National Rail: Are you taking the train without a ticket? Everything you should know about exemptions and penalties. The British trains are riddled with fare evading. Stephanie Tobyn of the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) stated on The Independent’s daily travel podcast that “the last time this was looked at by the industry, there was around about £300m per year going out of the industry because of fare-dodging.” It is equivalent to £600 per minute.
However, the rail watchdog claims that passengers who inadvertently travel without a legal ticket are subjected to excessively harsh treatment.
In order to give customers who are caught without a ticket the benefit of the doubt on their first transgression, Transport Focus is asking train operators to adopt a “yellow card” system.
In the meantime, customers who have received a penalty fare or have been charged with a crime for travelling without a ticket are being asked to provide testimony by Ms. Tobyn of the ORR. She states, “We want to look at people who end up with a criminal record after unintentionally finding themselves in this situation.”
The actions come following instances of users who unintentionally violated railcard restrictions and were prosecuted and punished significantly.
What is stated in the law regarding train tickets?
The Regulation of Railways Act of 1889 lays out the fundamental idea. The rail traveler must provide “a ticket showing that his fare is paid” upon inquiry from a staff member.
The April 2024 National Rail Conditions of Travel, which are a little more recent, state:
- Before boarding a train, you must, if at all feasible, buy a valid ticket.
- You must also use the ticket “in accordance with the specific terms and conditions associated with it.”
According to the first phrase, you are considered innocent and are permitted to pay the correct fare on board if you were unable to purchase a ticket, for instance because there was no booking office or operational ticket machine.
The second phrase highlights the need to adhere to certain rules, such as the time limits on your tickets, the terms of any railcard discounts, and the class of transportation.
What happens if the queue is simply too long?
You’re supposed to wait however long it takes. “Even if it were the second coming of Christ, as long as the ticket office is open, a passenger must buy a ticket or be given authority to travel by an officer of the railway without one,” one insider wrote on a rail forum.
If you have given yourself enough time to purchase a ticket but are unable to wait any longer, you can ask station employees or, in the case of a “open station,” the train guard, if one exists, if you are able to purchase a ticket on board.
For instance, if the ticket machines aren’t functioning, they might give you permission to do so. Otherwise, you will be breaching the law if you choose to board a train without a ticket.
What follows?
Train operators take fare evasion seriously since it costs the industry, and thus the taxpayer, an estimated £600 each minute. Train management, conductors and guards check tickets on a number of trains. They usually sell a replacement ticket at the correct fare if they come across someone who doesn’t have a valid ticket.
For instance, someone with a £45 advance ticket who misses their train and boards the next one on the way from London to Manchester would be asked to pay four times the entire single fare.
The purpose of a specialised force of revenue protection officers is to apprehend passengers who do not make payments. These employees work at stations and aboard trains. “As a revenue protection officer, it is your responsibility to travel on our trains, inspecting passengers’ tickets and collecting fares from those who have not paid,” rail company Southeastern instructs potential hires. You will process paperwork, fill out forms, and speak with suspected fare evaders.
Each shift will begin with you being given a partner and a route. In this position, you always work in couples rather than alone. or occasionally bigger groups.
What about using “the wrong kind of ticket” to travel?
Passengers who engage in the following behaviours will also be of interest to revenue protection staff:
- Use an advance ticket on the incorrect train unless expressly instructed to do so due to a disruption.
- When they don’t have a railcard, they can claim a discount (but they can also get a refund if they just left it at home).
- Unless the train has been deemed “declassified” due to its extreme crowding, take a regular ticket and sit in first class.
- Try using an operator-specific ticket on a service operated by a different company, like as an inexpensive London Northwestern ticket on Avanti West Coast that travels from Birmingham to London.
- Try to do a “split-ticket” journey without following the requirements, such as purchasing separate tickets for the Bristol-Didcot and Didcot-London trips, but boarding a train that doesn’t stop at Didcot
Because of all of these, the ticket is no longer valid for travel, and the traveler is considered to be ticketless.
What are the consequences?
Rail employees have the option of prosecuting the customer, selling the right ticket, or charging a Penalty Fare (£50, doubled if not paid within three weeks, plus the full single fare). The rail company, not the passengers, made this decision.
When asked why they don’t have a ticket, every traveler will have an explanation. Based on their expertise, rail workers can typically determine whether a story about being late and stupidly getting on a train right before it leaves is real. They can just use the whole single fare if that is the case.
The typical response to an offence is the Penalty Fare. However, the revenue protection officer may report the traveler for prosecution if they think the person is a frequent offender, such as a passenger who merely “pays when challenged.”
What occurs if a matter is tried in court?
The passenger faces jail time or a fine of up to £1,000 if found guilty. Additionally, they will be given a criminal record, which may harm their chances of finding employment.
Is it possible to appeal a penalty fare?
Yes, however it’s unlikely to work if you’re travelling without a ticket. For instance, Penalty Fares are frequently imposed on the numerous individuals who naively believe that they can pay for their travel between London and Stansted airport using a contactless card or smartphone.
They “tap in” to the Stansted Express at London Liverpool Street or Tottenham Hale using a contactless card, only to find out when they get to the airport that their card is invalid.
Now that warning signs have been put up, it is unlikely that anyone who receives a penalty fare will be successful in appealing.
What is desired by Transport Focus?
More barriers at stations would be a preventative measure. “The industry should show passengers that it is concerned about collecting its revenue and make sure that people are aware that they will be required to present a valid ticket at the beginning, end, and throughout their journey,” the rail watchdog said.
“Having safe, secure stations with appropriate barriers has many advantages, but implementing these measures comes with additional financial difficulties.”
However, rather than being penalised or prosecuted, passengers should be asked to pay the correct amount on their first offence. However, in order for this to occur, the traveler must present valid identification (with the requirement that they know your identity in order to be released), and the occurrence will be recorded in a national database that tracks violations.
In order to verify a passenger’s eligibility for a discount in the event that they claim their railcard has been misplaced or cannot be loaded on a phone, Transport Focus also needs a digital database of railcards.
You can be an innocent fare-dodger, right?
Indeed, miscommunications are often the only offences made by passengers aboard trains. After inadvertently travelling somewhere they believed they could pay for with contactless cards, many of customers discovered they couldn’t tap out because they had crossed an invisible “tariff border.”
Some people lose patience and board a train without a ticket after standing in queue for a long time, intending to pay on board or when they get there.
On the other end of the spectrum, some commuters purposefully go out day after day to travel without paying, depriving the railway of money and making it harder for the majority of law-abiding passengers to make ends meet.
Travellers’ stories will be evaluated by the Office of Rail and Road.