Nearly 20,000 people prosecuted for fare evasion on London’s transport

[ChewChewTrain]

Nearly 20,000 people prosecuted for fare evasion on London’s transport

There's been a surge in people being prosecuted for fare evasion over the past year after TfL ramped up its enforcement activities.

www.ianvisits.co.uk

There’s been a surge in people being prosecuted for fare evasion over the past year after TfL ramped up its enforcement activities.

TfL estimates that fare evasion costs it around £150 million a year and last year they prosecuted 19,614 people for fare evasion, an increase of 56% on 2022, but down sharply on the nearly 30,000 people prosecuted for fare evasion in 2019/20.

For the record, unsurprisingly, just 32 people were prosecuted during the lock-down year.

Further down, the article mentions this case:

TfL also recently identified a passenger fare evading by using a bank card that had insufficient funds to pay the fare. Analysis of the card’s usage showed a regular failure to validate on every journey made in over a year. CCTV footage was obtained to assist in locating and detecting the offender. The passenger attended court and again pleaded guilty to all the offences. He has been ordered to pay TfL £1,795.60.

This bears a remarkable similarity to a matter for which our help was recently sought:

Got caught touching in on exit gates for over a year

Hi, what happened is that after getting off from the train, tow inspectors approached me with evidence shown that I haven’t paid for numerous journeys on the TFL and been told to provide my details to send me the letter and not to escalate the matter to court. But I gave them an address that Im...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[185143]

I did actually think over the weekend in London that I'd seen noticeably more Revenue Control/Enforcement, both uniformed and (well, I suspect anyway!) Plain clothes.

Good to see. The amount of brazen, blatant fare evasion that I've witnessed happen on TfL seems far too high. Be that anything from tailgating, just barging through the wide gates, to telling bus drivers "nah bruv, I ain't doing that" when challenged for not tapping on or showing a pass. Which admittedly for the latter, it was about 1AM at West Croydon bus station and he certainly wasn't threatening or aggressive towards the driver so I don't blame her at all for shutting the doors and driving off, letting the passenger have a free ride.

Nor do I blame the staff who have to just watch at the gatelines as people blatantly take the mick. Makes you feel a mug for actually paying though at times. I believe the uniforms worn by the enforcement officers are stab proof. Which sadly I can well imagine have proved to be necessary.

 

[AlterEgo]

This bears a remarkable similarity to a matter for which our help was recently sought:

Got caught touching in on exit gates for over a year

Hi, what happened is that after getting off from the train, tow inspectors approached me with evidence shown that I haven’t paid for numerous journeys on the TFL and been told to provide my details to send me the letter and not to escalate the matter to court. But I gave them an address that Im...

www.railforums.co.uk

I doubt these are the same case; this passenger doesn't seem to have attended court. But there have been braindead people on TikTok sharing that particular "hack" (read: crime) for a year or more now, there are probably loads of cases. TfL even pulled the CCTV and tracked the subject of that post!

 

[Haywain]

this passenger doesn't seem to have attended court.

Well, the case went to court but in their absence and they didn’t say how much was involved. But my gut feeling is that it wouldn’t have been anything like that amount.

 

[jumble]

This gives some further context on figures for the underground
If this can be scaled it would suggest that around 3300 people are reported for prosecution annually ( not actually prosecuted ) there seem to be many more dodgers on Overground busses and trams
As trams by and large have no revenue check before boarding perhaps this is not surprising

 

[AndroidBango]

I did actually think over the weekend in London that I'd seen noticeably more Revenue Control/Enforcement, both uniformed and (well, I suspect anyway!) Plain clothes.

Good to see. The amount of brazen, blatant fare evasion that I've witnessed happen on TfL seems far too high. Be that anything from tailgating, just barging through the wide gates, to telling bus drivers "nah bruv, I ain't doing that" when challenged for not tapping on or showing a pass. Which admittedly for the latter, it was about 1AM at West Croydon bus station and he certainly wasn't threatening or aggressive towards the driver so I don't blame her at all for shutting the doors and driving off, letting the passenger have a free ride.

Nor do I blame the staff who have to just watch at the gatelines as people blatantly take the mick. Makes you feel a mug for actually paying though at times. I believe the uniforms worn by the enforcement officers are stab proof. Which sadly I can well imagine have proved to be necessary.

I saw someone being detained at Euston underground last week by a couple of plain clothes inspectors - they'd tailgated through the luggage barrier with very little subtlety.

 

[flythetube]

This gives some further context on figures for the underground
If this can be scaled it would suggest that around 3300 people are reported for prosecution annually ( not actually prosecuted ) there seem to be many more dodgers on Overground busses and trams
As trams by and large have no revenue check before boarding perhaps this is not surprising

Currently an increased amount of inbound ticket checks by Tram Revenue Staff inbound at Wimbledon and saw someone on board issued with paperwork onboard a Tram recently.

Have also encountered more revenue checks onboard London Buses recently which is also a good thing.

Staff inform me that they have a new team targeting Night Buses which has been long overdue !!

 

[rg177]

I've been on and off TfL services today and observed a gaggle of RPIs (in uniform but in casual jackets etc to cover it) pouncing on people coming in and flagging up for whatever reason (tailgating, discounts, etc I assume) at Liverpool Street which was good to see as bashing in/out with impunity has become the usual way to go.

On that note - was quite amused by a teenager trying to ram his way in at Hackney Wick only to bounce off of the gate. "They've f**King upgraded!" he whined, as he wandered off...

 

[ChewChewTrain]

I've been on and off TfL services today and observed a gaggle of RPIs (in uniform but in casual jackets etc to cover it) pouncing on people coming in and flagging up for whatever reason (tailgating, discounts, etc I assume) at Liverpool Street which was good to see as bashing in/out with impunity has become the usual way to go.

On that note - was quite amused by a teenager trying to ram his way in at Hackney Wick only to bounce off of the gate. "They've f**King upgraded!" he whined, as he wandered off...

A heartwarming tale there. Those new solid wide gates definitely look like they’re not to be trifled with. Indeed, I’ve not seen anyone push through at Clapham Common since its gate was “f**king upgraded”, in stark contrast to before.

 

[Bluejays]

I've been on and off TfL services today and observed a gaggle of RPIs (in uniform but in casual jackets etc to cover it) pouncing on people coming in and flagging up for whatever reason (tailgating, discounts, etc I assume) at Liverpool Street which was good to see as bashing in/out with impunity has become the usual way to go.

On that note - was quite amused by a teenager trying to ram his way in at Hackney Wick only to bounce off of the gate. "They've f**King upgraded!" he whined, as he wandered off...

Now that's good news indeed!

 

[Tallguy]

TFL RPI’s uniforms are not stab proof. They may well covert stab vests but the uniforms themselves are not stab proof.

Whilst working in Kabul a shade over 4 years ago, I asked if my body armour with steel plate was bullet proof. The person told me it depended on what I was being shot at with, but I had to wear it anyway….

 

[H&I]

I was at Finsbury Park on Wednesday, and there was a heavy revenue protection operation at the station with revenue protection inspectors (RPIs) stationed along the corridors beneath the mainline platforms. In the ticket hall, I even saw someone try to do a runner and get tackled to the ground by British Transport Police officers! That was the highest-profile revenue protection block I have seen in a while.

Earlier in the year, I was stopped at Leicester Square station by an RPI who wanted to see my photocard as a yellow LED bar had lit up on the gate I was passing through. A quick check of the photograph on the photocard and a “thank you” later, I was allowed on my way.

Earlier still, I saw plainclothes RPIs at Warren Street station. They were hiding behind a notice board at the top of the escalators, seemingly in a stakeout for a repeat fare evader.