Firstly, Thanks to anyone that takes the time to actually read this and help me So about a month ago I received a fine on the DLR for an invalid ticket. I was travelling from Colchester Town to Devons Road. I got my ticket in the morning from the ticket machines at the station as there was a que at the ticket office and I didn't want to miss my train. I saw on the screen it said 'London zones 1 - 6' and Devons Road being Zone 2, I clicked on that and got a return, it cost me £45. As far as I was concerned this was the correct ticket and I had no reason to believe that this wasn't! 1 stop before Devons Road a ticket inspector came round, I showed my ticket thinking it was valid, well I was then told it wasn't. I explained to the man that I simply followed the instructions on screen and it said zones 1 - 6 so I thought it was right. It turns out the ticket just says 'London Terminals' on the ticket, and doesn't say the zones, despite it saying on the machine the zones! After looking online it turns out if I got it from the ticket office and got the correct ticket my ticket would have cost me £44.90 (10p cheaper). And apparently after looking online 'London Terminals' literally only means to the furthest station in London that my original train calls at, which would be Liverpool St. It does not say this on the ticket machine though! Straight away I appealed this as I don't see it fair that because national rail haven't made it clear on the machines that I should be paying the fine for it when in theory I actually paid too much for my ticket! Why should I pay another £40 on top of this? It should be national rails problem, not mine! Anyway, they declined my appeal & I sent another appeal off to them. HOWEVER, the letter I got from them declining my appeal was dated 26th April 2012 and they said they had to receive my appeal within 14 days or I'd have to pay £80. Well I didn't even receieve their letter until the 4th May 2012 so that was 8 days gone already! I posted my letter back the next day 1st class but received a letter today from them saying i've now got to pay £80! I can't contact IRCAS because their number is just an automated line and even after looking for the number on here it just diverts me to an automated line! I refuse to pay ANY fine for this at all! National Rail should make these things clear on their ticket machines! I'm on JSA so can't afford it, but even if I could I wouldn't be willing to pay this, its just outrageous & disgusting! I had a ticket, and ended up paying more for it! Someone help me!

Hi, I hold a gold card on South West Trains which I currently pay £4,224 a year for. One day around 6 weeks ago I forgot my wallet and didn't realise until I was on the train as there are no barriers at my station and it was around 6.30am (still slightly sleepy). The guard was quite friendly and issued me with a penalty fare but said this would be wiped if i went into the station I kindly thanked the guard and went on with my journey (sleeping). I completely forgot about this until I received a letter stating I owe IRCAS £93, £63 for the journey and £30 in admin fees. What bothers me is I was sent no reminder of this ticket and would have therefore gone into the station or written them a letter to say I had a valid season ticket. It now states I am outside of the appeal time. I just feel I pay a lot of money to South West Trains to be treated like this, Is there anything I can do?

Hi all, I have been prosecuted and set a summon for not having a train tkt during a revenue check by southern rail at Gatwick airport. I plead not guilty and I due for a hearing on the 31st of Jan. in frotn of the Magistrate Court As I cannot afford a lawyer I am defending my self with little knowledge apart what I can read on line. Here the facts: back in September I took a train in a hurry at East Croydon Station with the idea that I could do a train ticket (tkt) on the same train. That's what I always knew since I have done it in the past (I have proof for that). This time a tkt officer did not pass by so I was gonna go at Gatwick tkt office to pay the train tkt for that same journey. Once off the train a revenue check was in action at the gate. As I saw them instantly I also saw a revenue officer before them dealing with a customer and I APPROACHED HIM waiting till he finished. When my turn came I explained the situation and asked kindly if I could do the ticket paying him. He said it was not possible and that I had to pay a Penalty Fare(PF). I refused to do so as I believed was not fare for the fact that I did my tkt on the train in the past, He said that it was not possible to do a tkt on the train. I refused to pay the PCN but he wrote a Witness Statement (WS) which I signed. The statement is a standard one where he put the case as he stopped me, asks me a tkt and I had not tkt to show hence the PF. There is part of the WS where the question is... 'I put it to you, that if I had not stopped you today, your rail fare would have been avoided. is that correct?'... My reply on the WS: 'I was going to the office to buy the tkt' . The officer said:' Why did you refuse a penalty fare?' I replied:'The gate was open at East Croydon and the train to Gatwick was arriving. I took the chance to do the tkt on the train as I have done in the past." I then signed it reading it quite quickly even realizing soon after that the way it was put it was as he had stopped me but I was the person to approach him. The prosecution in fact is based on the fact that I was stopped. I also asked a copy of the statement and he refused to give me one even if they had a double carbon copy there , he also asked to another officer in the distance and he confirmed that I should not be given any copy. Is this possible? It should be our right to have a copy. Before receiving the summon I exchanged few letters with the Prosecutor where I re-wrote my statement explaining again the situation and how the facts went including the fact that I had done a tkt on the train in the past with no Penalty and that I had proof. Those were not accepted and they asked for a Summon. The prosecutor in this letter says also: ''You will have noted that if a conductor sells a tkt on board one of our trains the tkt is endorsed with a Penalty Fare Warning as conductors are not licensed by DfT to issue Penalty Fare notice.' When I buy the tkt on the train I thought that's it I am done, I am not going to read the terms and condition behind the tkt . How many people would do that? Also in those terms and condition there is nothing saying that 'conductors are not licensed by DfT to issue Penalty Fare notice hence a warning is issued'. I think all should be more fair and clear to citizens. A lawyer gave me a free 1st consultation saying that he noted that: - You have pleaded not guilty to the offence. Hence, you will now no longer need to attend the Court on 23 December 2011 for the summons. The Court will now write to you with a new date for the trial. Please note that it is likely that the prosecution costs will also increase. - You will be appearing at Court because you could not produce a valid ticket for your train journey. The offence under which this relates is 18 (2) of the Railway Byelaws. The section states; 'A person shall hand over his ticket for inspection and verification of validity when asked to do so by an authorised person.' The potential defences to this are contained within 18 (3) of the Byelaws. I do not think that you have a defence under these as they are essentially when there are no facilities, a notice stating you do not need to pay, or permission to travel without a valid ticket. However, under section 2 it states that you should show a valid ticket when asked to do so. You may have a defence here as you were not asked to show a ticket by the inspector, instead, you approached him. You will have to confirm if he ever actually asked you for a ticket. Could I argue the inconsistency of the operate of Southern rail because I have done the ticket on the train before? On their Terms & Condition there is a point saying (I was not aware of all the Terms & Cond. till I read them now): "Can I pay at my destination if I am in a rush? No, if you board on a train with no ticket, then you may] have to pay a Penalty Fare." I am underlining the word MAY which I believe is a further point to argue as they may issue or may not issue the ticket Could this be a winning case? is anyone gone through a similar situation? Still did not understand if this is a criminal or civil matter. I also fee that the statement should had been sent to me before the summon and when there was a first conversation with the Prosecutor where initially was offered to me to pay 35 pounds to resolve the matter. Reading the Witness statement I signed, I could have remembered what I said or how it was putted from their side so for me maybe deciding differently and may be paying the sum. Or point put to the prosecutor that I was to approach them not that I was stopped so to make them think twice. Who knows! Would be nice also to know whai and if I could ask money back for damage or else in case I win. I have no idea how it works for this in Court. I look forward to hearing from some one back!...