Best way to stop fare evasion

[Tallguy]

Following on from a couple of other threads, what would be the best way to stop fare evasion on National Rail? Should every station have a manned ticket office and manned barrier line? Should we have more on train ticket checks? Let’s hear some ideas.

 

[Cherry_Picker]

How much do you want to spend? You’ll never stop people who really don’t want to buy a ticket unless you throw so much money at the problem that it costs more than it saves. Keeping honest people honest and having gatelines at ‘destination’ stations is a happy medium.

 

[ComUtoR]

what would be the best way to stop fare evasion on National Rail?

Make it free

 

[Yew]

I don't think manned ticket offices would be cost effective, you'd probably lose more in wages than you 'save' in evaded fares.

 

[zwk500]

You will never get 100% compliance, but fundamentally you need to convince everybody that they will always have their ticket checked at some point on the journey. This would need to be achieved through a combination of means, but the following would be my strategy:
1. Put in barriers at the busier station. Ideally you would set it up so that as many journeys as possible pass through at least 1 barrier (LNWR does a good job of this, but obviously not all routes are set up like that)
2. Make sure there is a clear, reliable and accessible way to buy tickets at every station (TVM, ticket office, link to e-tickets page doesn't matter)
3. Enable e-tickets everywhere
4. Have regular and visible on-train ticket checks. Doesn't need to be on the same services every day, can be roving.
5. Have regular RPI/BTP 'stings' at stations where Barriers aren't possible or there is evidence of short-faring/doughnutting etc.

 

[Kite159]

More regular ticket checking on board trains. Will catch out those who short fare to bypass barriers at the destination station.

RPI checks at destination stations with any etickets from the previous station encoded not to open the barriers for further inspection, with a member of staff at the previous station giving out slips of paper (ie if someone tries to exit at Birmingham New Street using a ticket from Five Ways but there is no "entry" scan). Pretty sure Northern used to do similar to catch out the short farers at Liverpool who claimed to have come from Edge Hill.

 

[BJames]

One thing that's particularly prevalent I noticed on TikTok is people forcing their way through barriers (and recording it unbelievably) - I think unless you were to get far more BTP at stations to prevent this, I agree with @zwk500 - if people believe that it is almost certain their ticket will be checked and they can't just tell the inspector to F off then we would go some way to improving compliance. Unfortunately, inspectors are limited in what they can do if they are met with someone that just won't cooperate

 

[London Trains]

Simple way to reduce majority of fare evasion (obviously not all of it as there will always be some):

Reduce the prices of tickets.

 

[SuspectUsual]

Just about every process in life where there’s a trade off between quality (in this case the level of legal fare paying) and cost (in this case revenue protection) perfect quality has a inordinately high cost.

The more accurate question should be what’s the correct level of time, resource and money that should be put into revenue protection so that the net fares income is maximised.

 

[Horizon22]

This might be unpopular, but uncouple guards from the dispatch process (i.e DOO) so that they are able to carry more of a customer service role focussing on tickets and fare evasion. Some guards on longer-distance routes should already be able to do this but on more metro areas that still have guards, will find it difficult and that's where some of the more rampant fare evasion is. So this is in effect a OBS style role.

Otherwise:

• Give up and significantly reduce ticket prices so people buy them - I am doubtful this would be cost neutral
• More revenue staff at stations.
• More gatelines installed where possible.

Whether there will be a positive cost:benefit ratio is always the key question and therefore any interventions need to be measured accordingly. I'd often say yes as it has an indirect benefit too as you a) catch more people and b) the visible presence means less people 'chance it' in future. Furthermore, The DfT has traditionally set a "ticketless travel" limit when doing spot checks as they accept 100% is almost impossible. Not sure if this sort of thing has continued post-Covid.

 

[Purple Train]

Simple way to reduce majority of fare evasion (obviously not all of it as there will always be some):

Reduce the prices of tickets.

More regular ticket checking on board trains. Will catch out those who short fare to bypass barriers at the destination station.

RPI checks at destination stations with any etickets from the previous station encoded not to open the barriers for further inspection, with a member of staff at the previous station giving out slips of paper (ie if someone tries to exit at Birmingham New Street using a ticket from Five Ways but there is no "entry" scan). Pretty sure Northern used to do similar to catch out the short farers at Liverpool who claimed to have come from Edge Hill.

Agreed.

 

[6Gman]

Simple way to reduce majority of fare evasion (obviously not all of it as there will always be some):

Reduce the prices of tickets.

Curiously though some of the fares most avoided* are of relatively low value.


* I have no statistical evidence but from reports by staff in areas such as S Wales, Merseyside and Manchester a lot of fare evasion is for trifling sums.

 

[py_megapixel]

One thing that's particularly prevalent I noticed on TikTok is people forcing their way through barriers (and recording it unbelievably)

I think it's odd that they aren't equipped to detect that they are being forced and set off an alarm, as the gates that block off closed checkout queues in shops are.
But then again, the kind of person who forces through a ticket barrier probably isn't that worried about drawing attention to themselves, are they!

 

[baz962]

I think it's odd that they aren't equipped to detect that they are being forced and set off an alarm, as the gates that block off closed checkout queues in shops are.
But then again, the kind of person who forces through a ticket barrier probably isn't that worried about drawing attention to themselves, are they!

I'm pretty sure some if not all do. When I worked on the Overground I'm sure an alarm sounded when forced.

 

[yorkie]

Following on from a couple of other threads, what would be the best way to stop fare evasion on National Rail?

What are current rates? It will be a single digit percentage, for sure.

Should every station have a manned ticket office and manned barrier line?

Ticket offices are very old hat these days. Barriers do not ensure a valid ticket is held for the journey being made, though I accept they are useful for systems such as London Overground/Underground etc.

I've just come back from a trip abroad in which there were no barrier checks whatsoever and yet rates of fare evasion are low and tickets were much more frequently checked on board, compared to my usual journeys in the UK.

Should we have more on train ticket checks?

More regular ticket checking on board trains.

Yes, agreed.

This might be unpopular, but uncouple guards from the dispatch process (i.e DOO) so that they are able to carry more of a customer service role focussing on tickets and fare evasion....

Definitely this; I am often impressed by how efficient the ticket inspectors are on the Scotrail electric services in the Glasgow area.

 

[JonathanH]

One thing that's particularly prevalent I noticed on TikTok is people forcing their way through barriers (and recording it unbelievably) - I think unless you were to get far more BTP at stations to prevent this, I agree with @zwk500 - if people believe that it is almost certain their ticket will be checked and they can't just tell the inspector to F off then we would go some way to improving compliance. Unfortunately, inspectors are limited in what they can do if they are met with someone that just won't cooperate

Indeed, the current ticket gates simply aren't fit for purpose. I'd like to see the barriers enhanced to prevent them being forced and better tackle tailgating. Not really sure how it could be done but they are increasingly becoming ineffective.

 

[Horizon22]

I think it's odd that they aren't equipped to detect that they are being forced and set off an alarm, as the gates that block off closed checkout queues in shops are.
But then again, the kind of person who forces through a ticket barrier probably isn't that worried about drawing attention to themselves, are they!

They do sound. But people force themselves through and are gone in five seconds, and gateline staff are going to be putting themselves in a conflict situation. With backup Revenue staff perhaps and certainly with the BTP, but the latter don't have anywhere near the resources to attend to every incidence of fare evasion.

 

[JonathanH]

With backup Revenue staff perhaps and certainly with the BTP, but the latter don't have anywhere near the resources to attend to every incidence of fare evasion.

Giving revenue staff the powers of a BTP officer to arrest people who force barriers would be a start. The higher wages might even pay for themselves in fines.

 

[Ediswan]

I'd like to see the barriers enhanced to prevent them being forced and better tackle tailgating.

Against that, barriers are designed to give way when forced as a safety feature:
Rail Industry Standard for Automatic Ticket Gates at Stations

GN45 In the event that a passenger becomes trapped in the gate paddles, they should not
experience a contact force from the gate paddles of greater than 0.49 kN in the direction of
entry to the ‘paid side’ of the station or 0.39 kN in the exit direction from the ‘paid side’ of
the station.

 

[Kite159]

I think it's odd that they aren't equipped to detect that they are being forced and set off an alarm, as the gates that block off closed checkout queues in shops are.
But then again, the kind of person who forces through a ticket barrier probably isn't that worried about drawing attention to themselves, are they!

The sort of people who force their way through barriers are the sort whom know the barrier staff are powerless to do anything, especially if they are contractors.

Some don't even have the ability to sell tickets so if someone comes up saying "haven't got a ticket", all they can do is direct them towards a TVM (or ticket office if it's open), where that passenger will most likely bugger off as soon as they are through.

Definitely this; I am often impressed by how efficient the ticket inspectors are on the Scotrail electric services in the Glasgow area.

Seems to gone downhill since Covid on the Scottish electrics, although I guess the rise of some anti social behaviour might make some ticket examiners think it isn't worth bothering asking that group (both young & older) if they have got tickets as they will only get abuse. The 18 or so months where it was effectively free travel unless travelling to a barriered station probably will take years to go back the way it was. Doesn't help the Scottish legal system makes it very hard to charge any sort of penalty to those who blatantly walk past an open ticket office & TVM to board a train to buy on board if they get challenged.

 

[Tallguy]

A good mixed bag of comments with some good suggestions from Yorkie, Horizion22 and zwk500. To me the answer is three fold;

I disagree that ticket offices are old hat. TVM’s are regularly broken on Chiltern stations and good ticket office staff can answer questions about breaking journeys, odd leg tickets etc, machines can’t do that. We need both. But the machines need to work. I almost always travel with a paper ticket On national rail.

More on train checks. This is the best way to catch fare dodgers in my opinion. Roving teams can jump from train to train at the interchanges/stops.

More station ‘blocks’ using BTP as well as RPI staff.

Or do we need a social attitude shift where fare dodging is seen as unacceptable?

 

[zwk500]

Or do we need a social attitude shift where fare dodging is seen as unacceptable?

This is the only action which can eliminate intentional fare evasion. You can enforce things all you want, but if people don't see it as wrong then there will always be some who try to get away with it. And the nature of the game is that enforcement is always on the back foot.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

I think there's an extra thought here so please bear with me:

The quick answer to the question is 'by making it harder to evade the fare'. I think there are three legs to this:

1) Make it easier to comply: this means making sure that every passenger has a realistic chance to buy a ticket before boarding. Today that means better staffed ticket offices and plentiful, reliable TVMs: already and tomorrow it means easy to use apps to buy online and on your phone
2) Make it harder to not comply: that means more barriers and on-train ticket checks: in passing, these on-train checks should either be so regular that every train is checked every day or random rather than regular - you don't want potential evaders knowing that the 0800 is never checked on Mondays.
3) Make the rules easy to understand and follow. The ideal would be the same rules for every train but since journeys from Berney Arms are rather different to journeys from Euston we need to accept some variation. But it should always be the case that on a given train the result of not having a ticket is the same: it shouldn't be that you can buy on the train if the guard comes round but you get prosecuted if it's the day for the RPIs.

 

[Hadders]

My job involves revenue protection, albeit it not in the railway. I hate fare evasion and you need to consider the following points:

• How much money is being lost to fare evasion? (I suspect overall it's around 2-3%). The cost of collecting missing revenue must not be more than the value of the evaded fares. This includes the cost of staff (and their associated on-costs like employers NI, pension contribution, training, uniforms, costs managing them etc) and the cost of equipment e.g. additional TVMs and hand held devices for these staff to check tickets and issue penalty notices etc. You will never collect 100% of the fares
• Measures introduced to collect the additional revenue must not unduly inconvenience fare paying passengers
• Whatever is introduced needs to be safe for both passengers and staff (e.g. staff physically manhandling fare evaders is not likely to end well)
• Can the fares system be designed to maximise revenue collection. British Rail's system was excellent at this with cheap day returns 10p more than a single and saver returns £1 more than a saver single. There is a minimum of 6 opportunities to check fares on a return journey - at the start and finish stations and onboard; as long as one of those 6 checks is done then you will collect the revenue
• There does need to be a 'horses for courses' approach to checking tickets. For example on busy suburban and outer suburban services onboard checks probably aren't feasible but on inter-city and regional services they normally are
• Data mining has a part to play in contactless/smartcard PAYG/eticket travel to identify people who don't touch in and out, and also to identify people short-faring. This would enable RPIs to be targeted at specific trains that appeared to suffer with this type of problem
• High profile revenue blocks also have a part to play to get the message out into the wider public that fare evasion isn't tolerated

 

[181]

Measures introduced to collect the additional revenue must not unduly inconvenience fare paying passengers

Can the fares system be designed to maximise revenue collection. British Rail's system was excellent at this with cheap day returns 10p more than a single and saver returns £1 more than a saver single. There is a minimum of 6 opportunities to check fares on a return journey - at the start and finish stations and onboard; as long as one of those 6 checks is done then you will collect the revenue

It could be argued that your suggestion in the second quote contradicts your criterion in the first -- if a single costs nearly as much as a return, that's a problem for people making one-way or triangular journeys.

(I'm not saying I know what the answer is, and no doubt your other suggestions are sensible, but I think my point needed making).

The cost of collecting missing revenue must not be more than the value of the evaded fares.

I wonder whether there might be any beneficial side-effects from reducing antisocial behaviour.

 

[Bertie the bus]

One thing that's particularly prevalent I noticed on TikTok is people forcing their way through barriers (and recording it unbelievably) - I think unless you were to get far more BTP at stations to prevent this, I agree with @zwk500 - if people believe that it is almost certain their ticket will be checked and they can't just tell the inspector to F off then we would go some way to improving compliance. Unfortunately, inspectors are limited in what they can do if they are met with someone that just won't cooperate

People who are prepared to force their way through barriers and tell ticket inspectors where to go might be the stereotypical fare dodger but in reality I suspect they make up only a small percentage. Chancers and pay when challenged will make up the majority.

 

[Hadders]

It could be argued that your suggestion in the second quote contradicts your criterion in the first -- if a single costs nearly as much as a return, that's a problem for people making one-way or triangular journeys.

Most passengers don't make single or triangular journeys, and the fares system that I referred to goes back to British Rail days - what we are likely to see is a move to single leg pricing which introduces different risks. With single leg pricing in urban areas at least one end of the journey needs barriers which at least ensures a passenger pays a maximum fare.

I wonder whether there might be any beneficial side-effects from reducing antisocial behaviour.

There is a spin off effect, but this has to be off-set against the cost of providing the additional resource.

People who are prepared to force their way through barriers and tell ticket inspectors where to go might be the stereotypical fare dodger but in reality I suspect they make up only a small percentage. Chancers and pay when challenged will make up the majority.

Absolutely. The vast majority of passengers are honest. You're always going to get someone who's going to force their way thgrough a barrier, or tailgate, or jump a fence to get out without paying. There isn't much you can do with someone who is absolutely determined. BTP have a part to play but they are massively under-resourced and fare evasion is not a prioroty for them, and is never going to be.

 

[dm1]

The approach used in a lot of European countries is simply to make people need to by fewer tickets, by making monthly or annual tickets more attractive.

If the fine for not having a valid ticket is comparable to the price of a monthly ticket - then basically anyone travelling regularly will buy the monthly ticket just to save themselves the hassle, given it is highly likely they will be checked at least once during that month.

Then when the majority of passengers are on monthly or annual tickets, selling tickets to the remainder becomes much less effort (requiring fewer TVMs or staff). No expensive barriers needed either.

 

[SussexSeagull]

Look into Discount card details having to be input (or scanned) then checked against a central database at point of purchase through all channels.

 

[ScottGallagher]

Full height ticket barriers for the more challenging spots, they are used in other metro networks.