“I couldn’t believe, just by clicking the wrong button… that it counted as criminal activity. I was really shocked.”
Molly McGregor has not had a fun time travelling on the railways recently.
In June, the 29-year-old commuter was threatened with prosecution for selecting a 16-25 discounted train ticket instead of a 26-30 one from London Bridge to her home in St Albans. They both give the same discount.
That case has now been dropped after her MP intervened. But it was only when challenging it that Molly discovered she had also been prosecuted for a separate incident the month before.
She failed to turn up to court as the papers had been sent to a wrong address and she now fears she could have a criminal record.
Molly was prosecuted and fined £450 in her absence at court for not showing a railcard for her journey in May from St Albans to Luton Airport Parkway.
She claimed she had not uploaded her railcard to the app, but did prove she had bought one by showing the ticket inspector her receipt.
The rail company, Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), had sent the court letters to the wrong address and she never received them.
She says: “They got the wrong house number. It went to court without me present and I was found guilty.”
Molly now owes £450 and does not know if she has a criminal record.
She called the court but they said they could not tell her over the phone as that would count as legal advice and she would need to carry out a Disclosure and Barring Service check on herself to find out.
GTR says it gives passengers the opportunity to send in their valid railcards to stop action, adding it had provided details to Molly on how to resolve the court judgement.
It is the not the first time passengers have been confused and threatened with prosecutions for wrongly using railcards.
Engineering graduate Sam Williamson was told he could face criminal prosecution by a train company for incorrectly using a ticket which cost him £1.90 less than it should have done.
Passenger watchdog Transport Focus has pleaded for train companies to treat passengers more fairly when they make mistakes.
“We know from talking to passengers how confusing the current system is – no one thinks you should have to spend ages checking detailed rules and restrictions before getting on a train,” Alex Robertson, chief executive of Transport Focus recently said.
The Department for Transport has promised “the biggest overhaul of our railways in a generation, including simplifying fares”.
Among the options they are considering are pay as you go and digital season tickets that can be used across the rail network.
Molly says the rail companies are being “heavy-handed” about genuine mistakes.
“It’s alarming that it can lead to this and there’s potentially hundreds or thousands of people now landing criminal records for such a minor offence,” she added.
Molly has put through an appeal, as she says she did select the correct railcard for her May ticket, but needs to wait six months to find out the court’s decision.
She says: “Rules and regulations around railcards need to be examined and clearer processes put in place.”
A GTR spokesperson said if passengers used a railcard for discounted travel then they needed to be able to show it to ticket inspectors on their journey.
“Ms McGregor was stopped on two occasions and advised both times she should have been travelling with a railcard,” they said.
“To fix this, we have rescinded any action for the second (June) journey and provided details to Ms McGregor on how to resolve the court judgement for the first.
“We are genuinely sorry that her address was recorded incorrectly for the first journey.”
