In recent months there have been media reports of Railway companies seeking to prosecute commuters for travelling with invalid tickets when genuine errors made when purchasing tickets.
Sam , a commuter was travelling using his 16-25 railcard on a journey that only allowed the discounted fare to be applied after 10am. He was unaware of the discrete rules that resulted in them having to explain their position to Northern Rail who were considering prosecution.
He had travelled the same route using the same railcard not knowingly travelling unlawfully until being was stopped on this occasion. His request to inspectors to pay the difference of £1.90 was refused. Subsequently he was informed that he would receive papers by post with the possibility that a criminal prosecution would be pursued against him, all for a journey that saw him inadvertently avoiding paying £1.90. News
The passenger in the second case was travelling on Govia Thameslink with an old railcard, namely her 16-25 instead of her current 26-30 card. Both cards afforded her the same discount but since the cards were different, she faced prosecution by the network. She subsequently learned that she had been prosecuted for a separate incident on the network a month before, in June 2024 and was only made aware of the case when it transpired that court papers had been sent to the wrong address, demanding that she pay £450 in her absence. Only after the intervention of her MP was the case dropped.
We regularly find that prosecutions teams at national railway companies are willing to accept out of court settlements when clients instruct us to approach the network to make representations
However, the concern that such cases raise is the lack of transparency in a national railway’s rules and regulations when passengers purchase tickets. Despite networks such as Northern
Govia Thameslink, South-eastern, South-western and Chiltern railways stating that these rules are clearly set down and accessible to all railway users, we have seen hundreds of people taking to social media to express their surprise when they breach the rules and receive prosecution notices. Often commuters don’t find out until after they have been convicted by the Single Justice Procedure whereby the Magistrates decide cases behind closed doors .
Despite the Department for Transport promising the biggest overhaul of our railways in over a generation, including the simplification of fares, there seems that there is a long way to go before people regain trust in how these rules and regulations are presented by railway companies to their consumers.
Passenger watchdog Transport Focus has asked for companies to be more proportionate and handle such cases as those above more fairly when individuals mistakenly avoid paying the relevant fare.
Do contact our team on 0207 837 3456 should you require advice and assistance in a matter with any national railway network and face the prospect of prosecution.