Someone gave my name in when they got caught on the train without a ticket

[Randomface74]

no reason for you to answer the letter

 

[Frodo1805]

no reason for you to answer the letter

end thread.

 

[MrMoonX]

It's quite frankly retarded that you can face criminal proceedings over a train ticket from a private company, just shows that the criminal law is being used to protect private money. The law should have changed when the railways were sold off by Thatcher, private companies should be made to use private law.
In any case you should respond and state you were not there and ask them for proof it was you.

 

[Randomface74]

it's actually a really interesting concept, because it implies you can travel on train for free providing you leave them with a name and address - which you can just get from the phonebook at random.

would be pretty entertaining if a whole carriage full of passengers attempted this at the same time.

 

[SexyGreyFox]

no reason for you to answer the letter

I'll take the advice of one of our forum coppers above.

I would ring the Mersey Rail numbers off the web and if they know nothing then it's a scam - simples.
If it is official then your conversation takes a different path and ask them for evidence since you haven't been on a train for x amount of years.

it's actually a really interesting concept, because it implies you can travel on train for free providing you leave them with a name and address - which you can just get from the phonebook at random.

would be pretty entertaining if a whole carriage full of passengers attempted this at the same time.

I was thinking the same thing - surely you have to show proof?

 

[Burnsy2023]

it's actually a really interesting concept, because it implies you can travel on train for free providing you leave them with a name and address - which you can just get from the phonebook at random.

would be pretty entertaining if a whole carriage full of passengers attempted this at the same time.

If there was doubt over your sincerity when stating your identity, you'd just be arrested by BTP.

 

[Burnsy2023]

I would ring the Mersey Rail numbers off the web and if they know nothing then it's a scam - simples.
If it is official then your conversation takes a different path and ask them for evidence since you haven't been on a train for x amount of years.

I would do this.

 

[MrMoonX]

If there was doubt over your sincerity when stating your identity, you'd just be arrested by BTP.

Do BTP do anything though? Cos all I seem to see them doing is checking tickets, sitting around at stations and asking people to take the feet off the seats, seems like a good waste of money outside of London anyway.

 

[Burnsy2023]

Do BTP do anything though? Cos all I seem to see them doing is checking tickets, sitting around at stations and asking people to take the feet off the seats, seems like a good waste of money outside of London anyway.

I've done some work with them centred around cable/scrap metal theft, other than that I can't comment.

 

[[TW]Fox]

There is a MASSIVE difference between this sort of thing and private carparking companies.

The railways are controlled by a set of legally enforceable bylaws. Unlike almost every other organisation out there, the railway companies can prosecute you. If you have absolutely nothing to do with the offence then why would you want to drag it out until they end up making you go to court? It's just a waste of everybodies time.

 

[[TW]Fox]

It's not rubbish, a ticket inspector can't force you to show a ticket after all you have already paid to use the service which means you have entered into a contract wih the train company to render a service.

It is rubbish, Bylaw 17 says:

17. Compulsory Ticket Areas

(1) No person shall enter a compulsory ticket area on the railway unless he has with him a valid ticket.
(2) A person shall hand over his ticket for inspection and verification of validity when asked to do so by an authorised person.

 

[arknor]

This is complete rubbish.

Don't they phone the police if you wont cooperate ?

saying you don't need to show your ticket is like saying you can walk out of a shop with a 60inch tv and your not obliged to show your receipt if stopped by security

 

[[TW]Fox]

Oh I see, so when you're guilty you can just write a letter saying "Nope, wasn't me!" and they'll stop at that? If they want to take him to court, they will, him writing back to them won't have any impact. It's the same with private parking companies and you know it.

It's nothing like the same as private parking companies which is why my advice is the opposite to what I'd usually say in a private parking company thrad.

You are right they need to prove it was him. But they'll end up trying to do this in court, why would the OP want any of that hassle if it genuinelly wasn't him? As far as they are concerned, currently, he has already been spoken to on-train and is now receiving the paperwork. If he ignores it, they'll have no idea it wasn't him and will proceed with court action.

 

[just Scott]

There is a MASSIVE difference between this sort of thing and private carparking companies.

The railways are controlled by a sort of legally enforceable bylaws. Unlike almost every other organisation out there, the railway companies can prosecute you. If you have absolutely nothing to do with the offence then why would you want to drag it out until they end up making you go to court? It's just a waste of everybodies time.

That is my immediate (albeit uninformed) thought to the ignore it posts also

 

[Martytoon]

It's quite frankly retarded that you can face criminal proceedings over a train ticket from a private company, just shows that the criminal law is being used to protect private money. The law should have changed when the railways were sold off by Thatcher, private companies should be made to use private law.
In any case you should respond and state you were not there and ask them for proof it was you.

But is travelling without a ticket any different to say walking into a shop and removing goods without paying - you'd face criminal proceedings in that case.

 

[sports_brah]

It's quite frankly retarded that you can face criminal proceedings over a train ticket from a private company, just shows that the criminal law is being used to protect private money. The law should have changed when the railways were sold off by Thatcher, private companies should be made to use private law.
In any case you should respond and state you were not there and ask them for proof it was you.

It is rubbish, Bylaw 17 says:

Absolutely.

I've got real issues with the trains, they are late, noisy smelly and sometimes just don't show up.

Try getting money back off them. Every time I've duly sent of the information saying it's an hour, two hours late etc, and everytime they just say there is not enough evidence.

Fleecers the lot of them.

 

[[TW]Fox]

But is travelling without a ticket any different to say walking into a shop and removing goods without paying - you'd face criminal proceedings in that case.

The difference is that Tesco can't prosecute you in the same way that the rail company car. Tesco would need to get the police involved.

 

[Martytoon]

There is a MASSIVE difference between this sort of thing and private carparking companies.

The railways are controlled by a set of legally enforceable bylaws. Unlike almost every other organisation out there, the railway companies can prosecute you. If you have absolutely nothing to do with the offence then why would you want to drag it out until they end up making you go to court? It's just a waste of everybodies time.

And time equals money. Those saying ignore it will also probably be the first to complain when fares rise in part to cover the operators increased cost in pursuing cases such as this.

 

[Robbo]

The amount of clueless people saying 'ignore it' is rather concerning. I doubt most of them would actually do that and are just being internet tough guys though. Usual story.

 

[bLinK]

Ignoring it would only cause more issues later on.