Travelled with Altered Railcard

[la123]

hi,
today i was issued an incident report for an altered railcard. the inspector told me i could possibly be prosecuted for it.
my friend gave me her railcard to use and i put my picture on it.
has this happened to anyone before.
i’m so scared
any advice ??

 

[WesternLancer]

hi,
today i was issued an incident report for an altered railcard. the inspector told me i could possibly be prosecuted for it.
my friend gave me her railcard to use and i put my picture on it.
has this happened to anyone before.
i’m so scared
any advice ??

Yes. See the pinned post in this part of the forum for basic info on what you need to share if possible.

Suffice to say using a forged Railcard is a v serious matter because it’s obviously pre meditated evasion so you do need advice on how to handle this.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 21 Nov 2024 ==

hi,
today i was issued an incident report for an altered railcard. the inspector told me i could possibly be prosecuted for it.
my friend gave me her railcard to use and i put my picture on it.
has this happened to anyone before.
i’m so scared
any advice ??

So what will happen is that the Railway company will write to you saying they are investigating a report about this and considering prosecution at court(see examples on other threads) because this is a criminal offence, but they will ask you for 'your side of the story' - which is your opportunity basically to plead with them not to prosecute you - which enables you to avoid getting a criminal record - so that should be your objective.

They will also investigate your ticket buying and assume any tickets bought with a railcard discount are not valid because you have used a forged railcard.

You need to list out any trips for your own records where this may be the case so you know what to expect when they contact you.

So questions it would be helpful to know the answer to are:

a) which railway company stopped you and took your details - if you do not know please state where it happened or on a train from where to where

b) if you upload a copy of the paperwork your were given with your personal details / ref number blanked out that will help clarify things so people can give you advice on how to get the 'least worst' outcome from this (i.e. aim to avoid prosecution)

c) how many journeys have you taken using the forged Railcard? They will seek payment for all those at the most expensive Anytime Single fare for the journey concerned, usually with nothing allowed for the amount you have paid

As you probably now realise, this was a pretty foolish way to save the £35 cost of a railcard assuming you are entitled to have a Railcard.

One thing you can do ASAP now is (assuming you are entitled to one) is to buy a Railcard now - this is then something you can say to them that you have done to 'mend your ways' and it will help demonstrate your good intentions going forward - that will help support your request not to be prosecuted.

Finally I assume you gave them a correct postal address where they can contact you over the coming weeks and months - it's vital you get the letter they will send you and that you respond to it - which you will need to do promptly. You should also check e-mail and spam in case they contact you that way (they usually write however).

When you receive their communication you can get advice on here on how to respond to it.