TFW - Accused of Fare Evasion

[Wales2020]

Hey there all, I have a query on an incident that happened yesterday.

I had purchased a return journey in the morning for a stop I had intended to return to. My plans changed unexpectedly during the course of the day due to a family emergency and I needed to travel further than my intended destination. I used my purchased ticket to board the train and intended to pay for the extension in cash onboard or when I reached my destination.

I haven't used the rail service much this year due to the pandemic, and did not realise the conductor no longer allows tickets to be purchased onboard. I assumed I could pay for my ticket at my final destination as a newly installed ticket machine was available where I could pay with cash as my card is damaged and I am awaiting a new one, but I eventually opted to try the app to save any potential queuing.

As I reached the final stop, I purchased my ticket via the TFW app, my payment processed correctly and I thought nothing more of it, but I completely forgot to activate the ticket. I managed to do so on the platform just prior to encountering a Revenue Protection Officer.

The officer I first came across then stopped me and asked me to show my tickets, I had them all, and all were activated, albeit the extension was activated when I reached my destination. The officer took me aside and interviewed me under caution, took details and had my full compliance. Although I was pretty shocked by his reaction to the ticket being activated after I'd exited the train.

I understand that tickets need to be purchased prior to boarding, but I had a valid ticket for the start of my journey to be able to board, and had always fully intended to purchase the remainder of the journey, and eventually did just that.

I explained what had happened and my circumstances, but the Revenue Protection Officer seemed uninterested, and took a really accusatory tone. I gave my full details and the circumstances of my journey, along with the factors that led to me travelling further. I admitted to having purchased the ticket as I arrived at my destination and that I had no intention of evading the fare or avoiding the Officers.

He handed me a leaflet informing me I could face a fine of up to £1000 and a prosecution.

I am so distressed this has happened, I work in the charity sector and pride myself on my honesty and moral values. This was a genuine mistake and lapse of judgement on my part as I hadn't realised the potential implications of this kind of situation. I fully accepted that in future I will ensure that any unexpected travel extensions will be purchased in advance, but the officer was adamant with how he wished to proceed.

Does anyone have any help/advice/experience on what happens next? I have never been through this process before, nor had I expected to. I am so worried about what might happen to me as a result of this

 

[WesternLancer]

This is the nub of your problem:

"I understand that tickets need to be purchased prior to boarding, but I had a valid ticket for the start of my journey to be able to board, and had always fully intended to purchase the remainder of the journey, and eventually did just that."

Which in the rules is 'short faring', and look at it from their point of view - you might have only used the app when a mate of yours at the station to which you were going told you to watch out, inspectors about. Now obv that is not what happened and I understand that, but that will be how they might look at it.
Of course, had you known, you would have / should have bought your 'extension' ticket before you got on, and if no facility to do that where you boarded you would have been OK had you activated the ticket before the station that formed the boundary (your original destination as it were). But sadly you did not buy the ticket until close to your new destination so that does not 'look good' in terms of your intentions, even if in the internet age it's not that illogical.

You also could / should have gone to see the guard immediately you got on the train, or even asked him/her on the platform beside the train if you could get on and buy on board or with the app etc and see what they advised. I assume you didn't do that but were waiting for them to come round and ask for tickets?

But obv all that is in the past now.

What will happen:

What is likely to happen now is that the Train company will write to you about this, an they will ask you for your version of events before they decide what action to take (lots of examples on this forum) - presumably you gave them correct and accurate address details? - and maybe checked they wrote them down correctly?

You need to wait a few weeks for that letter (which will probably also threaten court action but strong chance it won't come to that so don't worry too much). Then you need to reply to it with a succinct version of events you have outlined here and probably an apology (as the moment you went through that station without an activated ticket that is a fare offence as I understand it) . Make some notes now so you don't forget - eg times of trains, nature of family emergency if pertinent, screen grabs of the ticket you bought and time you bought it as evidence you had no intention to evade etc.

Also did the train you were on stop at the station where you did not get off (boundary station?)

There is a good chance they will offer you a settlement or to take it no further since you did actually pay for a ticket. Keep records to show that - eg bank statement etc.

Have a go at drafting your response letter whilst this is still in your mind if you like - and you could post the draft here as people may ben able to give helpful feedback.

Good luck with this as clearly it was not your intention to evade the fare, but you have unwittingly ended up committing a ticketing offence and that is the problem here.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Welcome to the forum.

Let's start with the very worst that could happen: the railway could take you to court. You could be convicted - that is, found guilty, and have to pay a fine, plus court costs, plus the prosecution costs. There would be some circumstances where you would have to declare the conviction to employers and potential employers and to organisations that you volunteered for.

And that's the worst that can happen. Rest assured that you will not be sent to prison. And I will say with only a little less certainty that you will not lose your job or have any difficulty in obtaining another one. From what we see here, almost all employers (and voluntary organisations) understand that not paying a railway fare correctly is a mistake that a lot of people make: it perhaps shows that your judgement isn't absolutely perfect, but that's how most people's judgement is. The point where employers and so on start to get worried is when someone covers up a conviction. That adds the problem of dishonesty to the initial problem of having a conviction for not having paid a train fare properly.

But going to court is almost certainly not what will happen next. Most likely TfW (or their agents - some train companies employ an organisation called 'Travel Investigations Ltd') will write to you, maybe to tell you that they are thinking about prosecution, but also to ask you if there is anything you want to tell them. At this point, I would suggest you explain the circumstances - much as you have done above. And it would also be sensible to explain that you now realise that you are meant to have sorted out your train fare before starting a journey, that you are sorry for your mistake and you will not make the mistake again. You should also offer to compensate TfW for any unpaid fare and for the costs they have incurred.

It is then quite likely, but not certain, that TfW will offer to settle, with costs of maybe £100 to £150. If you agree to settle on those terms, then you will not have to go to court and risk having a criminal conviction.

If TfW don't offer to settle, than you may ultimately go to court. But keep in touch with them - and each time offer to settle. We sometimes hear of cases where an out of court settlement was reached by talking to the railway's prosecutor on the day of the trial, so it's always worth trying to reach an agreement.

Or - just possibly - when the inspector has a look at their notes, they will decide not to take any action. But the railway has six months to take something like this to court (and the court then has a few weeks to let you know that there's a court case due against you) so make sure that you keep an eye on your post for the next seven or eight months. If you don't hear anything in that time (and the railway had your right address) then nothing more will happen and you have been let off.

 

[WesternLancer]

Hey there all, I have a query on an incident that happened yesterday.

I had purchased a return journey in the morning for a stop I had intended to return to. My plans changed unexpectedly during the course of the day due to a family emergency and I needed to travel further than my intended destination. I used my purchased ticket to board the train and intended to pay for the extension in cash onboard or when I reached my destination.

I haven't used the rail service much this year due to the pandemic, and did not realise the conductor no longer allows tickets to be purchased onboard. I assumed I could pay for my ticket at my final destination as a newly installed ticket machine was available where I could pay with cash as my card is damaged and I am awaiting a new one, but I eventually opted to try the app to save any potential queuing.

As I reached the final stop, I purchased my ticket via the TFW app, my payment processed correctly and I thought nothing more of it, but I completely forgot to activate the ticket. I managed to do so on the platform just prior to encountering a Revenue Protection Officer.

The officer I first came across then stopped me and asked me to show my tickets, I had them all, and all were activated, albeit the extension was activated when I reached my destination. The officer took me aside and interviewed me under caution, took details and had my full compliance. Although I was pretty shocked by his reaction to the ticket being activated after I'd exited the train.

I understand that tickets need to be purchased prior to boarding, but I had a valid ticket for the start of my journey to be able to board, and had always fully intended to purchase the remainder of the journey, and eventually did just that.

I explained what had happened and my circumstances, but the Revenue Protection Officer seemed uninterested, and took a really accusatory tone. I gave my full details and the circumstances of my journey, along with the factors that led to me travelling further. I admitted to having purchased the ticket as I arrived at my destination and that I had no intention of evading the fare or avoiding the Officers.

He handed me a leaflet informing me I could face a fine of up to £1000 and a prosecution.

I am so distressed this has happened, I work in the charity sector and pride myself on my honesty and moral values. This was a genuine mistake and lapse of judgement on my part as I hadn't realised the potential implications of this kind of situation. I fully accepted that in future I will ensure that any unexpected travel extensions will be purchased in advance, but the officer was adamant with how he wished to proceed.

Does anyone have any help/advice/experience on what happens next? I have never been through this process before, nor had I expected to. I am so worried about what might happen to me as a result of this

By the way, what was the fare to the further destination (or name the stations if you wish)? - this may have a bearing on the extent / and how, the matter is pursued perhaps.

 

[Wales2020]

This is the nub of your problem:

"I understand that tickets need to be purchased prior to boarding, but I had a valid ticket for the start of my journey to be able to board, and had always fully intended to purchase the remainder of the journey, and eventually did just that."

Which in the rules is 'short faring', and look at it from their point of view - you might have only used the app when a mate of yours at the station to which you were going told you to watch out, inspectors about. Now obv that is not what happened and I understand that, but that will be how they might look at it.
Of course, had you known, you would have / should have bought your 'extension' ticket before you got on, and if no facility to do that where you boarded you would have been OK had you activated the ticket before the station that formed the boundary (your original destination as it were). But sadly you did not buy the ticket until close to your new destination so that does not 'look good' in terms of your intentions, even if in the internet age it's not that illogical.

You also could / should have gone to see the guard immediately you got on the train, or even asked him/her on the platform beside the train if you could get on and buy on board or with the app etc and see what they advised. I assume you didn't do that but were waiting for them to come round and ask for tickets?

But obv all that is in the past now.

What will happen:

What is likely to happen now is that the Train company will write to you about this, an they will ask you for your version of events before they decide what action to take (lots of examples on this forum) - presumably you gave them correct and accurate address details? - and maybe checked they wrote them down correctly?

You need to wait a few weeks for that letter (which will probably also threaten court action but strong chance it won't come to that so don't worry too much). Then you need to reply to it with a succinct version of events you have outlined here and probably an apology (as the moment you went through that station without an activated ticket that is a fare offence as I understand it) . Make some notes now so you don't forget - eg times of trains, nature of family emergency if pertinent, screen grabs of the ticket you bought and time you bought it as evidence you had no intention to evade etc.

Also did the train you were on stop at the station where you did not get off (boundary station?)

There is a good chance they will offer you a settlement or to take it no further since you did actually pay for a ticket. Keep records to show that - eg bank statement etc.

Have a go at drafting your response letter whilst this is still in your mind if you like - and you could post the draft here as people may ben able to give helpful feedback.

Good luck with this as clearly it was not your intention to evade the fare, but you have unwittingly ended up committing a ticketing offence and that is the problem here.

Thank you so much for your response, I really appreciate it. As far as I'm aware I believed it stopped at the boundary station, but all the stops are very short so you don't get much time to jump off and reach the ticket machine then get back on. Thinking about it with hindsight I should have got the guard's attention at the stop and asked for advice, something I will always do from now on.

It's definitely been a big wake up call that you can't just assume anything with rail travel and hope it will all be ok.

I spent a very sleepless night trawling through advice online and the best I can hope for is that they will understand my circumstances when I give my response, and realise this is not something I would ever have done intentionally. I certainly accept that I made an error continuing the journey before I purchased my ticket but I honestly just did not think with everything going on with my family, so I do understand the logic behind the officer's decision. It's certainly been a shock to the system.

By the way, what was the fare to the further destination (or name the stations if you wish)? - this may have a bearing on the extent / and how, the matter is pursued perhaps.

The difference was approximately £4 for the further destination, when I bought my secondary ticket I paid for the whole journey in full from the origin of travel.

Welcome to the forum.

Let's start with the very worst that could happen: the railway could take you to court. You could be convicted - that is, found guilty, and have to pay a fine, plus court costs, plus the prosecution costs. There would be some circumstances where you would have to declare the conviction to employers and potential employers and to organisations that you volunteered for.

And that's the worst that can happen. Rest assured that you will not be sent to prison. And I will say with only a little less certainty that you will not lose your job or have any difficulty in obtaining another one. From what we see here, almost all employers (and voluntary organisations) understand that not paying a railway fare correctly is a mistake that a lot of people make: it perhaps shows that your judgement isn't absolutely perfect, but that's how most people's judgement is. The point where employers and so on start to get worried is when someone covers up a conviction. That adds the problem of dishonesty to the initial problem of having a conviction for not having paid a train fare properly.

But going to court is almost certainly not what will happen next. Most likely TfW (or their agents - some train companies employ an organisation called 'Travel Investigations Ltd') will write to you, maybe to tell you that they are thinking about prosecution, but also to ask you if there is anything you want to tell them. At this point, I would suggest you explain the circumstances - much as you have done above. And it would also be sensible to explain that you now realise that you are meant to have sorted out your train fare before starting a journey, that you are sorry for your mistake and you will not make the mistake again. You should also offer to compensate TfW for any unpaid fare and for the costs they have incurred.

It is then quite likely, but not certain, that TfW will offer to settle, with costs of maybe £100 to £150. If you agree to settle on those terms, then you will not have to go to court and risk having a criminal conviction.

If TfW don't offer to settle, than you may ultimately go to court. But keep in touch with them - and each time offer to settle. We sometimes hear of cases where an out of court settlement was reached by talking to the railway's prosecutor on the day of the trial, so it's always worth trying to reach an agreement.

Or - just possibly - when the inspector has a look at their notes, they will decide not to take any action. But the railway has six months to take something like this to court (and the court then has a few weeks to let you know that there's a court case due against you) so make sure that you keep an eye on your post for the next seven or eight months. If you don't hear anything in that time (and the railway had your right address) then nothing more will happen and you have been let off.

Thank you for your reply! I am willing to take a settlement cost on the chin, it was my mistake and I admit I didn't understand the severity as fully as I should have, I will always ensure I purchase any ammendments to my journey in advance to avoid this kind of thing in future. Hopefully I can put this across to them in my letter to them when they write back to me and they will hopefully decide on this course of action at the most.

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you so much for your response, I really appreciate it. As far as I'm aware I believed it stopped at the boundary station, but all the stops are very short so you don't get much time to jump off and reach the ticket machine then get back on. Thinking about it with hindsight I should have got the guard's attention at the stop and asked for advice, something I will always do from now on.

It's definitely been a big wake up call that you can't just assume anything with rail travel and hope it will all be ok.

I spent a very sleepless night trawling through advice online and the best I can hope for is that they will understand my circumstances when I give my response, and realise this is not something I would ever have done intentionally. I certainly accept that I made an error continuing the journey before I purchased my ticket but I honestly just did not think with everything going on with my family, so I do understand the logic behind the officer's decision. It's certainly been a shock to the system.


The difference was approximately £4 for the further destination, when I bought my secondary ticket I paid for the whole journey in full from the origin of travel.


Thank you for your reply! I am willing to take a settlement cost on the chin, it was my mistake and I admit I didn't understand the severity as fully as I should have, I will always ensure I purchase any ammendments to my journey in advance to avoid this kind of thing in future. Hopefully I can put this across to them in my letter to them when they write back to me and they will hopefully decide on this course of action at the most.

Thanks - my point about the stop at the station is it makes a difference if you had bought an add on (you don't have to get off and head to ticket machine, just need 2 tickets but train must stop at break point (aka 'split ticketing' which is legit))

We can check that for you but you would need to post date and time of train you were on (or send via direct message if you do not want to post it)

But you have mentioned a really important point in passing here - that you bought a whole new ticket with the app and only activated that on platform when alighting. Unknowing to you that maybe makes it look worse than showing your original ticket (although I guess you tried to explain that to the staff?).

so

If you still have it make sure you keep the rtn portion of your original ticket as well as the evidence of your new ticket - you can use a scan of it in your reply if needed. A fare dodger might well only activate a ticket on the platform when they saw staff, that you already had a ticket for part of the trip is important to explain in your answer, and to show that in my view. Keep the evidence.

No need for sleepless nights - just come back to this forum with any questions and advice you need. You will get good advice here as this progresses.

I think @Fawkes Cat gives a very good outline of next steps etc and best course of action.

 

[Wales2020]

Thanks - my point about the stop at the station is it makes a difference if you had bought an add on (you don't have to get off and head to ticket machine, just need 2 tickets but train must stop at break point (aka 'split ticketing' which is legit))

We can check that for you but you would need to post date and time of train you were on (or send via direct message if you do not want to post it)

But you have mentioned a really important point in passing here - that you bought a whole new ticket with the app and only activated that on platform when alighting. Unknowing to you that maybe makes it look worse than showing your original ticket (although I guess you tried to explain that to the staff?).

so

If you still have it make sure you keep the rtn portion of your original ticket as well as the evidence of your new ticket - you can use a scan of it in your reply if needed. A fare dodger might well only activate a ticket on the platform when they saw staff, that you already had a ticket for part of the trip is important to explain in your answer, and to show that in my view. Keep the evidence.

No need for sleepless nights - just come back to this forum with any questions and advice you need. You will get good advice here as this progresses.

I think @Fawkes Cat gives a very good outline of next steps etc and best course of action.

Thank you for your advice, now is just the waiting game to recieve communication from them.

I can of course direct message you with the train I caught, the origin of the journey, the stop my return ticket covered, and the final stop I got off if you think you might have any additional information that may be useful for this or the future.

The whole experience has made me really anxious, but all I can do is explain things from my side and hope they show some understanding. I'll come back to the forums when I receive my letter from them, you've all been amazingly helpful so far!

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you for your advice, now is just the waiting game to recieve communication from them.

I can of course direct message you with the train I caught, the origin of the journey, the stop my return ticket covered, and the final stop I got off if you think you might have any additional information that may be useful for this or the future.

The whole experience has made me really anxious, but all I can do is explain things from my side and hope they show some understanding. I'll come back to the forums when I receive my letter from them, you've all been amazingly helpful so far!

Cheers - prob no need to have your train details at this stage, it would have been pertinent had you bought an 'add on' (or often called an Excess Fare) but as you bought a whole new ticket from origin it's not so important. In your reply to them you can use that your advance in the points you make eg

"I had no intention to evade any fare for this journey which is why when I bought the new ticket to cover the travel beyond station B to station C I bought a new single ticket commencing from Station A to be sure that it was valid. I bought that en route (having boarded with a valid ticket from Station A to Station B that I had purchased earlier in the day), but in error only realised I needed to activate the ticket as I left the train, which is what I did before being questioned by the staff member concerned". or some such wording.

 

[tornado]

Slightly off-topic but I think TFW should change this strange activation system for e-tickets. Nobody else does that, and most people aren't used to it on this, or other modes of transport. The few times I've used TFW I've nearly forgotten the activation part too. It's natural to think in your mind that once you've purchased a ticket that's it. Perhaps it's becaues they don't have the money to invest in gate scanners?

 

[Llanigraham]

Slightly off-topic but I think TFW should change this strange activation system for e-tickets. Nobody else does that, and most people aren't used to it on this, or other modes of transport. The few times I've used TFW I've nearly forgotten the activation part too. It's natural to think in your mind that once you've purchased a ticket that's it. Perhaps it's becaues they don't have the money to invest in gate scanners?

But the instructions when you buy it and when you receive it state you have to activate it before you board, and I am sure I have had to do it on other services.

 

[tornado]

I never said that they didn't.

 

[Wallsendmag]

eTickets don't need activating , thats more a trait of mTickets