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What I will say is Saba are prompt in replying. Following, is their response (I've copied and pasted it below), and they have stated this is their final response:

Dear XXXXXXXXXXX,

Re: Escalation of Formal Complaint — Penalty Notice: WMTXXXXXXX

Thank you for your correspondence regarding the above-mentioned Penalty Notice, and I apologise if our response was not satisfactory. We will address each of the concerns you have raised and provide further context to your queries.

Penalty Notice
Issued under Railway Byelaw 14, Parking Operators (namely Saba) are able to issue Penalty Notices on behalf of a Train Operating Company (TOC). The above-referenced Penalty Notice was issued as the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) camera observed your vehicle being parked in the Leighton Buzzard Station North/South Station Car Park without having obtained a valid ticket or cashless parking session. This breaches the terms and conditions of parking as motorists are required to obtain a valid ticket or cashless parking session by using either the Saba Parking App/Website, the Trust Parking App, or the on-site payment machine. Motorists using the car park can make a payment either in advance, upon arrival, or up until midnight on the day of arriving at the car park.

In this case, the car park is owned by West Midlands Railway, a Train Operating Company (TOC), and Saba has a contractual agreement to issue Penalty Notices on their behalf. This is identifiable by the WMT prefix on the Penalty Notice. Equally, signage in the car park confirms Saba's authority and the TOC's agreement for Saba to actively enforce.

Your points regarding Parking Operators using the term ‘Penalty’ when issuing notices on private, non-railway land is prohibited. However, we can confirm that the land is owned by a TOC, and therefore under Railway Byelaw.

Given that the Penalty Notice was issued for a breach on railway land, we are satisfied that using the term Penalty Notice does not constitute a breach of the British Parking Association’s Code of Practice.

Payments for Penalty Notice
Payments for Penalty Notices are managed by Saba on behalf of the TOC. This includes any additional enforcement costs which may be associated with debt recovery or legal action. However, Saba is under no obligation to disclose commercially sensitive information relating to the management of funds.

Owner of Vehicle
A Penalty Notice to the Registered Owner is issued under the assumption that the registered keeper is the owner. If you wish to provide evidence confirming that you are not the owner of the vehicle, you should supply this to the contact details below so that the case can be reviewed further and changes to liability can be made.

Department for Transport (DfT)
In June 2018, the Department for Transport (DfT) confirmed that Parking Operators have a remit to issue Penalty Notices under Railway Byelaw 14.
To ensure good practice, the DfT also confirmed that motorists issued with a Penalty Notice should be provided with an opportunity to appeal to an independent body. Saba supports this and allows motorists the opportunity to make an independent appeal to the Appeals Service. However, this is only available if a first-stage appeal to Saba is made and is unsuccessful. The decisions made by the Appeals Service is binding to Saba. This means that if they determine a case has been mishandled, then they can instruct Saba to cease enforcement with no further action.

Appeal
The appeals process for your particular case is outlined on the back of the Penalty Notice to Owner which you have received. We would therefore urge you to follow this process and explain any concerns that you may have so that the case can be reviewed and an outcome provided to you. Appealing a Penalty Notice comes at no cost to the motorist but does place the case on hold so that it can be reviewed without further cost being incurred. To ensure clarity, if you do wisht to appeal then please visit: https://paymyparkingcharge.com and enter your Penalty Notice reference number and your vehicle registration. This will also allow you to review any evidence Saba has gathered prior to issuing the Penalty Notice.

Further Information
To ensure transparency, I would like to inform you that the Penalty Notice was issued under Railway Byelaw, and that the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (POFA) was not used nor quoted in any correspondence to yourself. POFA applies to cases which are issued on private land and not Railway Land.

Contact
If you wish to contact the team handling your case, please use the following details:

Telephone: 01932 918 098
Email: customerservices@paymyparkingcharge.com
Website: https://paymyparkingcharge.com

To conclude, we have reviewed your case thoroughly and can confirm that it is our standpoint that the Penalty Notice was issued correctly under both Railway Byelaw and requirements from the British Parking Association’s Code of Practice. We would therefore be unable to take any further action relating to your complaint.

In line with the Code of Practice, if you are wishing to escalate a complaint then please visit the British Parking Association's website and quote reference code XXXXXXXXXX so that your concerns can be reviewed independently from Saba.

Thank you again for taking the time to raise your concerns to us and I apologise that we were unable to resolve your complaint.

Kind Regards,
Customer Relations Team
Saba UK

Thanks again. I've replied as recommended, and will update when I receive a reply. 

This is excellent! Thank you so much - I'm a little staggered by what SABA is attempting to do.

Just to clarify one detail, in my response, should I mention the driver had paid for parking but for the wrong vehicle?

Thank you again!

Hi,

Hope someone can help (and apologies if I have posted this to the wrong forum - I think the carpark is owned by West Midland Trains so not sure if that's like TfL).

Upon entering the car park, the driver found a space, parked up, and paid for parking on the app. Unfortunately, the app defaulted to the wrong vehicle registration and the driver paid the parking but for the wrong vehicle. Today (18th Feb 2025), the registered keeper, received a penalty notice by post - copy attached.

The notice is from Saba, though it does mention another company, ZZPS.

The driver tried to lodge an appeal, but they require the Parking Charge Number and the VRM - is the Parking Charge Number = Penalty Notice Number?

The keeper would like to know if there is any point of trying to fight the ticket, any chance of winning a dispute and not wasting time?

Many thanks.

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