Transport User Voice November 2024 – Train fare prosecutions

01 November 2024

Treat ticket mistakes fairly 

This month, we called for passengers who make an innocent mistake when buying rail tickets to be treated with understanding. 

Recent events, including the high-profile prosecutions of young people who seem to have fallen foul of little-known and confusing restrictions, have again highlighted the need for improved processes in these complex areas. Transport Focus has long called for improvements to revenue protection practices having made a series of recommendations on this issue in its Ticket to Ride report and continue to press for change for passengers. 

Passengers continue to tell how complex they find rail fares and ticketing, particularly for passengers who can often struggle to identify and purchase the correct ticket for their journey. Passengers often perceive revenue protection practices as overly harsh and sometimes inappropriate, particularly when the problem is a result of ticketing complexities rather than a deliberate attempt to avoid paying.   

Transport Focus has recently carried out research speaking to passengers about their experiences of and attitudes to fare evasion and the industry’s approach to revenue protection. Transport Focus will be using this research to develop a number of improvements that the rail industry could implemented to increase the confidence of passengers to travel.  

We also understand and support the principle that all users of rail should be paying for their journey and those who knowingly and deliberately evade their fare should be held to account. We want to see revenue protection better differentiate between an innocent mistake and deliberate evasion. 

Reflecting on the passenger experience Transport Focus Chief Executive, Alex Robertson, said: 

“It is right that train companies should take steps to stop those who try to evade paying fares. But those who have made an innocent mistake should be treated with understanding and not immediately assumed to be guilty. We know from talking to passengers how confusing the current system is – no one thinks you should have to spend ages checking detailed rules and restrictions before getting on a train. 

“While there have been some improvements, the outlook for being caught making a mistake can still be bleak. This is one of the reasons why we have long argued for the need to simplify fares and ticketing. Passengers must be able to trust that penalties are given only to those who deserve them.” 

Watch out for information on this in our forthcoming research on passengers experiences of and attitudes to fare evasion. 

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