WMR Fare Evasion

[DampSquid]

Hi all,

I've received an email notifying me of a travel fraud investigation from West Midlands Railways and would like some advice.

I was travelling for work from Adderley Park to Coventry via Birmingham New Street. I do this by first taking a WMR train from ADD to BHM and then changing to an Avanti train from BHM to COV.

My ticket was an anytime day single from BHM to COV valid on Avanti routes. I also have a valid 16-25 railcard and this was not contested during this incident.
On the train from ADD to BHM the ticket inspector asked for my ticket. I did not have a ticket covering travel for this train and so the inspector took down my details including my name, address etc. He also looked at my travel history on Trainline and saw that I don't usually buy the ticket for ADD to BHM. He advised that WMR would contact me within 6-8 weeks about this incident. That email has arrived now and I have attached it here. I don't usually buy tickets for the first leg of my journey as in my experience they infrequently check tickets so I got into the habit of not buying them. I understand now this is not the right thing to do and I should be paying for any train I take.

I would like to know if WMR are likely to prosecute me for this, given the fare for my journey with a railcard is just £1.95. As mentioned before I can see the error in my ways and I am happy to pay an out of court settlement. In light of that, any advice on how best to reply to this email would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

 

[z444z]

I would like to know if WMR are likely to prosecute me for this, given the fare for my journey with a railcard is just £1.95.

Unfortunately, yes, they don’t care what the fare avoided is, if you travel without a valid ticket then they can and will prosecute. But if you cooperate they will likely agree to settle. Could you have a look at similar threads and draft a response in line with the normal advice given?

 

[WesternLancer]

Hi all,

I've received an email notifying me of a travel fraud investigation from West Midlands Railways and would like some advice.

I was travelling for work from Adderley Park to Coventry via Birmingham New Street. I do this by first taking a WMR train from ADD to BHM and then changing to an Avanti train from BHM to COV.

My ticket was an anytime day single from BHM to COV valid on Avanti routes. I also have a valid 16-25 railcard and this was not contested during this incident.
On the train from ADD to BHM the ticket inspector asked for my ticket. I did not have a ticket covering travel for this train and so the inspector took down my details including my name, address etc. He also looked at my travel history on Trainline and saw that I don't usually buy the ticket for ADD to BHM. He advised that WMR would contact me within 6-8 weeks about this incident. That email has arrived now and I have attached it here. I don't usually buy tickets for the first leg of my journey as in my experience they infrequently check tickets so I got into the habit of not buying them. I understand now this is not the right thing to do and I should be paying for any train I take.

I would like to know if WMR are likely to prosecute me for this, given the fare for my journey with a railcard is just £1.95. As mentioned before I can see the error in my ways and I am happy to pay an out of court settlement. In light of that, any advice on how best to reply to this email would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

You need to reply to this and apologise for any error made, say it won’t happen again and offer to pay any fare owed.

If you don’t engage it will automatically escalate to prosecution I’m afraid.

Post a draft of your reply here for checking before you send it to them if that would help.

 

[ikcdab]

You say you don't usually buy the ticket and you travel for work, so I assume you are a frequent traveller. All of those £1.95s add up. If they look at your travel history and see lots of BHM to COV, they may make assumptions. But for now they are only asking about the single incident.

 

[DampSquid]

You need to reply to this and apologise for any error made, say it won’t happen again and offer to pay any fare owed.

If you don’t engage it will automatically escalate to prosecution I’m afraid.

Post a draft of your reply here for checking before you send it to them if that would help.

Thank you to everyone who's replied. I've drafted my reply to WMR here:

"To West Midlands Railway,



I would like to sincerely apologise for travelling without a valid ticket for the first part of my journey. This was a serious lapse in judgement on my part. I would like to emphasise this is the first time I have been flagged up for any irregularity in my travel and it was not done with fraudulent intent. I have recognised that my actions were wrong and it will not happen again. I am more than willing to pay the unpaid fare and any associated administrative costs.

Thank you"

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you to everyone who's replied. I've drafted my reply to WMR here:

"To West Midlands Railway,



I would like to sincerely apologise for travelling without a valid ticket for the first part of my journey. This was a serious lapse in judgement on my part. I would like to emphasise this is the first time I have been flagged up for any irregularity in my travel and it was not done with fraudulent intent. I have recognised that my actions were wrong and it will not happen again. I am more than willing to pay the unpaid fare and any associated administrative costs.

Thank you"

Don’t draw attention to it being the first time you were flagged up if you have done it on other occasions. Thats just an invitation for them to look for all the other occasions! Which they may actually do anyway as WMR usually trawl past records to look for digital fingerprints.

 

[DampSquid]

Don’t draw attention to it being the first time you were flagged up if you have done it on other occasions. Thats just an invitation for them to look for all the other occasions! Which they may actually do anyway as WMR usually trawl past records to look for digital fingerprints.

I've removed that sentence now, are there any more changes you would suggest?

 

[Seehof]

I would take out the bit about “fraudulent intent” as it is!

 

[WesternLancer]

I've removed that sentence now, are there any more changes you would suggest?

Add in something like ‘I would be most grateful if the matter could be resolved without court action’ at or towards the end.

Make a paragraph break at an appropriate point so it’s easier to read quickly by whoever is dealing with this.

Add your case reference number clearly at the top of what you send. Tho don’t post it here.

 

[z444z]

Thank you to everyone who's replied. I've drafted my reply to WMR here:

"To West Midlands Railway,



I would like to sincerely apologise for travelling without a valid ticket for the first part of my journey. This was a serious lapse in judgement on my part. I would like to emphasise this is the first time I have been flagged up for any irregularity in my travel and it was not done with fraudulent intent. I have recognised that my actions were wrong and it will not happen again. I am more than willing to pay the unpaid fare and any associated administrative costs.

Thank you"

This is a start but I think it needs quite a lot of editing and additions which I am happy to do but may not get to it until tomorrow.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 8 Jan 2026 ==

REFERENCE: [INSERT REFERENCE]

Dear West Midlands Railway,

I am writing in response to your letter dated 6th January 2026 regarding the incident on 21st November 2025.

I sincerely apologise for travelling without a valid ticket for part of my journey. This was a serious error in judgement on my part and I now understand the impact such actions have on the railway. In future I will ensure that I always have a valid ticket for my entire journey before travel.

I would be very grateful if this matter could be resolved without court action, and I am more than willing to pay the unpaid fare and any associated administrative costs.

[FORMAL SIGN OFF]