PLEASEEE HELP ME
Recently I was Travelling from london victoria to brighton... got stopped at brighton barrier
Inspector asked for my railcard and i stood to the side looked at the ticket and said i do not have one all i have is my student card.
She told me she would have to write a fail to carry ticket and started up convo about why i was in Brighton started askin about my uni and what i study even suggested i work for sourthern rail lol.
She was very nice
The ticket was a single w 16/25 rail discount
She told me all i needed to do was produce a railcard and scan it to the email she went me within 14 days which i have done....
I wasnt offered a penalty fare
The reason the discount was on there in tbe first place was bc i’d used my trainline account to book a ticket for my friend who had a railcard then i forgot to remove it for myself as i was in a rush, my mistake completely, i travel a sourthern rail a lot of typically buy full priced tickets. Altho i have now bought a railcard It was purchased on the day of the incident
The whole conversation was brief and i was not questioned and i believe there was some confusion ...
Now i am wondering whether i should send them a. Email before they send me a letter (if they do which i think they will)
Dear sir/madam,
I am writing you regarding my previous email and an event that took place on the 5th June 2018 at Brighton station.
Upon getting to the barriers I was stopped by an officer who looked at my ticket and asked to see my 16-25 railcard.
I stood to the side and was confused for a moment and I told her I did not have one, I only had my student card, she took me to the side further and said she would have to write a fail to carry slip, she did not caution me or ask me any questions, only asked for ID which I gave and told me to produce a railcard and scan it to this address.
Afterwards she pointed me towards a man who let me out.
However, I believe a mistake was made as I told her I did not have a railcard only a student card.
Initially when I went to book my ticket to brighton I booked it online however having previously used my account to book my friend a ticket who has a railcard, the discount was still there but I did not realise.
This is because you have to manually remove the discount and at the time I was in a rush and must have overlooked it. It was my mistake and I sincerely sincerely apologise.
I have never had any ultercations with ticket inspectors previously, always having valid tickets. I done what the woman told me however and bought a railcard and scanned it.
However, since I was still confused I went online and after looking at sourthern’s website I realise that usually a £20 penalty fare is issued for such an incident.
I was not given the choice of a penalty fare and I am not sure if the inspector misheard me or if there was general mis communication as the whole conversation was very brief.
I must stress that I am sincerely sorry for what has occured and I take full responsibility for my mistake.
I understand that I need to be more vigilant and have since purchased a railcard to avoid myself ever making the same mistake.
I am willing to pay the full price of the original fare and any additional admin costs.
I have just completed a degree in Psychology and do not want this to effect anything in the future.
I understand the seriousness of this incident but it was a genuine mistake I respect and appreciate the services offered by sourthern and GTR and hope you accept my sincerest apologies.
Is this okay? Should I mail it also?
Thanks