Fare evasion costs Transport for London £130m a year

Around one in 29 public transport users in London do not pay the correct fare, figures show.

Transport for London (TfL) said 3.5% of passengers across its network evade fares, costing it £130 million annually.

The figure has fallen from 3.8% in the 2023/24 financial year.

In April, TfL announced new measures aimed at slashing the figure to 1.5% by the end of the decade.

These include targeting the most prolific fare evaders and using advanced technology.

Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick posted a video on social media on Thursday in which he confronted people who forced their way through the ticket barriers at Stratford station in east London.

He asked one person “do you think it’s all right not to pay” and challenged another to “go back through the barrier and pay”.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live on Thursday, Mr Jenrick said staff “weren’t doing anything” to tackle evasion when he was at Stratford to film the video.

“They weren’t either trained or didn’t have the self-confidence to take action, and I think that’s the issue sometimes,” he said.

London Underground and Overground services operate from Stratford, as well as mainline rail services, the Elizabeth line and the DLR.

Interventions with fare dodgers are involved in around half of reported incidents of violence and aggression towards frontline staff, according to TfL.

Trade union the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) appeared to accuse Mr Jenrick of “trying to score points” with the clip.

It said in a statement: “This incident was not only inappropriate but also potentially dangerous for passengers, staff and the individual involved.

“Fare evasion is a serious issue, but it must be tackled with professional, trained enforcement, not MPs trying to score points or social media clout on their daily commute.”

Siwan Hayward, TfL’s director of security, policing and enforcement, said the “overwhelming majority” of passengers pay the correct fare, but there is “a minority who do attempt to travel without a valid ticket, which is a criminal offence”.

She went on: “Fare evasion is unacceptable. That is why we are strengthening our capability to deter and detect fare evaders, including expanding our team of professional investigators to target the most prolific fare evaders across the network.

“This builds on the work of our team of more than 500 uniformed officers already deployed across the network to deal with fare evasion and other anti-social behaviour, keeping staff and customers safe.

“Fare evasion is not a victimless crime. It robs Londoners of vital investment in a safe, frequent and reliable transport network and we are committed to reducing the current rate of fare evasion to 1.5% by 2030.”