I've been told by a tfl rpi that keeping your Oyster card near your mobile phone could temporarily do something like this but that eventually it would go back to normal. It would be interesting to know if anything had more lasting effects.

Would it have any bearing on the case if the RPI breached byelaws himself in getting my information? e.g. He refused to show me ID, only wrote down his first name and ID number.

I've tried several times to ask them to send me a JSR but no one knew what I was talking about. Each time, they just sent the usual online journey history statement which does not show the extra swipe, although they can see it them selves on their system. Would I need to have topped up my card online to be able to get this? As I have always topped up at the station.

That's great thank you! Can you please tell me where I can get a Journey Status Report??

Could you please also send a shaper image of the journey status report as the image isn't very clear? Thanks!

I'm afraid, Urbanite, that it still hasn't been resolved. I'm interested in your information about statements. Is the Journey Status Report the one with all the codes identifying each touch you made with the Oyster? And where can I get one of these?? No one at the Oyster Helpline seems to know about this.

Sorry, of course you didn't give him money as he didn't give you a penalty fare! The first thing you need to do is call the Oyster helpline on 0845 330 9876. Ask them to check your journey history and give them the details of the 'touch' in question and they can check if it was validated. If so, you then just need to send a copy of this statement to the address on the letter that you'll receive which will most likely be entitled 'Notice of Intent to prosecute'. And that will be an end to the matter. There have been some serious glitches in the system that have not been made public, and though being aware of it a certain toc has chosen to benefit from it. Let us know how you get on. And if you get back to me with the answers to my previous questions, I might have an idea of what the problem is.

Don't worry, and don't let them bully and scare you into paying out money that you probably shouldn't be. It sounds very similar to what happened to me. Did you give this guy any money? Can you tell me where this happened? Did it concern TFL or a train company?

Also, does anyone know of any problems with Oyster card when you attempt to swipe twice at an interchange i.e. to start a new journey? (It was unnecessary but thought I'd better take the precaution....and am paying for the mistake now).

Thank you all! But the important thing is would it still show up if the Oyster reader had not recorded the swipe properly and what would the code be for that? Where can I find a break-down of what the codes mean? And where would I stand if the swipe wasn't recorded properly? I was pretty sure I heard it beep as usual.

Could you please let me know as soon as you can if it is recorded when an Oyster reader doesn't read your card properly? Thanks!

Also, were the customer service people able to see on their systems when a swipe wasn't recorded properly?

Hi, I found this thread really interesting because I think I had something quite similar happen to me recently where I touched out then touched in again to start a new journey at the same station. Could you please tell me what the time limit is and if it can affect your second swipe being recorded properly? Thanks!

Hi, I'm still curious to know what the originall problem was in my case so would be really grateful if you could answer a few more questions. By "the print-out from the Oyster monitoring system" do you mean the journey's history? As I don't think it shows up when a card has not been recorded properly. Would you know where I could get a print-out for the Oyster reader used, would it show when it had not read a card properly, and the number of that card? Thanks!

Point taken Grotesque! The matter has been settled. Thank you everyone for all your advice!

I had no intention of travelling without a valid ticket. The Oyster reader failed to read my card. I feel more angry than contrite about all the lies the rpi told and the way he breached many of the penalty fares rules. Thank you for all your help, but I'm guessing you all work for the railway companies?

Sorry only just saw your reply. So are you saying that there is nothing I can do about this barely legalized extortion except pay up?

Thank you, and do you have any advice about the questions I asked in the post before that?

Also, is it true that if it went to court, I wouldn't be able to get legal aid to fight my case?

Thank you for your advice Old-CodJA. The incident happened between 17.37 and 18.00 on a Monday. Could you please tell me who I should apply to for the printout from the Oyster monitoring service and what this would consist of? I have asked TFL for the CCTV footage but am still awaiting a response. I swiped my Oyster card as you described, and had sufficient credit on my card to pay for the brief journey three times over, which was not checked by the rpi. I've obtained a printout of my Oyster card usage which shows me swiping in at Victoria Park and swiping out at Finsbury Park, but not that I swiped in again at FP. What do you think? And isn't it true that I need to have embarked on my journey from a penalty fare location for the penalty to be legal? I did not travel from Victoria by Southern or Southeast trains which it seems would have made it a penalty fare location, but by underground. Would you know where I stand with regards to this? Thanks.

I have just read something about penalty fare locations, and wonder if the penalty was illegal because I travelled from Victoria via the underground? The journey was paid from Victoria to Finsbury Park, but due to problem with Oyster reader at FP, it wasn't paid for between FP and Harringay (which was via first capital connect).

I needed to get to Harringay, but ended up in Alexandra Palace as I'd mistakenly gotten on the fast train which didn't stop at Harringay. He intercepted me on the bridge between platforms. Is there any particular area they need to stick to or can they go anywhere? I noticed the rest of the RPIs were near the exit, but he probably wanted to make a pre-emptive strike. Also, if a conviction for National Railways Byelaw 18.2 is non-recordable does that I mean I do not get a criminal record? And how much would the fine for this be?

Just thought I'd add that I'd overshot my station as I'd gotten on the wrong train which didn't stop there and was not trying to exit the station where the rpi stopped me, and was instead looking for the right platform to go back. Does this make any difference?

Hello, Could you please tell me what kind of fine Railway Bylaw 18 prosecution would entail and if it would also mean being given a criminal record? It seems really unjust that they can still charge you with this when there was no intent to travel illegally. The incident happened at Finsbury Park, I was leaving the Victoria line to change to the train and it being my first time thought that I would need to swipe in once when leaving the underground, then a second time before boarding the train to travel one stop. I've since been told that I needn't have swiped at all there. I used two different Oyster readers, one near the exit to the underground and another by the stairs leading up to the platforms. There weren't any ticket gates. The rest of my journey from Victoria had been paid for. Under these circumstances, do you think that the RPI could have been a bit more understanding? It was just one stop and obviously a mistake as I had paid a lot more for travelling from elsewhere in the country that day. I thought that I'd just heard a beep as usual. Do you think that I have any kind of case? Thanks again Stifle!

Hi Stifle, Thank you for your reply. I'm afraid that I didn't realize there was a problem the second time that I swiped the card until the RPI stopped me. I heard it beep and assumed it was fine. Do all Oyster readers have the small screen telling you your credit or to seek assistance etc? As I'm not sure that this one had one. Would it be possible to insist that they check the CCTV which would verify that I had swiped the card? Should I still settle if I had no intention of travelling without a valid ticket and it was their machine that had malfunctioned as it didn't record my second swipe?