Hi,

This morning i was travelling from Kent into London - i have a monthly travelcard which allows me to do so, just not valid on the high speed into St Pancras. I was running late for work and missed my usual train and decided to jump on the high speed and hopefully see if my travelcard would get me through the barriers.

Obviously my ticket didn't allow me through, i panicked (as it was getting later and later) and decided just to tap through the barrier, at this point i was stopped by two undercover ticket inspectors. They looked at my card and realised it was not valid on High Speed and they went through the process of writing a statement and taking my details etc to pass onto the South eastern prosecution.

My question is:

As i had a semi valid ticket (just not on the HS1) will they take that into consideration? Or is non-valid seen as non valid.

I have just moved to Kent and in the first month of moving there i got two fines from Greenwich which i paid off - will these previous incidents be taken in consideration when they decide whether to prosecute or will it be a case by case basis?

I have written a letter and provided details of my travel card and apologised for my lack of judgement and offered my sincerest apologies. Should i wait in sending the letter until i receive the prosecution letter or shall i send it straight away now?

Any help would be really appreciated.

I feel so stupid as my entire purpose of getting this high speed was to make it into work on time the irony is i was an hour late and now got this looming over me!!

Welcome to CAG - Arh the old HS1 Debacle...

Your ticket wouldnt have been valid anyway regardless if you had tapped out with Contactless. CP is only available from Stratford Int...

I used to work for Govia (SE's parent company) Social Media Team - Just from the amount of queries i can tell you this;

- Non Valid is Non Valid...

- If you have already had PFN - Then these maybe taken into consideration if a repeat offender...

- Wait for the letter from them and itll usually give options of a fine etc which you maybe able to pay... Wait for it...

It may be viewed as a genuine mistake on your part - and Govia MAY take that into consideration... But question is... What will you do going forward after this?

(Not judging you at all - Here to help )

It may be viewed as a genuine mistake on your part - and Govia MAY take that into consideration... But question is... What will you do going forward after this?

Hi, thanks for your reply!

I mean, i don't ever take this route normally - i go into London Victoria every morning it was just on this occasion i decided i would risk it as i had missed my usual train in - They even asked if they checked CCTV cameras would they see me coming into Victoria and was asking me about my previous days travel, which i also found odd. The lady also threatened to take my travel card, which i also didn't understand. I was courteous and gave them all the relevant details etc.

I'll hold off sending my letter - do these people take into consideration the implications that a criminal record could have? For what i have done, admittedly stupid, it really isnt a calculated crime, and seems extreme just for not having a ticket with HS1 access.

Thing is though, you didnt have a ticket that was valid... That a breach of the byelaws for the railway

Its not extreme - Just normal... But I will say this outloud... Govia do like to get a bit PFN Slappy Happy when they are having a bad day...

IS this the only time you have had an issues with HS1 travel - Or are you not telling us the whole truth? ^_^

OP should have purchased a supplement ticket before board the train

https://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/tickets/more-ways-to-travel/high-speed

No excuses....

https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/not-valid-on-high-speed.173265/

await the letter.!!

dx