New Crackdown On Dodging Rail Fares Increases Fines Five-Fold To £100

The penalty for rail fare dodgers is to soar fivefold to £100 in a crackdown.

The Department for Transport (DfT) expects to recoup more of the £240 million lost to fare evasion on the railways in England and Wales each year.

It follows concerns that the current £20 fine, introduced in 2005, was no longer a deterrent.

A DfT spokesman said that with over £240 million lost every year due to fare evasion on their railways, it’s important deterrents are effective and fair.

On top of the £100 fine, fare dodgers will also have to pay the price of the ticket they failed to buy. The penalty will be cut to £50 if payment is made in 21 days.

The increase, to be introduced in the spring, brings railways in line with other transportation providers, such as Manchester’s Metrolink.

It also means penalties in England and Wales will be more elevated than in many European countries, such as Germany where evaders pay £55, and France, where they pay £46.

The DfT added that fare evasion costs train operators, rail passengers and taxpayers who ultimately subsidise the journeys of those who deliberately travel by train without paying the correct fare, and said that the Rail Delivery Group estimates that in a normal year about £240 million is lost through fare evasion on Great Britain’s railways.

The Department of Transport said that when placed against the profound effect coronavirus has had on passenger numbers and industry revenues, it’s never been more important to minimise the cost of fare evasion to the railways.

Penalty fares are only given in instances where there were facilities to purchase a ticket at a passenger’s departure station, and they have passed signs stating the consequences of not having a ticket.

The DfT said it will give an update in spring 2022 on when the new penalty fare in England and Wales will be introduced.

There are countless people caught after surveillance, who are regular fare dodgers on costly routes, and commuter routes serving London. Mind you, I look forward to the day when we the people can fine them for late trains, cancelled trains, dirty trains, and having to stand up on full trains, and no dining car facilities et cetera.

Perhaps they should open up more ticket offices and have more ticket collectors, and I do appreciate that this might require some joined-up thought on their part, but if they did this, then maybe there might not be so many fare dodgers.

Ticket collectors don’t even check tickets on board anymore, and haven’t done for an extremely long time.

All they have to do is put foolproof barriers up. No pass, no ticket, you can’t get through or even jump them, it could be done with a wee bit of thought, or they could implement a system that you can’t get to the train unless you have a valid ticket and that it would be physically impossible as the gates would be stopping you – problem cracked.