By Fine for dodging rail fare to increase across England
Government has said the penalty for dodging rail fares in England will rise from £20 to £100 in January following concerns that the current fine is not enough of a deterrent.
The penalty will be issued as a surcharge on top of the price of a ticket for the passenger’s journey, however, it would be reduced to £50 if it is paid within 21 days.
The DfT sais the crackdown will help modernise the railway system and reduce the cost to taxpayers, “who are currently footing the bill of those passengers travelling without a ticket”.
Penalty fares for those who get the train without a ticket currently stand at £20, or twice the ticket price to the next station the train calls at.
Under laws passed by parliament on Wednesday, those penalties will increase in England for the first time since 2005.
The government hopes the change will bring the national penalty in line with fines issued by Transport for London and Manchester Metrolink, which charge £80 and £100 respectively.
A DfT spokesman said: “We need penalty fares to act as a proper deterrent, and we are putting in place a modern system that will help create a more sustainable railway.”
The Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators, estimates that fare evasion costs the industry about £240m each year.
Ongoing strike action, the wake of Covid and the rise of working from home has seen passenger journeys plummet.
Rewards programmes and flexible season tickets were introduced in an attempt to adapt to changed working habits and bring back more passengers.
A total of 332 million rail passenger journeys were made in Britain in the three months to the end of June, about three quarters of the level seen before the pandemic.
