Tories call for taller ticket barriers to cut fare evasion

London Conservatives have called for taller ticket barriers at stations and dedicated fare evasion teams to help cut fare dodging.

- REBECCA WHITTAKER

Almost one in 20 Tube passengers are dodging fares — at a cost of £130m a year - Transport for London (TfL) figures revealed earlier this year.

TfL spent almost £14.2m cracking down on fare dodging across the Tube network and a further £7.7m on the bus network in 2023-24, collecting £1.3m in penalty charges.

The transport provider said its “data-driven strategy” to tackle the issue was “already making an impact”, reporting fare evasion had dropped to 3.5 per cent from 3.8 per cent in 2023-24.