Train firms must stop criminalising ‘innocent errors’, report finds

Train passengers are suffering unfair penalties for minor and often genuine mistakes in buying tickets, an inquiry has found.

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said Britain’s fare system was “complex” and that rail firms must stop taking “disproportionate action” against travellers.

Sam Williamson, 22, thought he’d bagged a £1.90 discount on a ticket using his young person’s rail card, but was threatened with court action – now dropped – as the saving didn’t apply before 10am on weekdays outside of July and August.

The Rail Delivery Group, which represents rail firms, said fare evasion costs the industry £400m a year but acknowledged the industry has to be “more consistent”.

The ORR inquiry looked in to how the rail industry handles fare evasion after passengers were being prosecuted over small amounts of money.

The ORR cited one case, which was eventually dropped when a local politician looked into the issues, where a passenger was threatened with court action for accidentally choosing a 16-25 railcard discount when they held a 26-30 railcard. Both give the same discount.

The report also found passengers who had forgotten their railcard were often penalised, though it said it was difficult for rail staff to determine genuine mistakes from those who chose to deliberately underpay.

Rail Minister Lord Peter Hendy said “ham-fisted prosecutions” were punishing innocent passengers.

He added that the government planned on tackling fare-dodging by simplifying ticketing and developing plans for a state-owned rail operator, Great British Railway.

Sam said his “tiny” mistake “would translate to a prosecution, potentially, or hundreds [of pounds] in fines, so I could have ended up with a criminal record”.

He describes the way he was caught out as “slightly convoluted”, adding “we can’t expect a regular commuter to be aware of something that niche on a regular basis”.

ORR strategy director Stephanie Tobyn said the legal framework and enforcement of ticketing is “increasingly complex and appears weighted towards industry, leaving some passengers who make innocent errors vulnerable to disproportionate outcomes”.

However, she added that “fare evasion remains a significant problem, and rigorous action should be taken against those who intentionally seek to defraud the railway”.

The inquiry said evading fares was becoming a normal thing to do “among certain passenger groups” and that it is becoming “increasingly more challenging to tackle”.

Robert Nisbet, spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group, which represents the rail industry said fare evasion takes money away from the rail system which could otherwise be invested in improvements.

He added: “We could be better, as an industry, we could be clearer, we could be more consistent across the country.

“We don’t always get it right, we acknowledge that, we have to be better”.