WMR Short faring

[draig29]

Hello everyone, earlier this month I got caught in Birmingham short faring. Foolishly I have done this about 22 times since February. I was buying the ticket for Jewellery Quarter to get past the gates at Snow Hill. Initially tried to lie my way out but quickly fessed up as I was already caught and wanted to avoid further trouble. The officer that interviewed me said that my account and station cameras would be checked and I would receive correspondence shortly.

I have anxiously been waiting for the letter or email, which I have received today except the email states I failed to produce a railcard and no mention of short faring. I did have a railcard and I did show it twice to the officers.

I really want to settle this out of court and I'm eager to respond as soon as possible. I'm very concerned about this having a real effect on my job etc. Any advice on how to word or structure the response would be greatly appreciated.

The email: We have recently been handed a file relating to an incident on 9th April 2025 when approached by staff carrying out their revenue duties, you were asked to show your valid ticket you offered a ticket with a railcard attached and were unable to present your railcard, therefore you would not have been eligible for the discounted rate.

You were interviewed under caution.

West Midlands Trains take travel fraud seriously and are committed to prosecuting all cases of fare evasion to the full extent of the law. Travelling on the railway with the intent to avoid paying the full fare is an offence under the Regulation of Railways Act 1889, as such, a single offence carries a maximum fine of £1,000 and/or three months’ imprisonment and, a criminal record.

Consideration will be taken as to whether this matter amounts to a much more serious offence under the Fraud Act 2006, in particular ‘Fraud by false representation’.

At this stage we would be grateful if you would provide any evidence to support the claim that none of the above legislation has been contravened to prevent further action being contemplated.

We look forward to hearing from you.

 

[30907]

This is a standard letter (there is an identical one in a current thread!].

Despite the threatening language, WM can almost certainly be persuaded to offer an out-of-court settlement, costing the full fare(s) plus a hefty admin charge of £175.

I would look for the advice frequently posted by member Hadders as to what to write, and come back here with a draft if you wish.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

@draig29. Welcome to the forum. An Anytime Day Single, *if* your typical 'moody' journey was between Stourbridge and central Birmingham, is currently £6.50 (or, if for journeys made before early March 2025, it was £6.20) for each one-way journey. Presume the 22 instances of short-faring were all day return journeys, so you might be asked for the cost of 22 x 2 x single fares for these twenty-two return trips. Reckon you're looking at ballpark £450.00 to pay in total (including the fee that @30907 has just mentioned) if you are able to negotiate an 'out of court' settlement with West Midlands Trains, and this may not necessarily be reduced for whatever you've already paid between Jewellery Quarter + Birmingham New Street. Good luck in sorting!

 

[John R]

In typical WMR fashion the alleged offence bears no relation to what the OP says they were stopped for.

I would suggest that when they respond they politely point that out, say what they were actually stopped for, and carry on with the letter from there. If nothing else it will show a very positive attitude in terms of getting things resolved.

 

[AlterEgo]

I’d be tempted to write back enclosing a copy of the railcard and trust that it satisfies matters. WMR are completely incompetent in the back office.

 

[saismee]

I’d be tempted to write back enclosing a copy of the railcard and trust that it satisfies matters. WMR are completely incompetent in the back office.

This is what I am thinking too. If you've been reported for no railcard, and haven't been stopped before without one this year, you should be able to prove you owned the correct railcard and it should go away. Not a guarantee, but I see no risk in doing this.

 

[draig29]

Thank you all for your responses. I'm unsure whether or not to include the details of the short faring or to not mention it at all, which is why I haven't expanded on it. I want to avoid as much as possible of course but I'm also anxious it'll come back to bite me.

Draft response: Dear Fraud and Investigations Manager,

I am writing in response to your email regarding travel fraud and would like to offer an explanation and apology for my actions.

I would like to begin with taking the opportunity to apologise to West Midlands Rail for my actions and the impact of my dishonest behaviour on staff, the service and the public. The seriousness of my offence has not been taken lightly and I have learned a great deal from this incident, I'm extremely remorseful and deeply regret that this has taken place. I promise that this will never occur again.

This is a matter I am taking very seriously and therefore would like to politely mention that whilst I did commit the offence of short faring, I did produce the Railcard in question twice to the officers who stopped me. The Railcard mentioned was one provided by the Jobcentre and was in date at the time of the incident 9/4/25 (expired 12/4/25). I have attached a photo of the Railcard to this email.

Going forward, I promise to pay all journey fare in full and with the correct discounts applied. This is a matter I have taken on with great care and diligence as I wish to be fully compliant with the laws and rules of the rail service. Since the incident on 9/4/25, I have paid full fare and have removed the Jobcentre Railcard since it's expiry on all journeys taken.

I would like to ask that West Midlands Rail would kindly offer me the opportunity to settle this matter out of court? I would be extremely grateful for the opportunity to settle this matter quickly and prevent further action taking place. I take full accountability for my actions and have learned a valuable lesson from this, and I would like to make full payment for all outstanding fare and for the administrative costs in dealing with this matter.

 

[ikcdab]

Its possible to wordsmith these things to death. I think what you have written is authentic and does the job.

 

[draig29]

Got the email back this morning and fortunately have got an out of court settlement. Thanks to all who replied to this thread.

UPDATE: As part of the Digital Fraud Team, we investigate all historic purchases made on your account. This is from the ticket that has been reported to us for fraudulently used on the day of investigation.

Upon our investigation to your account, we can see there have been 22 transactions we are currently investigating for potential fraud.

We do wish to settle out of court.

Total amount owed is £310.50 and this includes our admin fee.

This would need to be settled on or before 9th May 2025.

Here are the payment details.

Make sure to put your reference number in so we can link the payment to yourself.

Email us with confirmation of payment being made and once payment has been received, we will send a receipt and close the case down this can take up to 10 business days.

Information we must inform you of; if we have not received an email for payment a gentle reminder may be sent and if a late payment is made you could incur further fees and if no payment is made then the case will be escalated to our prosecutions team.

 

[ikcdab]

thanks for letting us know. Glad its now all settled.