Transport Minister, Tony McNulty, today announced that fare dodgers on the railways will in future be subject to a minimum penalty fare of £20.00 - double the existing fine.
Announcing the decision Tony McNulty said:
"It is estimated that hundreds of millions of pounds are lost to the industry each year through people who deliberately choose not to pay their fare. Such behaviour is clearly unfair to the vast majority of honest fare paying passengers.
The current £10 penalty is no longer enough to deter the persistent cheats who routinely seek to travel without buying a ticket. I am therefore pleased to announce that following an extensive consultation exercise, the minimum penalty fare will now increase to £20.00.
This sends a clear signal of the Government's willingness to tackle fare dodging on the railways and I hope it will act as a deterrent to anyone thinking of travelling without paying the correct fare."
The new fine will apply to all the train operating companies that operate a penalty fare scheme.
Notes to editors
1. The Railways (Penalty Fares) (Amendment) Regulations 2005 increases the minimum statutory cash element of the penalty fare that may be charged to a passenger found to be without a valid ticket on the UK rail network from £10.00 to £20.00.
2. The amount of the penalty fare is currently £10.00 or (if applicable) twice the full single fare to the next stop, whichever is the greater. The new Regulations will now make this £20.00 or (if applicable) twice the full single fare to the next stop, whichever is the greater.
3. The Secretary of State is empowered to increase the penalty fare level under powers conferred on him by Section 130 of the Railways Act 1993.
4. The current Regulations are the Railways (Penalty Fares) Regulations 1994 (SI 1994 No. 576). The new Regulations amend the 1994 Regulations.
5. Prior to making this change, the Department carried out a three-month consultation exercise last year. There was a clear support for DfT's proposals to increase the penalty fare. The consultation paper: Penalty Fares Regime - Rail can be found on the DfT Website
6. It is estimated that over £200 million a year is lost to the rail industry nationally from fare evasion. As well as recovering some of this lost revenue, increasing the penalty fare may also have social benefits in reducing the crime of fare evasion.
