Dear ...,
To ensure fairness and consistency in the decision-making process, appeals are considered in conjunction
with a code of practice. The statements submitted on behalf of the passenger and the train company will
both be taken into account by an experienced assessor to determine the appeal outcome. More information
about how appeals are decided is available on our homepage at
www.penaltyservices.co.uk.
Many rail users consider penalty fares to be an accusation of fare avoidance but this is not the case at
all. A penalty fare is simply a higher fare which may be issued under The Penalty Fares Rules and
Regulations by a member of staff who is licensed to act on behalf of a train operating company which has
an approved penalty fare scheme in place. Penalty fare warning posters are on display at every penalty
fares station (as required under Regulation 8) advising customers of the consequences for boarding a
penalty fares train without a valid ticket or other authority to travel in their possession.
The National Rail Conditions of Travel (NRCoT) advise that where the facility to buy a ticket exists prior to
boarding, passengers should pay the correct fare for their entire journey before they travel and produce for
inspection a valid ticket as evidence of their right to make a journey on the relevant train, otherwise they
may be liable to pay a penalty fare.
The first thing an assessor will judge when handling an appeal is the train company's compliance with The
Railways (Penalty Fares) Regulations 2018. Failure to comply may result in the appeal being won by
default, even where the circumstance presented by the passenger wouldn't naturally lead to a successful
outcome.
It is a requirement that a penalty fare notice is completed in accordance with all parts of Regulation
5(2) and on this occasion it has been concluded that this notice is not wholly compliant with that
Regulation. That being the case, the National Rail Conditions of Travel (which govern travel on the entire
rail network) will be applied.
To guarantee paying the cheapest fare for a journey, passengers should aim to buy a valid ticket in
advance of travel (where the facility to do so has been provided by the train company). If travelling from a
station at which there are no ticket purchasing facilities provided, or where the facilities are out of service,
rail users should not be penalised and should always be offered the cheapest fare for their journey.
You were travelling on a South Western train with a Southern Train ticket, with the ticket you held it is valid
on Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) a train operating company that operates the Thameslink, Southern
and Great Northern.
In this instance, I'm pleased to advise that the penalty fare charge has been cancelled but the
outstanding amount due for the journey taken under the National Rail Conditions of Travel,
£3.90 must be paid.
...
This appeal has been successful and is now considered closed, however, unless there has already been a
payment towards the penalty fare notice that covers this outstanding amount for the journey you made is
still liable for payment.
The train operating company has been informed to remove the penalty aspect of this debt leaving only the
liability of the journey you made due under the NRCoT.
If you have not already made a payment towards the penalty fare notice, in order to avoid administration
fees being added by the train operating company or their debt recovery agents, you should pay the
outstanding amount within 14 days from the date of this response.
HOW TO PAY
You can pay in any of the following ways:
By credit or debit card at
www.southwesternrailway.com/paymynotice
By telephone on 0844 544 8191. This number is available 24 hours. Calls cost 5p per minute plus
your network access charge. Call charges from a mobile may vary.
By post, sending a postal order made payable to: First MTR South Western Trains Limited and sent
to: Freepost SWR PROSECUTIONS DEPARTMENT.
The status of your appeal outcome has been passed to the SWR Prosecutions Team. If you have made a
payment against the Penalty Fare, a refund may be due. Where a refund is due, SWR will issue a refund to
the passenger who received the Penalty Fare within 10 working days.
Thank you for using Penalty Services
