly.

Once again, I sincerely apologise for my mistake. I understand the importance of travelling with a valid ticket and deeply regret that I failed to check the ticket conditions properly on this occasion. I respectfully ask for the opportunity to settle this matter without further legal proceedings.

Thank you for taking the time to consider my explanation and for considering my request.

Yours faithfully,

 

[antharro]

Only two comments;

1, drop out the word "reasonable" in "reasonable administrative costs". You're not in a position where you can determine whether their costs are reasonable or not; you either pay what they ask or it goes to court.

2, The penultimate paragraph ("Once again...") is repetition and not needed. Cut it.

Apart from that, it's a bit wordy, but everyone has their own writing style so I wouldn't worry too much. Hang around a bit before sending it though as I'm sure others will post their feedback.

 

[WesternLancer]

2, The penultimate paragraph ("Once again...") is repetition and not needed. Cut it.

actually I don't agree with that

my reason being when I did a job that involved dealing with large numbers of letters / messages from the public you often don't really have time to do more than skim over the bulk of the content (even tho that needs to be there just in case the reader does need to study it carefully) - but you do 2 things as the reader
- look at the start of the letter to find out 'what is this about'
- look at the very end to find out 'what does this person want me to do'

so IMHO that penultimate para is one of the most important bits of the letter so no harm in leaving it! It's telling the reader what the OP wants to do - ie apologize and get and out of court settlement. There is no harm in saying that twice.

My other amend to suggest to @Asmi86 is to include their ref number right at the top for clarity (that makes it easy for the reader too)

eg:

--------------------------
Dear Prosecutions Department,

Your Ref: xxxx

I am writing in response to your letter dated 4 August 2026 regarding the incident that occurred during my journey on 3 April 2026.

I sincerely....

-------------------------------


Issue the OP is going to have is SWR believing that all the other railcard discounted travel was undertaken by their brother. But at this stage that explanation has been given (it's very important that this is true), and if SWR then ask about it that has to dealt with when they do (perhaps with something like a signed letter from the brother stating it to be the case for example - but that is not being asked for now so that should not be included at this stage)

 

[30907]

Issue the OP is going to have is SWR believing that all the other railcard discounted travel was undertaken by their brother.

Will they investigate the brother's travel history at all? Have they valid grounds for doing so?

 

[WesternLancer]

Will they investigate the brother's travel history at all? Have they valid grounds for doing so?

hard to know - I don't think they would start to do that separately - but they will probably look at the account the ticket was bought on (AIUI or assume - the brother's ticket buying account) and see lots of Railcard reduced ticket purchases going back in time because the OP says their brother has a Railcard.
SWR then might assume the OP has been using these tickets like they were dong on the occasion they were caught, and ask about it.

If this happens then the OP can come back here for advice - but I'd cross that bridge if it gets to that. It might not happen.

 

[Asmi86]

Hello everyone, I have made a few changes and corrections to the draft after taking the suggestions and would be very grateful if you could check it once and give me your feedback before i send it.

Dear Prosecutions Department,

Ref: xxxxxxxxxx

I am writing in response to your letter dated 4 August 2026 regarding the incident during my journey from Waterloo to Poole on 3 April 2026.

I would like to sincerely apologise for travelling with an invalid discounted ticket. The ticket was purchased online by my brother, who unintentionally selected a discounted fare linked to his 26–30 Railcard and forwarded the ticket to me. At the time, I did not realise that the discount was specific to his Railcard and was therefore not valid for me. When questioned by the officer, I stated that I did not have a Railcard.

I fully accept responsibility for not checking the ticket conditions carefully before travelling. I understand that it was my responsibility as the passenger to ensure that I held a valid ticket, regardless of who purchased it. I genuinely regret this oversight and am very sorry for what has happened. Although I had no intention of avoiding the correct fare, I recognise that I should have taken greater care and checked the ticket before travelling.

I have taken this matter very seriously and have learned an important lesson from the experience. Since the incident, I have purchased my own Railcard and will personally check the terms and validity of my tickets before travelling in the future. I sincerely assure you that I will take greater care and will not make the same mistake again.

I would be very grateful if South Western Railway would kindly take into consideration my circumstances, sincere apology, and acceptance of responsibility, and allow me the opportunity to resolve this matter without prosecution or further legal proceedings. I am fully willing to pay the outstanding fare together with South Western Railway’s administrative costs incurred in dealing with this matter. I genuinely wish to take responsibility for my mistake, put the matter right and resolve it promptly.

Thank you very much for taking the time to consider my explanation and request. I sincerely apologise again for my mistake and respectfully hope that you will allow me the opportunity to settle this matter without further legal proceedings.

Yours faithfully,

xxxxx

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Hello everyone, I have made a few changes and corrections to the draft after taking the suggestions and would be very grateful if you could check it once and give me your feedback before i send it.

Dear Prosecutions Department,

Ref: xxxxxxxxxx

I am writing in response to your letter dated 4 August 2026 regarding the incident during my journey from Waterloo to Poole on 3 April 2026.

I would like to sincerely apologise for travelling with an invalid discounted ticket. The ticket was purchased online by my brother, who unintentionally selected a discounted fare linked to his 26–30 Railcard and forwarded the ticket to me. At the time, I did not realise that the discount was specific to his Railcard and was therefore not valid for me. When questioned by the officer, I stated that I did not have a Railcard.

I fully accept responsibility for not checking the ticket conditions carefully before travelling. I understand that it was my responsibility as the passenger to ensure that I held a valid ticket, regardless of who purchased it. I genuinely regret this oversight and am very sorry for what has happened. Although I had no intention of avoiding the correct fare, I recognise that I should have taken greater care and checked the ticket before travelling.

I have taken this matter very seriously and have learned an important lesson from the experience. Since the incident, I have purchased my own Railcard and will personally check the terms and validity of my tickets before travelling in the future. I sincerely assure you that I will take greater care and will not make the same mistake again.

I would be very grateful if South Western Railway would kindly take into consideration my circumstances, sincere apology, and acceptance of responsibility, and allow me the opportunity to resolve this matter without prosecution or further legal proceedings. I am fully willing to pay the outstanding fare together with South Western Railway’s administrative costs incurred in dealing with this matter. I genuinely wish to take responsibility for my mistake, put the matter right and resolve it promptly.

Thank you very much for taking the time to consider my explanation and request. I sincerely apologise again for my mistake and respectfully hope that you will allow me the opportunity to settle this matter without further legal proceedings.

Yours faithfully,

xxxxx

I think that's good to go. Get it off, and see what the railway come back with.

 

[WesternLancer]

I think that's good to go. Get it off, and see what the railway come back with.

agree with that.

OP - keep us posted on how you get on or if you need more advice

 

[Asmi86]

Thank you everyone. I will keep on updating. And, Do I have to send it through post or just email them

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you everyone. I will keep on updating. And, Do I have to send it through post or just email them

it says in their letter you can e-mail them so that should be ok

If you did post it instead (or as well) then post it tracked postage so you can prove it was delivered if you needed to

Keep a copy of everything you send them / every page. Keep that safe along with everything hey have sent you. You will need to keep that long term - over a year.

 

[Asmi86]

Hello everyone!! Hope everyone is doing well.
The railways department sent me a letter 2 days ago after I sent them an email explaining my part about the ticket irregularity report incident. I have attached the letter here in this post. Does this mean I have to pay fine and this issue will be solved as per the letter.

 

[John R]

Yes, pay the amount requested (technically not a fine, but it feels like one), and the matter is resolved once and for all, without a prosecution.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

@Asmi86. It's not a fine, as @John R has just pointed out, but paying the £197.40 amount requested (= £77.40 unpaid fare plus a £120.00 administration fee) within the stipulated 21 days timeframe should be then be the end of the matter.