West midlands Railways possible prosecution

[valhehe]

Hello, I need help please.

Yesterday I bumped into a prosecutor officer that were doing checks on the gate in birmingham new street. I had committed the offence of short fare and child ticket. My details have been taken and I was cooperating although i was so anxious I also phoned to make sure they have my email and so.

The issue is I have bought tickets to have a shorter fare , five ways to birmingham new street and used my up to date railcard as well in these past month. My original trips were from birmingham to longbridge and then back to birmingham , It was 2 trips per day, which comes to 13 committed them being a total of 6.5 days of short fares using my railcard as well before then I paid full price I was just genuinely struggling with money and end up falling for the temptation of saving money.

is it also an offence to use the railcard when im short faring in purpose? I didn’t have enough money so I saved like a £2 max on my trips , should I admit to it when i get the letter? they dont know yet about my trainline history, do I mention i used my railcard when short faring? sometimes i didn’t get any discounts sometimes i did

also in the middle of those constant short fares I paid full price like for 2 days because I borrowed money from my mom

My letter contains the following

My apology, my acknowledgement and taking full responsibility for what i did

what i learned from it and that I was going to make sure i travel responsibly and that I pay for the full fare and correct ticket

and asked to settle this out of court and that i was going to be fully cooperative and that I was willing to pay all the fees and fares to settle to make sure it is smooth for management. I also said I was going to continue to use the service as a loyal costumer and that I was going yo be honest and pay the right fare.

is there any advice please?

 

[Bungle158]

For now, try to relax and perhaps get some sleep. You will get expert advice as soon as they come to your query. Have a read through the notes on this section's index page and try to be ready with as much info as possible. There are issues to be faced here, but nothing life changing will happen. For now, hold off with any communication with the rail company. Wait for advice, the experts will respond quickly.

 

[Hadders]

Welcome to the forum!

Rail fare evasion is a serious matter and the train compnay is entitled to prosecute you in the Magistrates Court if they want to. It really doesn't matter if you used a railcard with short distance tickets, it's all an offence and ultimately will make little difference to the outcome. West Midlands Trains will normally offer an out of court settlement to people to co-operate with their investigation and who haven't come to their attention before.

What happens next is they will write to you in the next few weeks saying they are considering prosecuting you but asking for your version of events before they decide how to proceed. When the letter arrives post a redacted copy of the letter in this thread along with your draft reply and forum members will be happy to proof read it for you. It is important that WMT have the correct contact details for you - they will probably send a letter rather than an email so it is important that you gave them your correct address wherer you can receive physical post. You also mention contacting them to give them an email address, who did you call? If it was customer services it's unlikely they will be able to assist.

If you are offered a settlement expect to have to pay the cost of the journey at the full Anytime rate with no credit given for the invalid tickets you did purchase. You will also have to pay an admin fee, typically £175. They will also check your online ticket purchasing hsitory and if this shows you've short fared on other occasions they will factor the cost of these journeys into the settlement fee.

 

[valhehe]

yes I called prosecutions officer team to put my email on file , is that okay? im not going to be in the UK for a bit until september, what do i do then?

 

[Snow1964]

yes I called prosecutions officer team to put my email on file , is that okay? im not going to be in the UK for a bit until september, what do i do then?

If they are contacting you by email then presumably you can access it wherever you are, even if only every couple of days.

It you gave them a UK physical address, then make sure you get the mail somehow, if it is a family home, tell someone to open it and scan it to you, similarly of a trusted person can forward it.

Probably got 14-21 days (from sending date) to reply, but obviously mail forwarding, and Royal mail are not 100% reliable, and letters taking over a week to arrive are not unheard of, so will probably need to reply within few days, but feel free to upload the letter (with, dates, addresses, references redacted) for further advice.

 

[valhehe]

If they are contacting you by email then presumably you can access it wherever you are, even if only every couple of days.

It you gave them a UK physical address, then make sure you get the mail somehow

but when they send letters how do you respond back?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 21 May 2025 ==

does the prosecutor team send the letter to everyone when its done by west midlands train?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 21 May 2025 ==

Welcome to the forum!

Rail fare evasion is a serious matter and the train compnay is entitled to prosecute you in the Magistrates Court if they want to. It really doesn't matter if you used a railcard with short distance tickets, it's all an offence and ultimately will make little difference to the outcome. West Midlands Trains will normally offer an out of court settlement to people to co-operate with their investigation and who haven't come to their attention before.

What happens next is they will write to you in the next few weeks saying they are considering prosecuting you but asking for your version of events before they decide how to proceed. When the letter arrives post a redacted copy of the letter in this thread along with your draft reply and forum members will be happy to proof read it for you. It is important that WMT have the correct contact details for you - they will probably send a letter rather than an email so it is important that you gave them your correct address wherer you can receive physical post. You also mention contacting them to give them an email address, who did you call? If it was customer services it's unlikely they will be able to assist.

If you are offered a settlement expect to have to pay the cost of the journey at the full Anytime rate with no credit given for the invalid tickets you did purchase. You will also have to pay an admin fee, typically £175. They will also check your online ticket purchasing hsitory and if this shows you've short fared on other occasions they will factor the cost of these journeys into the settlement fee.

Welcome to the forum!

Rail fare evasion is a serious matter and the train compnay is entitled to prosecute you in the Magistrates Court if they want to. It really doesn't matter if you used a railcard with short distance tickets, it's all an offence and ultimately will make little difference to the outcome. West Midlands Trains will normally offer an out of court settlement to people to co-operate with their investigation and who haven't come to their attention before.

What happens next is they will write to you in the next few weeks saying they are considering prosecuting you but asking for your version of events before they decide how to proceed. When the letter arrives post a redacted copy of the letter in this thread along with your draft reply and forum members will be happy to proof read it for you. It is important that WMT have the correct contact details for you - they will probably send a letter rather than an email so it is important that you gave them your correct address wherer you can receive physical post. You also mention contacting them to give them an email address, who did you call? If it was customer services it's unlikely they will be able to assist.

If you are offered a settlement expect to have to pay the cost of the journey at the full Anytime rate with no credit given for the invalid tickets you did purchase. You will also have to pay an admin fee, typically £175. They will also check your online ticket purchasing hsitory and if this shows you've short fared on other occasions they will factor the cost of these journeys into the settlement fee.

is it also okay to mention I have done it before or do I just generally apologise for the offences?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 21 May 2025 ==

but when they send letters how do you respond back?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 21 May 2025 ==

does the prosecutor team send the letter to everyone when its done by west midlands train?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 21 May 2025 ==




is it also okay to mention I have done it before or do I just generally apologise for the offences?

Thanks so much

 

[30907]

Realistically, WM will have investigated before sending the letter, and you need to reply on the basis of what it says. We don't tend to recommend you incriminate yourself, but equally you mustn't appear to deny what they already know.

Wait and see

 

[valhehe]

hi i am also confused, who sends the emails, is it prosecution team irclas smth or wmt? they said they get yes from the company and they send the letters but they seem to be a different company as ive seen a few letters from the thread and all are sent by west midlands train or is the letter produced by them and then the prosecutor team sends it forward

 

[valhehe]

hello I posted a thread a month ago because I got caught by a prosecution officer, my case got sent to a company that helps west midlands send letters but I still haven’t heard from them, should I call and make sure they got the correct email address? the incident happened 20/06

 

[Trainman40083]

hello I posted a thread a month ago because I got caught by a prosecution officer, my case got sent to a company that helps west midlands send letters but I still haven’t heard from them, should I call and make sure they got the correct email address? the incident happened 20/06

Best wait for them to contact you... Do you even have a reference number from them?

 

[valhehe]

yeah I do, and when i bought the tickets i did it through trainline

 

[Trainman40083]

yeah I do, and when i bought the tickets i did it through trainline

Ah well I am sure that Trainline have your details.

 

[Hadders]

It often takes several weeks for the train company to contact you, as long as you gave them your correct address I wouldn't chase them up. It for them to contact you, not the other way round.

 

[valhehe]

hi I had an incident happen w west midlands trains around may , i was meant to get a letter sent by email. i reached out to them a few months later to make sure they have the correct email on file and they said yes and that they havent done any paperwork for the initial letter yet but now its december im scared and anxious bc no type of contact has been done

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Dec 2025 ==

I also contacted them in3 months ago ish to make sure they had all my contact details of which they said thy did and reassured they still haven’t received anything from wmt and nothing has happened still

 

[WesternLancer]

hi I had an incident happen w west midlands trains around may , i was meant to get a letter sent by email. i reached out to them a few months later to make sure they have the correct email on file and they said yes and that they havent done any paperwork for the initial letter yet but now its december im scared and anxious bc no type of contact has been done

Have you also been checking for hard copy post at whatever address they originally took?

Just because you asked them to e mail doe’s not guarantee that they will.

Presumably you have also been checking spam too.

Do you have any other e mail accountant one booked to whatever site you book train tickets on. If so check that too.

 

[valhehe]

Have you also been checking for hard copy post at whatever address they originally took?

Just because you asked them to e mail doe’s not guarantee that they will.

Presumably you have also been checking spam too.

Do you have any other e mail accountant one booked to whatever site you book train tickets on. If so check that too.

I had emailed them and informed them about me not being in the Uk for a few months and they said they already have a note about emailing me first instead of mailing a letter and that nothing was sorted yet and it had already been almost 2-3 months in when i did ask them again because i did once before leaving and then emailed months later to make sure


I have been checking spam as well

 

[jfollows]

With the incident in May, you can no longer be prosecuted after six months without the information being provided to the court.
Have you also checked for post at the address you originally gave them? They could have ignored their promise to email you, like many bureaucracies they aren’t always set up to act on their promises.

In the last resort, you can always email them again now given that the prosecution deadline has passed. They may still try to get you to pay “something” but they can not prosecute you for a criminal offence.

 

[WesternLancer]

I had emailed them and informed them about me not being in the Uk for a few months and they said they already have a note about emailing me first instead of mailing a letter and that nothing was sorted yet and it had already been almost 2-3 months in when i did ask them again because i did once before leaving and then emailed months later to make sure


I have been checking spam as well

Thanks. And what about my first question about hard copy post?

 

[valhehe]

Thanks. And what about my first question about hard copy post?

I dont longer live in that address and they know that already because in my emailed I explained them that the lease was up and that i wanted to ensure my email was correctly saved. it was a student accommodation which they know about as well from the email, i thankfully left it all in writing so they said they would definitely email me, i asked my accommodation also and they didn’t receive anything either in the first 3-4 months after that all mail would be thrown into a return pile

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Dec 2025 ==

I dont longer live in that address and they know that already ,it was a student accommodation it was left in writing so they said they would definitely email me, i asked my accommodation and they didn’t receive anything either in the first 3-4 months after that all mail would be thrown into a return pile

yes i did check for a few months but they didn’t receive anything either but I told the company for the railway that this would not longer be my place of residence as the lease was up and it was a student accommodation so I would definitely not receive any letters so if they could use the email i put pn file and they said yes they will and that they have a note in there to do so anyway and they reassured nothing was sent either

 

[WesternLancer]

I dont longer live in that address and they know that already because in my emailed I explained them that the lease was up and that i wanted to ensure my email was correctly saved. it was a student accommodation which they know about as well from the email, i thankfully left it all in writing so they said they would definitely email me, i asked my accommodation also and they didn’t receive anything either in the first 3-4 months after that all mail would be thrown into a return pile

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Dec 2025 ==


yes i did check for a few months but they didn’t receive anything either but I told the company for the railway that this would not longer be my place of residence as the lease was up and it was a student accommodation so I would definitely not receive any letters so if they could use the email i put pn file and they said yes they will and that they have a note in there to do so anyway and they reassured nothing was sent either

Sounds like you did your best to prevent them posting anything to your old address then.