The penalty for travelling without a valid ticket is to rise five-fold from January, in a government move to reduce the current high level of fraud - reckoned to be around £240 million a year.
The current surcharge of £20 is no longer considered a deterrent, so the new charge from the start of 2023 will be £100, reduced to £50 if paid within 21 days. While the train operator collects the money, it ultimately passes to the Government.
The current £20 fine, or twice the ticket price to the next station the train calls at, has been in force since 2005. There has been over 75% inflation since then.
The Department for Transport said the crackdown will help to modernise the railway system and ultimately reduce the cost to taxpayers “who are currently footing the bill of those passengers travelling without a ticket”.
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Richard Crompton - 03/11/2022 11:45
Good luck with persuading the train guards to enforce the fines