Latest news with #fareEvasion
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Fare evasion has become 'normalised' and is costing the taxpayer £400m every year, damning report reveals
Fare evasion is becoming 'normalised', train staff have told an inquiry which found they are struggling to cope with 'aggressive' passengers who refuse to buy tickets. Travellers are using 'a range of techniques to persistently' underpay or avoid paying and see it as a 'victimless crime ', according to the Office of Road and Rail (ORR). Staff enduring abusive behaviour when asking fare-dodgers to present their tickets are warning that evasion is becoming 'increasingly more challenging to tackle'. The report had been commissioned to look at concerns some passengers were being unfairly prosecuted by train operators over genuine mistakes when buying tickets. But it found fare evasion is a mounting problem now costing taxpayers £400million a year which is resulting in higher fares and less investment cash to improve services. It said: 'Rail staff we spoke to described how fare evasion is becoming normalised among certain passenger groups and increasingly more challenging to tackle. 'As well as occasional opportunistic fare evaders, there are some individuals who use a range of techniques to persistently underpay and avoid their fares. 'Added to this, some fare evaders consider that it is a victimless crime and are either not aware of or are undeterred by the consequences of being caught.' The reference to 'certain passenger groups' relates to intentional evaders identified as 'opportunistic', 'calculated' and 'chronic' - rather than specific societal groups. The report comes after MailOnline highlighted some of the worst cases of evasion in exclusive clips from the new Channel 5 series Fare Dodgers: At War With The Law. And shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick tweeted a video last week in which he confronted people pushing through the barriers at Stratford station in London. The ORR report found rail staff are facing 'challenges in dealing with aggressive and abusive behaviour when undertaking revenue protection duties'. It added that employees believe 'passengers making genuine mistakes should be treated fairly and proportionately', but 'establishing this intent can be difficult'. The ORR said official estimates from the rail industry and Department for Transport indicate that 'fare evasion and ticket fraud accounts for at least £350-400million of lost revenue each year'. It also said: 'Anecdotally, some industry stakeholders have told us that they believe the actual level of fare evasion is somewhat higher.' However, the inquiry also found operators are taking 'disproportionate action' against passengers who do not hold a valid ticket. The ORR said travellers face 'inconsistent treatment and outcomes' for similar ticketing issues across the railway - and criticised Britain's 'complex' fares system. The review was commissioned by then-transport secretary Louise Haigh in November last year to review how the industry handles revenue protection and fare evasion, after cases where passengers were being prosecuted over small amounts of money were highlighted in the media. The ORR's report noted one case where a passenger was threatened with prosecution for accidentally selecting a 16-25 Railcard discount when they held a 26-30 Railcard, which provides the same discount. The case was eventually dropped after their MP became involved. A second incident saw a passenger's printed e-ticket damaged by water to the extent where it could not be scanned by a member of rail staff. Despite subsequently providing proof of a valid ticket for the journey, they were threatened with prosecution and in the end agreed to settle out of court for £81 to avoid the risk of conviction. A third case saw a passenger successfully appeal a penalty fare but discover four years later - after a criminal records check for a job - that they had been convicted for fare evasion without knowing about it. They claimed they had never received any documentation or court material. Another incident highlighted in the media last year involved engineering graduate Sam Williamson who said he feared getting a criminal record and being fined hundreds of pounds. He was told he was being prosecuted by Government-owned operator Northern because he unknowingly used a railcard at the wrong time, resulting in a £1.90 underpayment. Northern dropped its action against him following media coverage. The Department for Transport also instructed Northern to review its ticketing policy, which resulted in the operator withdrawing all similar live prosecutions and a pledge to analyse historical cases. In the latest ORR report, it found there are 'a range of circumstances' in which passengers may innocently travel without a valid ticket, such as forgetting their railcard or simply making a mistake. But the regulator warned the same reasons can be used by passengers who 'deliberately choose' to underpay or avoid their fare, and it can to difficult for rail staff to determine their intent and decide how to handle the situation. The report stated: 'Making this more challenging is the railway's complex fares and ticketing framework. This has grown more complicated over time.' The ORR noted that under railway byelaws, it is an offence not to be able to present a valid ticket for a journey, regardless of the passenger's intent, which means 'disproportionate action can end up being taken against some passengers'. The inquiry made a series of recommendations to Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander and the Department for Transport, such as ensuring passengers have 'clearer information' about tickets, and creating consistency in how passengers are treated when ticket issues arise, particularly in relation to prosecutions. ORR director of strategy, policy and reform Stephanie Tobyn said today: 'Effective revenue protection is essential for a sustainable railway, but it must be fair and proportionate for passengers. 'Our recommendations aim to protect both industry revenue and support passenger confidence. 'Our evidence shows a system that has evolved over time where the legal framework and enforcement processes are increasingly complex and appear weighted towards industry, leaving some passengers who make innocent errors vulnerable to disproportionate outcomes. 'But meanwhile, fare evasion remains a significant problem, and rigorous action should be taken against those who intentionally seek to defraud the railway.' Train operators use the Penalty Fares system, which is a £100 penalty plus the price of the full single fare applicable for the intended journey. If paid within 21 days, the Penalty Fare is reduced to £50 plus the price of the single fare. Rail minister Lord Hendy said: 'This report shows that decades of failed privatisation have created a mess of deep-rooted issues across our railways, which have been left unchallenged and are now causing chaos and frustration for passengers. 'Through the creation of Great British Railways, we're bringing operators together to establish oversight and better standardise practices, putting an end to inconsistent prosecutions and making sure passengers are treated fairly. 'Deliberate fare-dodging costs the taxpayer up to £400million annually - money which could be better spent on improving passenger experience - and must be dealt with, but ham-fisted prosecutions that punish people who have made an innocent mistake is not the way to do this. 'We will look at this report in detail and set out what we'll be doing to address the issues raised in due course.' A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group, which represents operators, said it welcomed the ORR's 'sensible recommendations'. She continued: 'The rail industry will work on implementing the recommendations in line with our plans to create a simpler, better-value fares system. 'We need to strike the right balance addressing genuine, honest mistakes made by customers and taking firm action against those who deliberately and persistently seek to exploit the system.' In January, the watchdog Transport Focus suggested passengers caught without a ticket should be let off with a warning for a first offence. It urged operators to introduce a so-called yellow card system to 'make things fairer for everyone'.
Sky News
7 days ago
- Business
- Sky News
Rail firms taking 'disproportionate action' against passengers without valid tickets, watchdog warns
Rail firms are taking "disproportionate action" against some passengers without valid tickets, a watchdog has warned in a new report. The report, following an inquiry by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), also criticised Britain's "complex" fares system and found that travellers faced "inconsistent treatment and outcomes" for similar ticketing issues across the railway. The ORR highlighted one case where a passenger was threatened with prosecution for accidentally selecting a 16-25 railcard discount when they had a 26-30 railcard, both of which provide the same discount. The case was eventually dropped when the passenger's MP became involved. In another case, a passenger's printed e-ticket was damaged by water, and a member of rail staff was unable to scan the ticket. Despite later providing proof of a valid ticket for the journey, the person was threatened with prosecution. They agreed to settle out of court for £81 to avoid the risk of conviction, the ORR said. A third case study highlighted in the report saw a passenger successfully appeal a penalty fare, only to discover during a criminal records check for a job that they had been convicted of fare evasion without being aware of it. The passenger claimed they had never received any documentation or court material. The ORR found there were "a range of circumstances" in which passengers may innocently travel without a valid ticket, for example, when they forget their railcard or simply make a mistake. The review also found that prosecutions for ticketing offences had increased by 52% from 2019 to 2023, while passenger numbers had fallen by 7%. The extent to which each train operator used prosecutions varied considerably, even when normalised for passenger numbers, the report noted. But the regulator warned that these reasons could also be used by passengers who "deliberately choose" to underpay or avoid their fare, making it difficult for rail staff to determine their intent and the course of action. 9:57 Rail staff described how fare evasion was becoming "increasingly more challenging to tackle" and "normalised among certain passenger groups", according to the ORR. "Making this more challenging is the railway's complex fares and ticketing framework. This has grown more complicated over time," the report added. Under railway bylaws, not being able to present a valid ticket for a journey is an offence, regardless of a passenger's intent, which the ORR said meant "disproportionate action can end up taken against some passengers". The inquiry was commissioned by then transport secretary Louise Haigh in November 2024 to review the handling of revenue protection and fare evasion across the industry, following reports of cases where passengers were being prosecuted over a small amount of money. The ORR made a series of recommendations to Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander and the Department for Transport, like ensuring that passengers have "clearer information" about tickets, and creating consistency in how passengers are treated when ticket issues arise, particularly when it comes to prosecutions. "Deliberate fare-dodging costs the taxpayer up to £400 million annually - money which could be better spent on improving passenger experience - and must be dealt with, but ham-fisted prosecutions that punish people who have made an innocent mistake is not the way to do this," rail minister Lord Hendy said. He added that the government would study the report and set out how the address will be addressed "in due course". 0:41 A spokesperson for Rail Delivery Group, which represents operators, said it welcomed the ORR's "sensible recommendations". She continued: "The rail industry will work on implementing the recommendations in line with our plans to create a simpler, better-value fares system. "We need to strike the right balance, addressing genuine, honest mistakes made by customers and taking firm action against those who deliberately and persistently seek to exploit the system."
Daily Mail
30-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
How to catch a fare dodger: TfL's war on ticket evaders as workers launch sting operations in pursuit of brazen passengers who owe thousands
A quick skip through the gate behind someone else; forcing the barriers open with a brutal shove; skipping through open gangways at the end of the day without tapping your card; or even buying a cheeky ticket that covers only a fraction of your journey. Fare evasion is a nigh-on endless occurrence on London 's transport network, costing Transport for London some £130million each year - or more than £4 every single second. But with the help of technology, a growing team of professional investigators and sheer determination, the transport body is fighting back - and putting fare evaders firmly in their place. TfL has some 500 uniformed 'revenue control officers' - alongside an unspecified number of plainclothes inspectors - across the entire network, covering Underground, Overground, buses, DLR, Trams and the Elizabeth Line. They all have the power to demand proof from passengers that they have a valid ticket, Oyster card or bank card. But in the background, TfL also employs a squadron of professional investigators who work in the background to identify those who slip through the net. They build up comprehensive pictures of where fare dodgers travel and when - even down to how many times a week - and feed the intelligence to officers on the ground who can be ready to catch them in the act. A new Channel 5 series has been lifting the lid on how the capital catches fare dodgers - with ticket inspectors granting rare access to all of the tricks they use to not only identify non-paying passengers, but how they catch them in the act. Are YOU a fare dodger? Email anonymously: TfL has an army of 500 revenue officers and a team of crack investigators tackling fare evasion (pictured: a plainclothes inspector watches fare-paying passengers pass through at Forest Green station) Fare Dodgers: At War with the Law has followed investigators working for both TfL and South Western Railway (SWR) as they crack down on those unwilling to pay their way for transport. And where there are fare evasions on a massive scale - as identified by CCTV, human intelligence and ITAP, TfL's all-seeing fare evasion detection system - there are fare inspectors ready to take them to ask. Across episodes shown to date - with more to come - ticket dodgers have been tracked as owing anywhere up to five figures in unpaid fares dating back months or even years. What happens to fare dodgers on TfL? Anyone who fails to tap in and out using contactless, an Oyster card or a valid pass such as a Freedom Pass they are entitled to faces a fine. The standard fine for travelling without a valid ticket or pass is £100, reduced to £50 if paid within 21 days. However, repeat offenders can expect far harsher punishments. TfL identifies repeat offenders using a mixture of intelligence reports, CCTV and its own fare evasion detection tool known as ITAP. Once identified, fare evaders can expect to be confronted by revenue protection officers and interviewed. They may also face court proceedings through the Single Justice Procedure process or via postal requisition. If the evasion leads to prosecution, offenders can face a fine of £1,000 as well as having to pay compensation for the fares evaded. The series has even exposed some of the lesser known tricks that fraudulent travellers have used in order to pay either nothing, or as little as possible. Some were using bank cards with tiny balances to tap in, knowing they couldn't pay the fare, or even buying tickets covering the last stop on their journeys despite travelling from further out. But little gets past the capital's elite teams of revenue officers, who have brought fare evasion down from 3.8 per cent to 3.4 in the space of a single year - a fraction of the 13 per cent rate on New York's subways. Sometimes the stings don't pay off - as in one episode set to be broadcast Monday June 2, where TfL revenue officers, on good intelligence, wait at Forest Green station on the Elizabeth Line to catch a man who regularly passes through without paying. Identified in CCTV by his black and white letterman jacket, the plainclothes inspectors watch and wait, confident he will appear - but find themselves plagued by false alarms. 'You've just got to look for the little nuances about someone,' one of the inspectors says. 'You get a passion for it and you just want to catch them. I think they think it's a victimless crime, to be fair.' They ultimately leave empty handed - but remain upbeat he will appear. The other inspector says: 'You can't let that he's not turning up, when he usually turns up, get to you. 'The habits in which people feel like they can get away with it over and over again is almost their demise because they're going to do it again and again and again and think they can get away with it.' As they leave the station, he chirps: 'There's always next time.' For TfL's army of enforcement officers, that 'next time' arrives an average of once a day across the city, with 360 evaders prosecuted last year. And the Channel 5 series has shown in satisfying detail what happens when they finally get their comeuppance. At Surrey Quays - an Overground station on the Windrush line - TfL investigators stopped a man who had been using a bank card with no balance to tap in and out. TfL systems will log that a bank card is valid when it is used to tap in, but cannot verify whether it has any balance until the end of the business day when total fares are calculated and payment is taken. So while the card had no balance, the gates would recognise the card as valid and open - but couldn't take any money. In the first episode of the series, plainclothes inspectors identifiable only by their body-worn cameras as being on official business stop the man as he taps out at Surrey Quays with the dodgy card. He tries to tell inspectors: 'It's not mine - I found it.' The inspectors, using data from their systems, determined that he had been using the card almost daily for a year. After an interview, he signs a document admitting he had evaded fares on more than 500 journeys, totalling £3,573, or around £7 at a time. Fare evaders will use every trick in the book to avoid paying their way - even exploiting their relatives' benefits for their own personal gain. An earlier episode of the series shows a trio of TfL investigators called Tracey, Sarah and Dan cornering a man who had abused his female relative's Freedom Pass more than 200 times. The pass grants free travel across the network to to Londoners over the age of 66, and to those with certain disabilities or who are told by the DVLA they cannot drive. But the fare dodger was neither of those - and was brought down with the ITAP system, which linked the card to the journeys he was taking on a regular basis to build up a clear picture of his movements. Tracey, Sarah and Dan were then primed to catch him in the act at Preston Road station on the Metropolitan Line - even as he tried to shove past one of the inspectors and denied he had the pass as he tucked it into his pocket. The man, who said he had travelled from Moorgate, told the investigators: 'Which pass? I don't have any pass? Only my card.' An investigator then told him: 'Come on, stop messing around, we've had this already.' The man says: 'I'm not messing.' Another added: 'We know you have it because when you came up, I stopped you and I approached you, and you had a yellow wallet on it.' The third investigator then says: 'OK, game's up, show the pass, we know who it belongs to. We've done an investigation on you, we know you've got the pass on you.' TfL officers then tell him his failure to cooperate would lead to the case being passed to the British Transport Police as fraud. The case was ultimately passed to prosecutors to claw back more than £1,000 of unpaid fares. On the Transport for London network, the ITAP (Irregular Travel Analysis Platform) system sits at the heart of all fare evasion probes. Exactly how it works is a secret, kept under wraps by TfL on the basis that revealing its workings could encourage fare evasion. But what we do know is that it analyses the patterns of fare dodging to build up comprehensive pictures of where and when suspects are travelling. It tracks Oyster and contactless payment cards - processed as anonymous tokens to safeguard financial information - as well as 'gateline data', a phrase that suggests it can detect when people are tailgating through larger gates that stay open longer. Alongside other events such as gates being forced open, ITAP can help investigators build a comprehensive picture of when fraudsters travel - so they can be ready to pounce at the right time. The system is working: as well as bringing down total fare evasion, TfL has clawed back £400,000 of unpaid fares in the last year alone after taking 360 persistent offenders to court. And there are more advancements to come. Last year, MailOnline reported on how TfL ran a 'smart station' trial at Willesden Green that saw its CCTV feeds examined by artificial intelligence (AI) software to spot fare evaders. The system was trained to spot fare dodgers who pushed or tailgated through ticket barriers - and would flag them to a human operator who could then build up a picture of their movements to pass to enforcement officers. It could also spot other signs of trouble faster than a human being, trained to spot knives, people on the tracks, or even passengers who were sitting at the platform for an inordinate amount of time. These safety checks were being trialled at Custom House station in January this year. TfL has not said whether AI is yet being used to spot fare evasion on a wider basis following the Willesden Green trial. Channel 5's Fare Dodgers, now in its second series, has also been following inspectors tackling fare evasion on the South Western Railway (SWR) network, which operates from the London Waterloo terminus. Like TfL, it appears to be using data to spot when passengers aren't paying - but its work is complicated by the fact that passengers will use a combination of paper tickets, e-tickets, season passes and Oyster and contactless tap-ons to travel. Nevertheless, the series shows how investigators always get their man (or woman) - sometimes netting huge wins. One tricky customer at London Waterloo was snared engaging in 'short faring' - after travelling from far outside the capital but only buying tickets at Vauxhall, the last stop before the end of the line. He had also been buying 'doughnut tickets' - short tickets covering the first and last stations of his journey, leaving a 'hole' in the middle for which he hadn't paid. Nevertheless, he was able to pass through the barriers. As if his evasion wasn't brazen enough, he had been using a 16-17 Saver Railcard to take 50 per cent off the price. SWR launched an eight-week probe to establish his movements and apprehended him exactly where they expected him to be, slapping him with £19,500 of unpaid fares - even as he tried to explain away his crime. Asked where he travelled from the man said in remarks censored by the broadcaster: 'Er, from (redacted) today, well (redacted) this morning, sorry.' The investigator then said: 'Why do you have a Vauxhall to Waterloo ticket?' The man responded: 'Er, just because I didn't manage to get one in time, so just one to get through the barrier.' Around 4.5 per cent of SWR journeys are made without a valid ticket, and unpaid fares cost the operator around £40million a year. Investigators recovered £3.4million in 2024. TfL station staff are told under no circumstances to put themselves at risk when they see fare evasion, instead advised to build up a log of incidents to pass to professional enforcers. But some, including shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick, have tried taking the law into their own hands, as he filmed a video showing him confronting fare dodgers. One of the alleged fare dodgers told him to 'f*** off'. Mr Jenrick was criticised for the 'vigilante' stunt, which transport union the TSSA labelled 'inappropriate' and 'potentially dangerous for passengers, staff and the individual involved'. 'Fare evasion is a serious issue, but it must be tackled with professional, trained enforcement, not MPs trying to score points or social media clout on their daily commute,' it said. TfL has also confirmed Mr Jenrick did not have permission to film the video, which was shot at Stratford Station. Public opinion suggests that those who dodge rail fares aren't currying favour with their fellow travellers. A recent YouGov poll found that 76 per cent of Brits say fare dodgers are 'exploiting the system, and it's not fair to paying passengers'. Thinking of slinking under a ticket barrier? With enforcement teams, reams of data and even the public against you, it would be best to think again.
BreakingNews.ie
25-05-2025
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
Over €20m lost in revenue on public transport services due to fare dodgers
Over €20 million was lost in revenue on public transport services last year due to fare dodgers, according to estimates by transport regulatory bodies. Figures released under freedom of information legislation by the National Transport Authority show the highest fare evasion rates in 2024 were on DART and commuter rail services with 6.9 per cent of passengers not having a valid ticket for their journey. Advertisement The results of regular surveys conducted on bus, rail and tram services during 2024 show varying fare evasion rates between different public transport operators They found an average rate for fare evasion of 6.9 per cent on DART trains and commuter rail services for the greater Dublin region and Cork with an estimated loss in revenue of €4.6 million. Fare evasion rates as high as 15 per cenr were recorded on Dublin-Drogheda, Dublin-Longford and Dublin-M3 Parkway services. The level of fare evasion on DART services ranged from 4 per cent to 6 per cent, while the lowest rate was on Cork-Mallow services at 1.3 per cent. Advertisement However, Iarnród Éireann did not suffer any deductions for the high overall fare evasion rates as the permitted threshold operated by the NTA before financial penalties are imposed is an evasion rate of 6.9 per cent for DART and commuter rail services. In contrast, the lowest fare evasion rate on any public transport service last year was on Iarnrod Éireann's intercity routes where just 1.4 per cent of passengers were found travelling without a valid ticket which resulted in an estimated loss in revenue of €2.2 million in 2024. Iarnród Éireann was the only public transport operator last year to receive an incentive payment for meeting a key performance indicator on having a fare evasion rate below target levels. The company received incentives totalling almost €37,000 for its high compliance rate on its intercity trains. Advertisement Fare evasion levels on all intercity services were below the 2.5 per cent target rate with the exception of Waterford-Limerick Junction (12.8 per cent); Dublin-Rosslare (8.0 per cent) and Tralee-Dublin (2.8 per cent). As the country's largest public transport operator in terms of passenger numbers, Dublin Bus unsurprisingly had the largest estimated shortfall in revenue due to fare dodgers at €6.0 million last year. However, the fare evasion rate on Dublin Bus services was one of the lowest of any operator at 3.4 per cent. It was also the only one of the large bus companies to record a fare evasion level below the target rate of 3.9 per cent for bus services. Advertisement Full compliance was found with passengers on 26 of 84 Dublin Bus routes surveyed including the 15B, 26, 38A, 65B, 68 84 and L53 services. The highest evasion rate on a Dublin Bus service was 20.6 per cent recorded on the 43 (Talbot Street-Swords Business Park) route. Overall, Bus Éireann which operates a range of subsidised routes including commuter and city bus services in Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford and several large towns as well as commuter services in the greater Dublin region had evasion rates of approximately 5.0 per cent. However, the company suffered deductions totalling over €118,000 over its failure to meet the 3.9 per cent target rate last year, while the loss of revenue from fare dodgers was calculated to be at least €4.5 million. Advertisement The highest evasion rates were on two services in Cork – the 220X Ovens-Crosshaven route (35.3 per cent) and 206 Grange-South Mall (34.3 per cent) followed by 190 Drogheda-Trim (23.9 per cent) and 419 Galway-Clifden (20.4 per cent). The other large bus operator – Go-Ahead Ireland – recorded some of the highest non-compliance rates with fares across its network of 34 routes within the greater Dublin area last year. The company had an average fare evasion rate of 6.2 per cent on its 'outer metropolitan' services in Dublin and a 5.4 per cent rate on its commuter route in the greater Dublin including services to Tullamore, Newbridge, Kildare, Naas and Athy. The rate on its W4 (The Square- Blanchardstown) and W6 (The Square-Maynooth) routes was 6.9 per cent. Besides Bus Éireann, Go-Ahead Ireland was the only other public transport operator to be hit with deductions last year – over €121,000 over its failure to meet targets with fare evasion calculated as resulting in a €1.3 million loss in revenue. Commenting on the findings of the surveys, a NTA spokesperson said the transport authority believed progress was being made on tackling the problem of fare evaders. 'The NTA will continue to work closely with transport operators to further address this issue,' the spokesperson added. Separate surveys carried out on Luas passengers by Transport Infrastructure Ireland revealed the average fare evasion rate on tram services last year was 4.2 per cent. However, the fare evasion rate on the Red line was considerably higher at 4.9 per cent compared to the Green line where the rate was 3.4 per cent in 2024. It is estimated fare evasion on Luas services last year resulted in a loss of revenue of around €1.7million. The surveys show the overwhelming majority of Luas passengers without a ticket (88 per cent) provided no reason for their failure to have one, while 6 per cent claim they boarded a tram in a rush with 1 per cent losing their ticket and another 1 per cent in 'confusion.' A spokesperson for Luas operator, Transdev said the fare compliance data was an important tool for managing and improving compliance. 'It helps us inform the planning and targeted deployment of our Revenue Protection and Security Teams on what is known as an open system where there are no physical barriers to entry,' the spokesperson added. Transdev said compliance levels fluctuate and certain Luas stops can experience lower compliance rates at specific times. 'This is not unusual and is a challenge faced by transport operators globally,' the spokesperson said. Since the start of 2023, the NTA receives all revenue collected from bus, train and light rail services operated under 'public service obligation contract' routes, which are deemed commercially unviable without a form of subsidy or where their provision is considered socially desirable.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Yahoo
Metro fare dodging down near pre-pandemic levels
Fare evasion on the Tyne and Wear Metro appears to have dropped back to close to pre-pandemic levels. The rail service's operator Nexus estimated fares had been dodged on about 4.6% of journeys in 2024. This is down from the 8.3% level it estimated in 2021 and closer to the 4.0% recorded in 2019. Nexus operations director Kevin Storey said the company had worked "extremely hard" to reduce ticket fraud. Kevin Dickinson, who runs the Sort out the Metro Facebook group, said the drop could also be due to the Metro becoming free in 2021 for children aged below 11 who travelled with an adult. Nexus said it had made its estimates using a team of researchers who survey people on the Metro. "While this is based on passengers admitting they don't have a ticket, our team of researchers do not issue penalty fares and act as neutral surveyors," a spokesperson said. Mr Dickinson said it was "good to see" fare evasion was dropping on the rail service but suggested that if this was due to some children aged below 11 no longer having to pay for the service, it did not mean an increase in revenue. He also said the figures did not take into account the fact that the annual number of journeys on the Metro had yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, which also affected income levels. The data, provided following a freedom of information (FOI) request, showed there were more than 34.5m journeys on the Metro in 2019 compared to 30.9m in 2024. Nexus said a major factor behind the fall in fare evasion was the penalty fine for not buying a ticket rising from £20 to £100 in January 2023. "This has undoubtedly made people think twice about travelling without a ticket," said Mr Storey. He said 75% of Metro journeys had to pass through ticket gates and new barriers would be installed at Regent Centre this year. "Metro is a public service and doesn't make a profit," said Mr Storey. "Every penny that we receive in fares helps to meet the cost of operating the system." Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram. All new Metro trains pulled from service Metro Bashers find fellowship in front carriage First new Metro train runs after lengthy delays Nexus
