xundor
New Member
This happened last week when I was traveling on the Stansted Express (Greater Anglia).
I was asked to show my ticket to the officer at the station exit, and although I had a valid ticket, I didn't realise the 16-25 railcard included discount was actually expired by 5 months (I booked through Trainline so it doesn't check, and I rarely use the train).
I then got asked to step aside and go talk to another officer. He was busy, so I decided to renew the railcard while waiting.
When that other officer got back, he immediately pulled up a £71 penalty and asked me to pay for "not having a ticket". I mentioned that I actually had a ticket, but I accidentally used an expired railcard that I'd just renewed, and whether I could just pay the fare difference or even purchase a new ticket entirely.
He then got really angry and started using threatening words like "I'm not playing games with you" and "I will make this very difficult now", he then pulled out his police badge and started asking me questions under caution: my name, address in the UK, whether I intended to travel without a ticket, and whether I had enough money to afford a ticket.
Then he took pictures of my ticket, old railcard, new railcard, and said he's filling out a form to the train company, and they will send me a letter through post to prosecute, which will end up as a criminal offence.
I found similar cases in this forum and figured it's a common issue, but I had a few more questions:
I was asked to show my ticket to the officer at the station exit, and although I had a valid ticket, I didn't realise the 16-25 railcard included discount was actually expired by 5 months (I booked through Trainline so it doesn't check, and I rarely use the train).
I then got asked to step aside and go talk to another officer. He was busy, so I decided to renew the railcard while waiting.
When that other officer got back, he immediately pulled up a £71 penalty and asked me to pay for "not having a ticket". I mentioned that I actually had a ticket, but I accidentally used an expired railcard that I'd just renewed, and whether I could just pay the fare difference or even purchase a new ticket entirely.
He then got really angry and started using threatening words like "I'm not playing games with you" and "I will make this very difficult now", he then pulled out his police badge and started asking me questions under caution: my name, address in the UK, whether I intended to travel without a ticket, and whether I had enough money to afford a ticket.
Then he took pictures of my ticket, old railcard, new railcard, and said he's filling out a form to the train company, and they will send me a letter through post to prosecute, which will end up as a criminal offence.
I found similar cases in this forum and figured it's a common issue, but I had a few more questions:
- It's been 10 days and I haven't received anything yet. Would it be a good idea to reach out directly to Greater Anglia and try to solve the matter myself?
- It seems for most cases they offer an out of court settlement, but it's ultimately up to their discretion to take it to court or not, If in the worst case, they decided to take this to court, and I was found guilty with a criminal offence. What exactly does this imply? I'm on a skilled worker visa, would that possibly risk my visa getting terminated?
- In addition to being threatened for asking a seemingly innocent question, the officer also claimed I lied saying my railcard expired two weeks ago (which I never did) -- can I somehow use that incident in my favour in court? I obviously don't have any proof of that happening.
