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Hi, I received an intent to procecute letter from GTR today in regards to an incident in october where I used a 16-17 rail card on train line for a journey to city thameslink from london bridge. I admitted there and then I didnt have the rail card as I am 18 and the officer wrote me up for it.
then in december i was caught shorting fare from london bridge to city thameslink instead of elmer's end to city thameslink by another officer who wrote me up.
- my main issue is the journey where I had the wrong rail card was also a journey I shorted fare on. I know this was wrong and I am deeply ashamed in hindsight, my friends told me this is how they save money on rail travel to uni so I gave it a try - they were all doing it as we couldn’t get 18+ oyster cards as tfl website wasn’t working so we couldn’t afford to go to uni. I have checked my trainline history and from october to december there were 22 days where i shorted fares which is about 220/230 pounds if I had paid full price.
- Should I mention the recent incident in this letter or just focus on the rail card.
- would it be worth mentioning why I was shorting fares or that I am on the spectrum?
Thanks in advance for any constructive advice given, I am aware of the severity of my actions and just want to know what I can do to ensure they consider out of court settlements
You're in a spot of bother here having been caught twice. The good news is you're dealing with GTR, who generally offer an out of court settlement if you co-operate with them. If it was TfL then you almost certainly be looking at a prosecution.
At this stage they are only asking you about the incident on 30th october and normally I would recommend only referring to that single incident in your reply. Given that you have been stopped a second time, and to save everyone time in dealing with the inevitable I suggest 'fessing up' to what you've done. I suggest a short, concise reply that mentions:
- That you are sorry for what has happened
- What you have learned from the incident
- That you are keen to settle the matter without the need for court action
- Offer to pay the outstanding fare and GTR's administrative costs in dealing with the matter
- I would mention that you were stopped again, ideally mention the reference number from any paperwork you were given so they can link the cases
- Say that you've researched your ticket purchasing details and believe you have bought the incorrect fare on XX occasions
I don't think there's anything wrong in mentioning the issue with your Oyster card as mitigation, but be careful not to let your reply read as a sob-story. As for being on the spectrum I would only mention it if you can show that impaired your judgement when it came to purchasing the correct ticket for you journey.
GTR normally offer an out of court settlement to people who co-operate with them, and who haven't come to their attention before. Expect to have to pay the cost of the fare avoided at the full Anytime rate with no credit given for the invalid tickets you did purchase. You will also need to pay an admin fee, typically £150 although GTR have been known to charge a lower admin fee to young people before.
If you post a draft reply in this thread forum members will be happy to proof read it for you.
Apologies - have you had anything on paper/e-mail about the second incident, then?
It's probably too soon for the letter, but you should have been given something on the day.
You're in a spot of bother here having been caught twice. The good news is you're dealing with GTR, who generally offer an out of court settlement if you co-operate with them. If it was TfL then you almost certainly be looking at a prosecution.
At this stage they are only asking you about the incident on 30th october and normally I would recommend only referring to that single incident in your reply. Given that you have been stopped a second time, and to save everyone time in dealing with the inevitable I suggest 'fessing up' to what you've done. I suggest a short, concise reply that mentions:
- That you are sorry for what has happened
- What you have learned from the incident
- That you are keen to settle the matter without the need for court action
- Offer to pay the outstanding fare and GTR's administrative costs in dealing with the matter
- I would mention that you were stopped again, ideally mention the reference number from any paperwork you were given so they can link the cases
- Say that you've researched your ticket purchasing details and believe you have bought the incorrect fare on XX occasions
I don't think there's anything wrong in mentioning the issue with your Oyster card as mitigation, but be careful not to let your reply read as a sob-story. As for being on the spectrum I would only mention it if you can show that impaired your judgement when it came to purchasing the correct ticket for you journey.
GTR normally offer an out of court settlement to people who co-operate with them, and who haven't come to their attention before. Expect to have to pay the cost of the fare avoided at the full Anytime rate with no credit given for the invalid tickets you did purchase. You will also need to pay an admin fee, typically £150 although GTR have been known to charge a lower admin fee to young people before.
If you post a draft reply in this thread forum members will be happy to proof read it for you.
Apologies - have you had anything on paper/e-mail about the second incident, then?
It's probably too soon for the letter, but you should have been given something on the day.
You're in a spot of bother here having been caught twice. The good news is you're dealing with GTR, who generally offer an out of court settlement if you co-operate with them. If it was TfL then you almost certainly be looking at a prosecution.
At this stage they are only asking you about the incident on 30th october and normally I would recommend only referring to that single incident in your reply. Given that you have been stopped a second time, and to save everyone time in dealing with the inevitable I suggest 'fessing up' to what you've done. I suggest a short, concise reply that mentions:
- That you are sorry for what has happened
- What you have learned from the incident
- That you are keen to settle the matter without the need for court action
- Offer to pay the outstanding fare and GTR's administrative costs in dealing with the matter
- I would mention that you were stopped again, ideally mention the reference number from any paperwork you were given so they can link the cases
- Say that you've researched your ticket purchasing details and believe you have bought the incorrect fare on XX occasions
I don't think there's anything wrong in mentioning the issue with your Oyster card as mitigation, but be careful not to let your reply read as a sob-story. As for being on the spectrum I would only mention it if you can show that impaired your judgement when it came to purchasing the correct ticket for you journey.
GTR normally offer an out of court settlement to people who co-operate with them, and who haven't come to their attention before. Expect to have to pay the cost of the fare avoided at the full Anytime rate with no credit given for the invalid tickets you did purchase. You will also need to pay an admin fee, typically £150 although GTR have been known to charge a lower admin fee to young people before.
If you post a draft reply in this thread forum members will be happy to proof read it for you.
I have attached my draft - would be grateful for feedback
Dear Fare Evasion Manager,
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to respond to your letter dated 20th January 2025.
I was stopped by a Revenue Protection Inspector at City Thameslink Station on 30th October 2024 and was unable to provide a valid rail card ticket entitling travel for my journey.
In order to fully comply with your investigation I would like to notify you of the second time I was stopped, the case reference is XXXX.
I am extremely remorseful that on both these occasions I was unable to provide the right fare for my journey, I understand now the severity of fare evasion and the impact it has on the services railways provide for your customers.
I would like to express my determination to never repeat this behaviour again and I have since taken measure to ensure this.
I would be grateful if you would consider settling this matter outside of court and I would like to pay for any loss of revenue and administrative costs.
You told us that you have short fared on several occasion as well. Are you going to tell them about that as well, it won't be hard for them to find out.
You told us that you have short fared on several occasion as well. Are you going to tell them about that as well, it won't be hard for them to find out.
I was stopped at City Thameslink with a ticket between London Bridge and City Thameslink to which I had applied a railcard discount that I wasn't entitled to use. In addition my full journey was from Elmers End to City Thameslink so I didn't have a valid ticket for my whole journey. I also regret to inform you that I was subsequently stopped and questioned by one of your inspectors for similar reasons on xx xxxx, your reference xxxxx
I have subsequently checked my ticket purchasing history and believe I have failed to pay the correct fare xx times between xxxx and yyyy. I am very sorry for my error of judgement, the impact it has on the railway and other fare paying passengers. While it is not an excuse for my actions, I purchased invalid tickets to travel to university, the recent TfL cyber-attack meant I was unable to apply for a 18+ Zip Oyster card.
I wondered if it would be possible to settle thsi matter without going to court. I am willing to pay the cost of the outstanding fares and your administrative costs in dealing with this matter.
