Travelling without a valid ticket is a constant challenge to the rail sector and costs taxpayers around £240 million per year. To help combat this, London Northwestern Railway is hugely increasing its focus on stopping fare evasion.
At the beginning of 2023 the Department for Transport increased the Penalty Fare, if caught travelling without a valid ticket from £20 to £100, plus the price of the full single fare applicable for the intended journey.
The Penalty Fare increase formed part of a wider 360 strategy for revenue protection (RP). Since the start of the year, a new Digital Fraud team has been created to adapt an intelligence-driven approach to investigate fraudulent activity, fare evasion and ticketless travel.
The Digital Fraud team and the RP team acts on intelligence received from Senior Conductors, revenue officers working at gatelines, station teams and data supplied by Trainline.
In addition to these important tasks, the RP team undertake exercises on board trains and at all our stations. We continuously work in partnership with other Train Operating Companies, partners, and stakeholders, to really make sure that we are supporting the wider industry. The chosen approach turned out to be effective.
An example of the recovery of £7,500 as a result of a complex long-term fraud case.
The problem of ticketless travel extends beyond just skipping out on buying a ticket. It also involves passengers attempting journeys with tickets that may not be valid for their chosen route. This can include situations where a passenger purchases a ticket covering only part of their journey which qualifies as short journey fraud or purchasing a discounted ticket that they are not entitled to.
Such a case was noticed by a Revenue Officer working at the gateline at Milton Keynes who raised a red flag on a suspected case of a short journey fraud between Milton Keynes Central and London Euston. The call to action went out to our Digital Fraud team who started a further investigation. The intelligence gathering began and the Digital Fraud Team investigations identified a possible troubling pattern of potential short journey fraud stretching back to 2019.
To understand the fare evader’s actions, the team scrutinised all available intelligence. It was then found that the person of interest was making journeys several days a week. The team was able to gather enough information that triggered the next stage of an investigation, which was an in-person interview by a highly trained Revenue Protection Manger.
To aid this interview, a London Northwestern Revenue Protection Manager undertook a plain clothing operation at Milton Keynes station over a two-day period to identify the person they needed to interview. On the second day the person of interest was observed scanning a ticket at the Milton Keynes gateline. The Revenue Protection Manager intervened and stopped the person of interest to interview them and to present the evidence that had been gathered.
In accordance with Police and Criminal Evidence Act, the interview was held under caution, this means that the caution was given to ensure the person being interviewed understands their rights, as such an interview may form part of a criminal prosecution.
While under caution and presented with the evidence, the person of interest admitted to multiple instances of fraud, including over 100 tickets purchased that qualified as short journey fraud, as well as purchasing discounted tickets that they were not entitled too. The case and additional evidence was then passed back to the Digital Fraud Team who undertook a review of the evidence, engaged with the passenger, and successfully recovered a substantial sum of £7,500 inclusive of administrative fees. This sum represented the money that was owed as a result of all of the instances of fare evasion that had been committed over 3 years. This case could have gone forward for prosecution. If found guilty at court, the person would have received a large fine and had to pay costs. They would also receive a conviction of fraud, this can have serious consequences such as issues with employment or even prison sentence.
Head of Revenue Protection, Annamaria Izzard commented:
Ticketless travel, railway fraud and fare evasion cost the railway industry millions of pounds a year. Unfortunately, this impacts us as well. At London Northwestern Railway we have a large amount of dedicated and determined colleagues working to identify, collect and recover all monies due and owed.
Senior Conductors, Revenue Officers, Revenue Protection Managers and the Digital Fraud and Prosecutions teams are working closely together, gathering intelligence, undertaking investigations, and communicating with customers. All of that translates into very positive results and success. Over £200,000 has been recovered by the digital fraud team this year, this is from acts of lengthy, historical fraudulent activity.
A person committing fraud or fare evasion today, will be identified and required to pay tomorrow or sometime in the future. The partnership working by our colleagues and dogged determination to ensure fairness for all customers paying the correct fare is excellent. Well done all!
Ways to buy a ticket.
Luckily, avoiding a Penalty Fare is easy! There are many ways you can buy a valid ticket before you board and options that help you save money too!
Download the London Northwestern Railway App
Download our app for free from your app store and buy tickets before you board all in the palm of your hand and at a time that suits you best.
Buying tickets via our app also means there are no booking fees! Saving you those extra pennies or pounds.
Buy Tickets Online
Buying your train tickets directly with us means no booking fees. You can buy your tickets online via your phone, or desktop.
Buy Tickets at a Ticket Vending Machine
If you prefer to turn up and buy your tickets at the station, you can do so using one of our ticket vending machines. Providing you a variety of ticket options for your journey there and then at the station.
Buy Tickets at a Ticket Office
If you prefer face-to-face and your station operates a ticket office, then why not speak to one of our helpful team members who will be happy to assist in getting you the best ticket for your journey.