MORE than 2,000 passengers have been fined for ticketless travel across the West Midlands in the first month of the minimum £100 fines, writes Poppy Chambers.
The penalty charge increase – to £100 plus the price of the original ticket – was introduced on January 23 and West Midlands Railway (WMR) enforcement officers have been out and about across the network since then.
Rail users are being reminded it is mandatory to buy a tickets before boarding a train if they want to evade a fine.
The £100 fee can be reduced to £50 if paid within 21 days.
Annamaria Izzard, WMR’s head of revenue protection, said the increase was brought in to protect hundreds of millions of pounds of lost revenue and followed a national consultation by the Department for Transport (DfT).
“The number of penalty fares we have issued shows how seriously we take fare dodging.
“I hope the penalty fare scheme will encourage everyone to think twice about ticket-less travel and attempting to evade the fare.”
Prior to the rise, an extensive publicity campaign undertaken, warning people about the changes.
The national scheme now applies across the rail network, meaning passengers could have to pay a significantly high fare if they are travelling without a valid ticket or cannot show an appropriate railcard for a discount.
Further reasons include travelling first class with a standard ticket, people over 16 buying a child ticket and passengers going beyond the selected destination.
On average, 67 penalty fares have been issued every day since January 23.
Birmingham New Street, Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham Snow Hill and Redditch were among the stations where WMR has issued the most penalty fares since revenue officers have stepped up with in-person ticket checks and are tackling digital fraud.
