Northern railway has announced it will be withdrawing all live prosecutions against passengers reported for wrongly using railcard discounts and reviewing the details of those who have been prosecuted previously. It comes after The Bolton News highlighted the cases of two passengers — one who was prosecuted over a £1.60 underpayment and received a criminal record.
Cerys Piper, 23, from Westhoughton , travelled from Daisy Hill station to her job as a sales agent in Wigan last month. She used an 'anytime day return' ticket she says she purchased from the station's ticket office, and got a £1.60 discount on the £4.
80 ticket, using her 16-25 railcard. But when she got on the train, she was told her ticket was invalid, as the discount cannot be used with 'anytime' or 'off-peak' tickets under the value of £12 before 10am. She is currently facing a fine of £462.
80 and a criminal record due to the mix up. Cerys, who has still not received confirmation that it will be overturned, said to The Bolton News: “I’ve been told by a few different people that prosecutions are not going forward and that Northern are looking to review past convictions. “Although it’s a step in the right direction and the statement is fair but weak, I hope their statement extends to people like myself with full convictions.
“Dropping fines is fine, but it would be great to get an apology or some accountability from Northern. Especially as, for me personally, it seemed like they enjoyed doing it a.