Train Fare Fine

msa1204

First think to bear in mind that these penalties and correspondence are there to be a deterrent.  

 

Think you need to go back to your grandson as there’s more this account then you are giving. Railway ticketing systems do not take account of your date of birth, they rely on your selecting the correct ticket. 

 

In order to get the discount your grandson must have declared he had a railcard , or purchased a child’s ticket which on the railway ends at 16

 

Did your grandson ever have a railcard?

Was he traveling on a child ticket?

 

Some of the railway ticketing sites think they are being helpful and remember once you have used railcard and continue to apply it till you tell you remove it.

 

As other have already said you could get detailed help from. https://www.railforums.co.uk/forums/disputes-prosecutions.152/

 But they will need far more ticket information about what ticket was purchased. It might be worth getting your grandson to post on their himself, so he can understand what went wrong and prevent errors in the further.

daveyjp

Method of payment is irrelevant, that comes at the end of the buying process and doesn't in any way set the price of the ticket.

It is more likely the app or site used to purchase the ticket has cookies which stored the last ticket type he bought, so any discounts from a previous purchase were applied to this ticket.

However even if he had the wrong ticket it does not mean a Penalty Fare was the correct sanction or only solution to the problem.

rollingmoon

Magsmad1058 said:

Thank you to those people who haven't been rude and judgmental.  Snotty comments such as teaching him a life lesson are both unwarranted and unwelcome.  If you can't simply give advice as requested then don't bother to respond. My grandson paid with ApplePay and apparently the discount that should have ended when he turned 18 a few weeks ago was still applied by the system.  If  his date of birth was on the system why was the discount still automatically applied after his 18th birthday?    Had the system indicated that there was a problem or indeed declined payment of the discounted amount then my grandson would have paid the correct fare. I would add that the letter he received is written in an extremely frightening and intimidating manner.  It does not even mention how to appeal or to how to explain the circumstances of the error.   Having seen this in a recent newspaper article I was minded to ask for advice in my original post.   'The current Rail Minister (as of mid-2025) is Peter Hendy, who, along with the ORR, has acknowledged the need to improve the ticketing system and enforcement to avoid penalizing passengers who make honest errors.'   

Another vote for daveyjp's suggestion of Railforums... you'll get far better advice over there without the pompous spam posts this place is rapidly gaining a reputation for.

t0rt0ise

He obviously had a 16-17 saver railcard which does put the onus on the holder to stop using it at 18. I would advise him to pay the fine. I can't think that there are any real grounds for appeal.

silverwhistle

I read some of the unsympathetic comments but have seen others have already called them out.

We have a notoriously complicated ticketing regime in this country, with different routes and companies, with frequent unavailable routes and other difficulties. Fewer open ticket offices, machines that don't work, or in the case of my local station unreadable in certain light conditions, being pushed on-line with the difficulty that causes. Where mistakes are made there seems an absence of common-sense resolution and a relish in punishment, which has been echoed but some on here.

I recently had to renew my senior railcard. Fortunately it arrived on time but the rules state that I had to have the card in my possession when travelling. What would have happened if it hadn't arrived, how long would I have to wait for it, would there be a compensation for such delay or an extension of the validity? It appears to me that some of their T&Cs could be open to challenge since I had paid and could prove it.

UnsureAboutthis

Magsmad1058 said:

Thank you to those people who haven't been rude and judgmental.  Snotty comments such as teaching him a life lesson are both unwarranted and unwelcome.  If you can't simply give advice as requested then don't bother to respond. My grandson paid with ApplePay and apparently the discount that should have ended when he turned 18 a few weeks ago was still applied by the system.  If  his date of birth was on the system why was the discount still automatically applied after his 18th birthday?    Had the system indicated that there was a problem or indeed declined payment of the discounted amount then my grandson would have paid the correct fare. I would add that the letter he received is written in an extremely frightening and intimidating manner.  It does not even mention how to appeal or to how to explain the circumstances of the error.   Having seen this in a recent newspaper article I was minded to ask for advice in my original post.   'The current Rail Minister (as of mid-2025) is Peter Hendy, who, along with the ORR, has acknowledged the need to improve the ticketing system and enforcement to avoid penalizing passengers who make honest errors.'   

Hello, and thank you for coming back, as I felt you may not, for obvious reasons, you have touched on.

"Honest" mistakes happen daily and you are right about the way the rail network deals with this.

This won't help, but I've noted on multiple threads where someone asks a question, a question is often asked for help/guidance/recommendations. However, many times, a few will post as you have, as well as me and one other have noted.

My recommendation to you is, don't be put off as you have noted, there are people here who will try to give you their best advice without being judgmental or worse.

It really hurts very much when someone has made a genuine mistake, even having been careful, due to a genuine hurry, etc
and the people/organisation sending out the nasty letters don't make it easy on the victim to appeal/etc.

I hope it is all sorted to everyone's satisfaction soon.