Caught travelling using a child ticket - adult

[symone1]

I’m reaching out for some advice on a situation that happened last year and has just come back to bite me. Last year, I was caught using a child ticket on my commute to work. The honest truth is, I couldn’t afford the full fare at the time—my payday was the evening, and I had no money left until then.

When I tried to explain this to the train staff, they weren’t sympathetic and insisted I still needed to speak to the ticket inspector because the paper ticket didn’t work. I tapped my contactless card in good faith, even though I wasn’t sure if it would go through. To my surprise, it did, but I was still fined despite being honest with the staff and explaining my situation.

I’ve now received a letter from GTR about this incident, and I’ve attached both the letter and my response. I’ve also got proof of the contactless payment that went through.

I really need some advice on how to proceed with this. Any tips or help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

 

[30907]

Welcome to the forum.

Could you clarify (you don't need to mention the other station):

what journey did you make that day using contactless, and how does that relate to the one you made with the invalid ticket?

As you have already replied, there is not much advice to give at this stage, but the chances are GTR will be willing to settle as you have asked.

The ball is now in their court, but do please let us know how things develop.

 

[symone1]

Welcome to the forum.

Could you clarify (you don't need to mention the other station):

what journey did you make that day using contactless, and how does that relate to the one you made with the invalid ticket?

As you have already replied, there is not much advice to give at this stage, but the chances are GTR will be willing to settle as you have asked.

The ball is now in their court, but do please let us know how things develop.

Sorry, I should have been clearer earlier. I haven’t replied yet, as that was just a draft I was planning to send sometime this week.

I travelled from London Victoria to East Croydon. Sometimes, paper tickets don’t work at the barriers and show a message like ‘seek assistance.’ This happened at London Victoria, but the lady just let me through. However, when I got to East Croydon, it didn’t work again. I spoke to the gentleman at the barrier and explained why I had the child ticket, but he wasn’t having it and said I would need to speak to the ticket inspectors past the barriers. At that point, I tapped my contactless card to get through.

 

[Haywain]

When I tried to explain this to the train staff, they weren’t sympathetic and insisted I still needed to speak to the ticket inspector because the paper ticket didn’t work. I tapped my contactless card in good faith, even though I wasn’t sure if it would go through. To my surprise, it did, but I was still fined despite being honest with the staff and explaining my situation.

You engaged in deliberate fare evasion - buying a child ticket is never a mistake - so were not deserving of sympathy. The fact that you used contactless to exit the barrier will count for nothing, and you should now expect GTR to look into your ticket buying history for previous occurrences. However, they almost always settle out of court.

 

[symone1]

You engaged in deliberate fare evasion - buying a child ticket is never a mistake - so were not deserving of sympathy. The fact that you used contactless to exit the barrier will count for nothing, and you should now expect GTR to look into your ticket buying history for previous occurrences. However, they almost always settle out of court.

Should I mention using my contactless to exit the barriers?

 

[Haywain]

Should I mention using my contactless to exit the barriers?

In my opinion that would only go to orove that you had sufficient money to pay the fare, making your actions out and out fare evasion. For me, the choice is to mention why you bought a child ticket or that you used contactless to exit the barrier, but definitely not both. However, others may view this differently.

 

[symone1]

In my opinion that would only go to orove that you had sufficient money to pay the fare, making your actions out and out fare evasion. For me, the choice is to mention why you bought a child ticket or that you used contactless to exit the barrier, but definitely not both. However, others may view this differently.

Thank you for the advice. I will just mention the child ticket.