How to tell a fare dodger from a baffled rail passenger

Companies’ hefty penalties fail to distinguish between petty fraudsters and travellers confused by UK’s complex ticketing

- SIMON CALDER

One million pounds per day: that is how much fare dodging costs the country. TransPennine Express estimates one in 30 of its passengers does not have a valid ticket. Unsurprisingly, train operators are keen to catch people who set out to travel ticketless. But as today’s report from the Office for Rail and Road (ORR) shows: they can often be heavy-handed.

Some people inadvertently find that they are travelling without a valid ticket simply because the fare system is so darn complicated.

Take the journey from Bristol to London. Forget for a moment about complications such as advance tickets and railcard conditions. All you want is a standard ticket for immediate departure, whether you buy it from a ticket office (which only two out of five passengers do), online or through a ticket machine.