Witness statement

[abigail_hhh]

Hello, today i went into london with my mate and bought both our tickets on my phone. at the time i didnt realise i had selected 2 railcards (my mate has one i don’t) so when the ticket inspector came he asked for my railcard and i completly panicked and said i had one- which i don’t- but i panicked because i’ve never been in this situation before. i’ve been told to upload a railcard within 21 days but even if i buy one i know it won’t be valid for the ticket. so now i’m nervous since i know i lied and that was a mistake but i was panicking. what’s going to happen?

 

[mikeg]

Which railcard was being used?

 

[Hadders]

Welcome to the forum!

We need to know which train company stopped you. Based on your location I'm assuming it's GTR (Thameslink).

Buying a railcard is a good thing to do for future journeys but it won't make this matter go away because they can see what tie the railcard was purchased and will know that it was after you were stopped. Assuming you've selected a railcard that can only be used by one person then what I would do is upload a short concise letter explaining that you didn't have a railcard and mention:

- 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 the train company's administrative costs in dealing with the matter

If you're dealing with GTR then I expect they will offer you an out of court settlement costing the outstanding fare at the full Anytime rate (with no credit given for the invalid ticket you purchased) plus an admin fee, typically £150. They will probably search your online ticket purchasing history and if this shows you've purchased railcard discounted tickets for other journeys then they will factor the cost of these journeys into the settlement.

 

[abigail_hhh]

Which railcard was being used?

a 16-25 railcard. which my friend had but i didnt

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 27 May 2025 ==

Welcome to the forum!

We need to know which train company stopped you. Based on your location I'm assuming it's GTR (Thameslink).

Buying a railcard is a good thing to do for future journeys but it won't make this matter go away because they can see what tie the railcard was purchased and will know that it was after you were stopped. Assuming you've selected a railcard that can only be used by one person then what I would do is upload a short concise letter explaining that you didn't have a railcard and mention:

- 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 the train company's administrative costs in dealing with the matter

If you're dealing with GTR then I expect they will offer you an out of court settlement costing the outstanding fare at the full Anytime rate (with no credit given for the invalid ticket you purchased) plus an admin fee, typically £150. They will probably search your online ticket purchasing history and if this shows you've purchased railcard discounted tickets for other journeys then they will factor the cost of these journeys into the settlement.

do i right this letter before or after i recieve a letter from the GTR?

 

[AlterEgo]

do i right this letter before or after i recieve a letter from the GTR?

You write it after, in response to them.

 

[abigail_hhh]

You write it after, in response to them.

Okay! thank you,
what do you think the probability of this to be settled outside of court would be?

 

[Hadders]

a 16-25 railcard. which my friend had but i didnt

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 27 May 2025 ==


do i right this letter before or after i recieve a letter from the GTR?

As you've been asked to upload a railcard that you can't produce then I would be proactive and upload the letter instead.

In most cases I advise waiting for the train company to write first, but this is one occasion where it might speed things up if you're propactive. Whether you upload something now or do nothing and wait for them to write to you as @AlterEgo auggests GTR will almost certainly offer an out of court settlement.

 

[abigail_hhh]

As you've been asked to upload a railcard that you can't produce then I would be proactive and upload the letter instead.

In most cases I advise waiting for the train company to write first, but this is one occasion where it might speed things up if you're propactive. Whether you upload something now or do nothing and wait for them to write to you as @AlterEgo auggests GTR will almost certainly offer an out of court settlement.

okay so i could upload a railcard that i bought after the the ticket inspector (which won’t be valid i know) but i can also right a letter? do i do that online or by mail? also how would i word it?

 

[Hadders]

okay so i could upload a railcard that i bought after the the ticket inspector (which won’t be valid i know) but i can also right a letter? do i do that online or by mail? also how would i word it?

You could upload the railcard but they will know it wasn't valid when you made the journey. In addition to the points I listed above you could also say that since the incident you've purchased a railcard.

If you pop a draft in this thread we can assist with getting the wording right.

 

[AlterEgo]

okay so i could upload a railcard that i bought after the the ticket inspector (which won’t be valid i know) but i can also right a letter? do i do that online or by mail? also how would i word it?

There's no point uploading the railcard, it wasn't valid for the journey and they'll be asking about whether you had one and simply failed to show it.

You have to write (not right) a letter in response to correspondence GTR send you, which will arrive in the coming weeks.

As you've been asked to upload a railcard that you can't produce then I would be proactive and upload the letter instead.

OP hasn't been written to yet; this happened yesterday and someone (the RPI?) said she might be able to upload a railcard.

 

[Hadders]

OP hasn't been written to yet; this happened yesterday and someone (the RPI?) said she might be able to upload a railcard.

As I understand it, @abigail_hhh has been given a link to upload their railcard (@abigail_hhh can you confirm this)

While no railcard was held I have seen cases resolved faster if you just simply upload a letter telling them that rather than doing nothing, and waiting for GTR to write.

 

[abigail_hhh]

As I understand it, @abigail_hhh has been given a link to upload their railcard (@abigail_hhh can you confirm this)

While no railcard was held I have seen cases resolved faster if you just simply upload a letter telling them that rather than doing nothing, and waiting for GTR to write.

yes i’ve been asked to upload a railcard.
i was wondering if i’m able to send a letter with that? at the same time? or do i have to completely write a letter and send it in the post?

 

[Hadders]

yes i’ve been asked to upload a railcard.
i was wondering if i’m able to send a letter with that? at the same time? or do i have to completely write a letter and send it in the post?

Given that you can't really upload the railcard (well not a valid one as you didn't have one) I'd upload the leter instead.

 

[abigail_hhh]

hello, a little update. i ended up not sending the letter with the 21 days of the railcard proof. i am now presuming i have to wait for a letter in the post from them. do you know how long it may take?

 

[mikeg]

Why don’t you send a letter anyway asking if you may settle and apologising? Ignoring it won’t make it less bad or go away, quite the opposite

 

[John R]

Why don’t you send a letter anyway asking if you may settle and apologising? Ignoring it won’t make it less bad or go away, quite the opposite

That's not what experts on the forum normally recommend. Once the 21 days are up in this case, I would suggest the normal advice applies, which is to wait to get a letter. Sending an unsolicited email runs risk of answering questions which won't be asked, potentially incriminating the sender more than they need to. And besides, they are now "in the system" and it doesn't help GTR - in fact it may cause additional work as opposed to cases being dealt with in order. Think of it as trying to queue jump as it were.

And of course, they may never get a letter at all (unlikely, but we do see a few cases where the 6 months elapses with no further contact).

 

[AlterEgo]

Why don’t you send a letter anyway asking if you may settle and apologising? Ignoring it won’t make it less bad or go away, quite the opposite

No, wait for the letter. It’s almost never in one’s interests to preempt what the company might say or decide. Wait to be written to, and respond to whatever allegation is contained within.

(Not doing anything if the company doesn’t to anything does sometimes make the matter go away, by the way; companies do often foul the 6 month deadline!)

 

[mikeg]

Sorry misread the post! The perils of reading things quickly and also going on my recollection of a thread from a while ago without re reading it in full , I thought the OP had already had a letter and missed the deadline to respond! I agree with the others in that case.

 

[abigail_hhh]

hello everyone, i have recently received my GTR letter for notice to prosecution, i have written my letter response back and will be sending it asap via first class tracked and signed. i just wanted to ask, is the likelihood for an out of court settlement higher than them sending for a court settlement, i am also unsure whether old tickets bought via trainline i have used a railcard-which i didn’t have- will be checked and seen? i know there were a few times i bought a ticket for a friend who had a railcard and i bought it for them via the app. if this is the case, i can understand if they see it will incriminate me more, so i was wondering if that factor, will lead it more likely to be a court case rather than out of court settlement which i hope for.

 

[WesternLancer]

hello everyone, i have recently received my GTR letter for notice to prosecution, i have written my letter response back and will be sending it asap via first class tracked and signed. i just wanted to ask, is the likelihood for an out of court settlement higher than them sending for a court settlement, i am also unsure whether old tickets bought via trainline i have used a railcard-which i didn’t have- will be checked and seen? i know there were a few times i bought a ticket for a friend who had a railcard and i bought it for them via the app. if this is the case, i can understand if they see it will incriminate me more, so i was wondering if that factor, will lead it more likely to be a court case rather than out of court settlement which i hope for.

It might be worth you posting a draft of your reply here before you send it off if you think it might help for people to check your wording.

They could well check your ticket buying records but from what we see here that does not tend to make them more likely to take it to court but it would result in them asking you for more money as a settlement in order to cover the value of the other tickets not properly paid for.

 

[Titfield]

They could well check your ticket buying records but from what we see here that does NOT tend to make them more likely to take it to court but it would result in them asking you for more money as a settlement in order to cover the value of the other tickets not properly paid for.

The above statement is, I think, missing the word NOT which I have inserted for the befit of the OP.

With the exception of TfL, train operating companies only go to court when (1) the passenger fails to engage - ie does not respond to communication(2) threats or violence was involved (3) fare evasion was on an industrial scale however we have seen cases of tens of tickets being settled out of court (4) fraud in its correct meaning where tickets or railcards have been falsified however again we have seen cases such as this settled out of court.(5) the out of court settlement is not paid.

 

[WesternLancer]

The above statement is, I think, missing the word NOT which I have inserted for the befit of the OP.

With the exception of TfL, train operating companies only go to court when (1) the passenger fails to engage - ie does not respond to communication(2) threats or violence was involved (3) fare evasion was on an industrial scale however we have seen cases of tens of tickets being settled out of court (4) fraud in its correct meaning where tickets or railcards have been falsified however again we have seen cases such as this settled out of court.(5) the out of court settlement is not paid.

Thanks for the correction. Quite so. I’ve corrected post #20

 

[abigail_hhh]

Hi everyone, last update. i received the letter back today and they gave me an out of court settlement for less than £100 which i am very grateful and pleased it went this way. i have definitely realised my mistakes and won’t do it again.
thank you so much to all of you who responded to this thread, it helped me so much and i’m very appreciative!

 

[John R]

Thank you very much for the update - it's always good to hear the outcome of cases. Glad it's all sorted for you.

 

[notmyrealname]

Hi Abigail.

That sounds like a good result for you, it's nice to hear the outcome.

All the best for the future.

 

[WesternLancer]

Hi everyone, last update. i received the letter back today and they gave me an out of court settlement for less than £100 which i am very grateful and pleased it went this way. i have definitely realised my mistakes and won’t do it again.
thank you so much to all of you who responded to this thread, it helped me so much and i’m very appreciative!

Good to hear. Thanks.