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Dealing with those fare evaders who have no intention of purchasing a ticket requires a more specialist, longer term approach. “If one of our team is approached by someone violent, or intimidating, or under the influence of drugs or alcohol, we would record details of the incident—date, time of journey etc—and take a description, which we use to build up a profile of that person,” explains Sandra.
Once the team has all the information it needs, a special exercise is carried out to target persistent individuals or groups, using revenue protection employees backed, if necessary, by the British Transport Police.
Plain clothes inspectors are also used to follow known fare evaders and gather evidence against them, which can then be used to bring a case for prosecution. And this is where South West Trains’ dedicated prosecutions team, headed by James Allan, comes in. When someone is caught without a valid ticket, the case is handled in one of several ways. If there are extenuating circumstances, an unpaid fare notice may be issued, which means that the person has 10 days within which to pay their fare. If, however, a person fails to produce a valid ticket, yet had the means to purchase one, they are liable to a penalty fare of £20 or twice the single fare to the next station at which the train stops.
Ticket-issuing technology and the real-time communication between employees mean that excuses commonly used to explain why someone is travelling without a valid ticket are wearing increasingly thin. “Our employees are aware of everywhere a ticket office is closed, or gates are not working. We do our utmost to ensure teams are aware of what’s happening in their locality, so they are informed when approached by a passenger claiming they were unable to buy a ticket because a machine was out of order,” Sandra Smart says.
Despite this, anyone who feels that they have been issued with a penalty fare unfairly has the right to appeal to the Independent Penalty Fares Appeal Service within 21 days to have their case considered independently. If a passenger refuses to pay the penalty fare, he or she can be prosecuted for breaking a railway by-law. People can also be prosecuted under the 1889 Regulation of Railways Act for offences such as boarding a train with the intent to travel but without the means to pay for that travel, paying for part of the journey but knowingly and deliberately travelling further than the distance paid for, or giving false details when caught. All these offences are punishable in the courts by a fine of up to £1,000 and/or imprisonment.
If getting a criminal record were not enough, James Allan and his team also have the ultimate deterrent: ASBOs (Anti-Social Behaviour Orders), to prohibit people who have been successfully prosecuted for fare evasion from travelling by train at all. If they are then caught using the railways, they can be arrested and taken back to court.
“A lot of our passengers pay a significant part of their income to travel on our trains,” says James, “So why should a minority of people who refuse to pay, or who choose not to pay, be subsidised by the other passengers? That’s what drives me on. We owe it to them to pursue and, if necessary, prosecute the people who don’t pay.”
by Laura Richardson
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