Checking of Tickets

[HockeyChris]

I have been travelling between Garforth and Bradford Forster Square for a little while now and over the last few weeks I have noticed that there are very few ticket checks between Forster Square and Leeds and from Leeds to Garforth. Now I know you have to have a ticket to get out at Leeds but surely this makes it very easy for fare dodgers to make journeys like mine and to other places around Leeds with no barriers.

Why are there not more ticket checks on these services and what would the reason be for the infrequent checks being carried out?

 

[Tibbs]

They've probably worked out that the amount that they'd gain in predicted extra revenue is worth less than the cost of a specific ticket checker.

If it's a Northern train, also bear in mind that every person Northern catches without a ticket is worth £80 to them under their 'penalty fare' system. They'd have to sell a lot of extra tickets to a lot more people for that RPI cost to be more valuable selling tickets rather than catching offenders.

 

[yorkie]

I find it very rare for there to be no ticket check out of Garforth, but at busy times the guard is highly unlikely to have time to get through the train before Leeds.

Ticket checks between Bradford Interchange & Leeds are a lot less regular now that barriers are in use at Bradford Interchange. We were at Interchange at approx 2230 recently and the gateline was still in operation then, which surprised me.


Some threads you may find interesting, where the issues you describe have cropped up and been discussed:-

• I see why many people try and get away without paying the correct fare.
• Absurd argument trying to buy a ticket!
• Northern Rail - possible entrapment ?

As for people caught evading the fare, I suspect Northern catch someone out most days, if not every day. We must have had over a dozen of people asking for help on here (some of which were possibly not intentionally avoiding payment of the fare)