During the past 12 months, from 1st April 2021 to 31st March 2022, Northern Trains recovered over £2 million from fare dodgers.

Data released by Northern’s Debt Recovery and Prosecution Unit shows that in 2021-2022 there were 90,000 reported instances of attempted fare evasion, of which 53,000 were issued with a formal penalty fare.

Northern, the UK’s second-largest train operator, successfully prosecuted over 11,000 of the worst offenders. In total, £2,077,559 was recovered for taxpayers. The fare dodgers were prosecuted under the provisions of the Regulation of Railways Act 1889, and the Railway Byelaws made pursuant to the Transport Act 2000.

Northern has made it easy for customers to buy tickets. Digital tickets are available for all journeys and is investing in the largest network of ticket infrastructure of any train operator in the country. The company operates nearly 2,000 services a day to over 500 stations across Northeast and Northwest England and into Scotland.

If a passenger gets on a train without a ticket or Promise to Pay notice at a station where ticket buying facilities are available, they may be liable to pay a penalty fare. The penalty is the greater of £20 or twice the full single from the station where they got on the train to the next station at which the train stops. If the passenger wants to travel beyond the next station, they must also pay the relevant fare from that station to their final destination.

Mark Powles, customer and commercial director at Northern, said: “Customers have a duty to buy a ticket for travel before they board a train – and the overwhelming majority of them do so via our app, website, ticket offices, or one of more than 600 ticket machines across the network.

“Unfortunately, a small number of people deliberately try to ‘fare evade’ and we have a responsibility to pursue those so that fare-paying passengers – and taxpayers at large – are not subsidising the cost of travel for those who do not pay their fare.

“The money recovered can now be reinvested in making the rail network better for all our customers – including improvements to trains, stations, and other passenger facilities.”