Northern have said they will “be taking no further steps” after a 22-year-old went viral sharing that he had been threatened with legal action for using his railcard at the wrong time.
Engineering graduate Sam Williamson, 22, from Glossop in Derbyshire, is now calling on the government to simplify ticketing fares.
Mr Williamson’s social media post about his £1.90 underpayment on a Northern rail service last month was seen by millions on social media.
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He had purchased an “anytime” ticket on the Northern app, from Broadbottom, Greater Manchester, to central Manchester on September 5, using 16-25 railcard.
However, after boarding the train at 7.20am he said a conductor told him his ticket was invalid as his railcard could not be used for discounts during peak-time hours.
“I immediately offer to pay for a new ticket, or even take a fixed penalty fare if needs be,” Mr Williamson said.
“He says I can’t do either; he must report it and Northern may prosecute me.”
Before 10am on weekdays outside public holidays or in July or August, Mr Williamson’s type of railcard can be used only when the minimum fare is £12. The conductor proceeded to file a travel incident report.
Mr Williamson claimed that “nowhere is it made explicit” on Northern’s app that his railcard would not be valid.
Last week, Mr Williamson shared on social media that he had received a letter from Government-owned operator Northern threatening him with legal action.
“I’m understandably worried that an innocent mistake over a confusing and opaque rule – that only saved me £1.90! – will lead to a punishment of £100s and a criminal record,” he said.
The social media post has garnered over 10 million views on X.
On Friday October 11, Mr Williamson said he was contacted again by the train operator notifying him that they will “be taking no further steps” against him.
Now that proceedings have been dropped Mr Williamson is calling on the government to help others avoid such mistakes.
“They have dropped the case for me. Whilst this is obviously great news for me, there are still cases going to court with Northern today on similar infractions of using a railcard before 10am,” Mr Williamson told the PA news agency.
“I’m urging the government to look into simplifying ticketing fares so that less people would make this kind of mistake.
“Most people, including myself, have no idea about this whole thing.”
He is also calling for a restriction on train operating companies such as Northern taking these kinds of cases to court.
He said that “fines in the hundreds and a criminal record are completely disproportionate” as train operators have “easier and better tools available to them”.
He continued: “It’s only because of the public pressure that they have caved at this moment, because in other cases where people have got them to drop it, it’s taken them to have to go and sit in a courtroom before it gets to that stage.”
A number of recent cases of Northern passengers being prosecuted for invalid use of a railcard have been highlighted on X, formerly Twitter, by Bolton News senior reporter Jack Fifield.
These include a 26-year-old man who was fined £462.30 over a £4.30 underpayment for a journey from Prescot, Merseyside, to Liverpool Lime Street.
A Northern spokesperson said: “We understand that fares and ticketing across the railway can, at times, be difficult to understand, and we are reviewing our processes for ensuring compliance with ticket and railcard terms and conditions.
“With regard to recent reported cases involving use of the 16-25 Railcard with fares under £12 before 10am, we are withdrawing any live cases and will also look to review anyone who has been prosecuted previously on this specific issue.
“We are actively engaged with government and industry to simplify fares to help customers.”
