hi, i am new here but already reading everyones advice has helped me out loads with different issues over the past few months. This is one that i feel i am stuck with, and i need your help to figure out how to stop this, or at least stop it going the distance. at this point, as much as it pains me to say they have worn me down and i would ok with paying a fine if it meant it keeps my record clean (i teach kids sports after school and having a clean record is important to me) I'm being bullied by TIL (same as other people) except that this is only occuring because the station i boarded the train on (cross gates) ticket office closes at 2pm and the train was packed as it was a delayed service so when i got off at wakefield westgate i approached a person in a high vis jacket to ask where to buy a ticket (as i needed the return to leeds later) who turned out to be a RPO! he stopped me from buying a ticket by starting these procedings. he told me i would recieve a letter asking me to pay the ticket in 14 days and i left the station, angry but appeased at the same time all of the finer points of the story is contained in the scans of the correspondance between TIL myself and the other person i was travelling with, I need to know am I on the right course? do i need to change tact? is there anywhere else i could go to get this sorted? how far can i take this without risking court/criminal sentence? if you have any questions about my side of things then i will be checking back regularly to keep you informed. 4 Our Letter 2.pdf Thanks in advance guys 4 (1) Correspondance.pdf 1 Correspondance.pdf 2 Correspondance.pdf 3 Our Letter.pdf

Hi, Thanks in advance for taking the time to read/respond to my post. I have just been sent a letter from Transport Investigations Ltd for travel with no valid ticket. Looks like there's a lot of people in a similar postion from other posts on here (and elsewhere). The letter states that they are considering prosecuting me under the the Railway Byelaws (2005) or Regulation of Railways Act (1889), and that I have to get back to them soon in writing with any mitigation I wish to be considered. Detail: The letter related to when I was stopped from buying my usual weekly ticket (which expired the day before) at my destination station (Cardiff Queen Street) by TIL staff, and interviewed. [...and yes, following this, I now know that I should always get the ticket from my departure station, and not on the train or at the arrival station!]. Prior to being stopped, I could have bought my ticket at my departure station (but ran on to the train that day), but couldn't on the train (as no guard/inspector came down the train on that day), and couldn't at Queen Street (as the TIL staff stopped me doing so). There are several points I thought I should be making as part of a mitigation statement to TIL (or any letter to Arriva trains prior to that) which I've put below. My question is: Do you think there's any point in me even giving my mitigation points (below)?.. . as I can't say I had a valid ticket for the journey I was making, as my weekly pass had expired the day before, and presumeably that's what I'd end up being prosecuted for. What would you do at this point? Mitigation: 1- that I didn't know it was wrong to buy tickets on the train or at the destination station 2- that buying on the train, or destination station, is never challenged or even discouraged (...and if it had been before this TIL 'sting', I would have known I shouldn't do it, and wouldn't have done it!) 3- that I was stopped from buying my weekly ticket by the TIL staff before the ticket officer could issue it 4- that it isn't even possible to leave my destination station without a ticket, due to the automated barriers in place there 5- that I buy a weekly ticket (every week for several years), so am obviously not looking to evade payment, and can prove this (as I pay by card) Thanks again for taking the time to read/respond to my post.