***Update***As of yesterday, received a 'Travel Irregularity' letter, making refernce to an offence of 'entering a train for the purpose of travelling without a ticket entitling travel'. Then given an option of paying £61 to deal with the matter without court action. I called the Prosecutions Department and paid by card today.Glad the matter is resolved, but still completely none the wiser as to how a penalty fare of £22 escalated into a £61 payment to avoid court action.My advice is:>avoid using carnets - one forgetful moment can cost you!>offer to pay any penalty mentioned IMMEDIATELY, then appeal afterward.Thanks for the advice all, and good luck with your travels!

Thanks for shedding some light on the situation. I'm usually very conscientious when using carnets, and after an ordeal of a morning, I let my concentration slip. Hopefully, not having any previous record, I'll be given an opportunity to resolve things in good time. I'll update accordingly!

I'm still at a loss to know why a proposed penalty fare suddenly evolved into a caution...

Thanks HB - looking over the T'S and C's of carnet use, I notice that I wasn't asked to pay a full fare either. I continue to be stumped!

Hi, I wonder if anyone can advise me... Yesterday, on my journey to Farringdon, from St Albans City, I was asked to present my ticket to Revenue Protection Inspector. I presented an unused carnet, and had only just finished writing the date on it in permanent marker. I normally do this before getting on the train, but was running very late. My wife is about to accept medical retirement, so there's a lot of heavy stuff going on at home, and my brain was a little scrambled! Unfortunately, the RPI informed me that he would be issuing a £22 penalty that I could pay immediately. I declined this offer,saying that I wanted to appeal the penalty fare instead. The RPI then asked me for identification, so I provided my driver’s licence. He then proceeded to issue me with a caution, and warned me that anything I said would be used in court. I'm baffled as I hadn't refused to pay the penalty fare, just that I would have liked to contest it. I thought that RPI's need to explain the appeals process?I understand that not writing the correct date does consitute a breach of carnet use, but I can't understand at what point I went from having a penalty fare to being issued a caution. I was very subdued and polite throughout the whole encounter, but left not knowing what alleged offence I was being cautioned for, and what would happen next. I was not presented with any actual penalty notice, the RPI retained my ticket, and he asked me to sign a document without reading anything back to me. Am I now facing a notice of prosecution? What advice would you offer as how to try and resolve this issue, I'm baffled! The last thing my family needs is their Dad banged up for not scribbling a date on his ticket!