Rail passengers aren't criminals—Stop penalizing innocent ticket errors
14 November 2024, 10:32 | Updated: 14 November 2024, 10:45
It’s time for the rail industry to play fair with passengers who have made innocent mistakes when they don’t have a ‘valid’ ticket.
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Transport Focus has long called for passengers who make an innocent mistake when buying rail tickets to be treated with understanding. Our Ticket to Ride and Penalty Fares reports showed how confusing passengers find the ticketing system and how they thought the fare penalty system should look.
Rail users shouldn't have to spend ages checking detailed rules and restrictions before getting on a train. Until that’s changed the penalty system needs to recognise innocent mistakes will be made. At the same time, train companies should take steps to stop those who try to evade paying fares – the two are not mutually exclusive.
Fare evasion costs the railway hundreds of millions of pounds every year, money which could be better used to improve services for passengers.
Recent high-profile cases, including that of Sam Willamson on Northern Trains, who fell foul of little-known and confusing restrictions, show how the outlook can still be bleak. Too often passengers who make an innocent mistake can find themselves facing a hefty bill, or in some of the worst cases, a criminal prosecution.
What if instead you got a ‘yellow card’ the first time you made an innocent mistake and a record was kept of it so people couldn’t exploit the system by repeatedly saying they didn’t know? That might not be the right or only answer, but there’s got to be a fairer, more consistent way of dealing with mistakes than now.
Another part of the problem is how complex and confusing the ticketing system is. If passengers think that people make mistakes because buying a ticket is so complicated, it’s little wonder they can perceive revenue protection practices as heavy-handed and inappropriate.
Given the challenges I’ve described above, and what we all know from our own experience of using the railway, the Transport Secretary’s announcement of a review into improving revenue protection practices is a welcome step. We will be sharing with the review what passengers have told us they want to see improved.
Positive action on fare evasion with a focus on ensuring penalties are given only to those who deserve them will help build trust and confidence in the railway.
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Alex Robertson is the Chief Executive of Transport Focus.
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