Chiltern Railways has issued a warning to fare evaders after announcing the recovery over £1million in lost revenue throughout 2024.
The operator’s Economic Crime, Fraud & Prosecutions Unit recovered over £400,000 of lost revenue in 2023 and a total of £1,051,287 in 2024.
Chiltern is reminding customers to purchase their ticket before they board. With ticket offices, online purchases, ticket vending machines, smartcards, the mobile app and contactless payments where appropriate – buying a ticket has never been simpler.
There were 8,064 cases reported for investigation on the Chiltern network in 2024. Some cases involved customers not paying for their full journey, adults buying child tickets and railcard misuse. Between £12,000 – £15,000 each was recovered from three individuals who had systematically avoided paying the correct rail fare over a substantial period of time.
In addition, 2,156 penalty fares were issued throughout 2024 and 149 went to prosecution. A total of £114,330 was recovered via penalty fares, taking the total of lost revenue recovered by Chiltern Railways in 2024 to £1,165,617.
Tony Baxter, Operations Director at Chiltern Railways, said:
“The vast majority of our customers pay for their tickets before they travel but unfortunately there is still a lot of money lost on the railway through fare evasion every year.
“We are determined to ensure fairness for the paying customer and there is no excuse for fare evasion as it has never been simpler to purchase a ticket.
“Anyone risking boarding without buying the correct ticket for their journey is at risk of a penalty fare or prosecution.”
Chiltern’s Economic Crime, Fraud & Prosecutions Unit was set up in 2019. Since then, the amount of revenue recovered from fare evasion has increased hugely year-on-year.
In January 2023, following a national consultation by the Department for Transport, an increased penalty fare of £100 was introduced across the country’s rail network.
Chiltern also launched its ‘Buy Before you Board’ campaign in 2024, with posters present at stations and vinyl floor signage before ticket gates, reminding customers that travelling without a valid ticket is a criminal offence.
Image credit: Chiltern Railways
