Cautioned by Railway staff in London?

Question

What happens if you get cautioned by railway staff in the UK if you havent got a ticket? Do you go to court?

I lost my cash card so couldnt pay for the train. Asked for a penalty fare at Liverpool St and ended up getting cautioned.

I couldnt pay the £10.80 this morning so assumed I could get a penalty fare and pay that at a later date when my new card comes through. .nothing wrong with my logic at all

Answer 1

As an employee of the Railways, the answer is pretty simple.
GET A TICKET!
For all passengers on the system, each must hold a valid ticket or permit to travel. If you are starting from most stations in the South East, you will be able to obtain a ticket from a Ticket office, Self Service Ticket Machine, if both are not working or a station does not have these facilities, there will be a Permit to Travel machine, this will issue a small stub ticket for as much change as you can spare, this HAS to be redeemed within two hours of purchase for a ticket, which can be done either by the Conductor on the service, Revenue officer or at your destination.
Failure to carry either of these is a breach of the Railways Bylaws.
You could then be issued a Penalty fare, which is rated as follows, DOUBLE the single fare to the next stop or £20 whichever is the greater and then a STANDARD SINGLE fare from that point to your destination with no discount.
You then have a designated time normally of 28 days to go to your local manned Ticket Office to pay the amount, failure to do so could lead to prosecution.
Now this does not mean you will go to court. 9 out of 10 cases do not get that far and payment is made, or case is dropped due to appeal, etc. But there is still the chance it could happen.
The Revenue Protection Officers, do have the powers of detention, caution and restraint, like the Customs and Excise, they do have a lot more powers than the police in some cases.

On another point. If you lose your cash, credit, debit cards etc and have no means of payment, before you travel you can get a friend to purchase your ticket at another location or by phone to a customer service agaent for the company. This is called a 'SILK' arrangement, it does require an administration charge, it takes a little longer because there is the paperwork to fill in both ends and does require a ticket office to be open to issue the ticket, but it is cheaper than a Penalty fare!
Just think yourself lucky that you was not travelling on a long distance service, if you had not got a ticket they charge you a FULL standard fare to your destination and when you think that London to Birmingham is almost £100 for a Standard Single, you could see the real cost of train travel.

Answer 2

You don't have any money so you can't buy a ticket... and then ask for a penalty fare (which costs more than a ticket)... there is something badly wrong with your logic here.

In any case, you were breaking criminal law and you may be liable for prosecution. If you are unable to pay the penalty fare on the spot then you may make part payment and pay the rest within 21 days. If you are prosecuted then the maximum penalty is £1000 and/or 3 months imprisonment, with the criminal record that goes with it.

Next time, just pay. It's so much easier.

Answer 3

that has to be the longest answer i have ever seen....