South Western said 95 per cent of people using electronic tickets at the stations were using them fraudulently
A train operator has launched a crackdown on fare dodgers who deliberately buy a ticket for only part of their journey. South Western Railway (SWR) said it identified widespread misuse of electronic tickets by passengers engaged in what is known as short-faring or short-ticketing.
It found that up to 95 per cent of barcode tickets – which can be bought and displayed on a phone – purchased for the four-minute journey between Vauxhall and London Waterloo were being used fraudulently, putting £31 million of revenue at risk.
These tickets open the barriers at London Waterloo, and are considerably cheaper than for long-distance journeys on SWR’s network, which stretches to Devon and Dorset.
SWR’s crackdown has involved deploying more revenue protection staff at Vauxhall to ensure everyone who enters the station with an electronic ticket has it scanned.
When a fare dodger arrives at London Waterloo with an electronic ticket from Vauxhall that was not scanned at the start of the journey, it is apparent they have travelled from further away.
Passengers caught without the correct train ticket must pay a £100 Penalty Fare – halved if paid within 21 days – and buy a single ticket for their journey. Those found to be repeat offenders can face prosecution.
Since June, SWR’s trial has identified 153 short-faring offences, compared with seven during the same period last year.
Recent cases include a passenger who evaded £20,000 over three years while travelling between Surrey and London, while another owed more than £11,000 after travelling from Hampshire to the capital for more than four years.
Early data suggests about a third of passengers previously identified by SWR as conducting the short-faring scam are now purchasing the correct ticket for their journey.
The trial has demonstrated how quickly some fare dodgers adapt their tactics, with one alternative SWR station in London seeing an 89 per cent increase in barcode ticket purchases.
Matthew Winnie, SWR and Network Rail Wessex chief customer and commercial officer, said: “The overwhelming majority of our customers pay the correct fare.
“However, there’s growing evidence of some people deliberately exploiting the system – a criminal offence that deprives the railway of hundreds of millions of pounds each year.
“We know our customers don’t like seeing blatant fare evasion, whether that’s tailgating through ticket gates or simply travelling without a ticket.
“But we’re also tackling the less visible forms of fare fraud, including short-faring and misuse of e-tickets.
“Every fare avoided is money that can’t be reinvested into improving the railway and delivering the best possible service.
“We have a responsibility to protect revenue and our specially trained teams work around the clock to check tickets on stations and trains to improve fairness for the millions of customers who do the right thing.”
Industry body the Rail Delivery Group estimates that at least £350 million to £400 million of annual fares revenue is lost to fraud and ticketless travel each year.
SWR, which said fare evasion costs it about £40 million annually, said it has cut the practice by 67 per cent since 2017.
