More than 500 fare dodgers have been ordered to pay £42,215 in fines and costs after travelling on the Greater Anglia network without buying a ticket.
A total of 527 dodgers were caught riding Greater Anglia trains without a ticket or the means to buy a ticket by revenue protection ticket inspectors between January 2023 and March 2023.
The fare dodgers were dealt with by four hearings of Essex Magistrates’ Court Single Justice Procedure sessions during August 2023.
Kim Bucknell, Head of Revenue Protection at Greater Anglia, said: “We have a team of revenue protection staff – both uniformed and plain clothes – who regularly go through our trains checking passengers’ tickets.
“The majority of our customers are travelling with the right ticket, but when we come across people without a ticket or the wrong ticket, then we will take action.
“It is easy to buy a ticket, either from a ticket machine, online or via our app, so there is no excuse for travelling without a ticket. It’s only fair that everyone buys the right ticket for the journey they are making and the railway conditions of carriage have always required all passengers to do so.
“We have a range of great value fares and offers available – especially if you book in advance, and it’s cheaper to buy a ticket than pay a fine.
“The railway is now entirely funded by the government and so ultimately taxpayers. By not buying a ticket, it means fares go up further for everyone and there is less money to invest in the railway.”
Only people who board a train without a ticket and without any intention of buying a ticket are taken to court.
Greater Anglia’s revenue protection teams use their discretion when inspecting tickets. They are informed if ticket machines are out of order or if ticket offices are closed, so when these are used as reasons, they know if they are genuine.
As well as uniformed Revenue Protection Inspectors, Greater Anglia also employs plain clothes Fraud Investigations Officers who use the latest technology and systems to detect fraudulent activity, specialising in travel fraud, such as delay repay fraud rings.
Customers are reminded to carry the correct ticket when travelling with Greater Anglia. Contactless and Oyster cards are not valid beyond Shenfield on the Great Eastern Mainline, or beyond Broxbourne on the West Anglia Mainline. Contactless and Oyster cards are not valid for journeys to and from Stansted Airport.
Photo credit: Greater Anglia
0113 2082620
info@railbusinessdaily.com
15 Mariner Court, Wakefield WF4 3FL
