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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Josh Salisbury

Higher fines for fare evasion on Tube come into force

Higher fines of £100 for fare dodgers on the Tube have come into effect.

The increase from £80, which took effect from Sunday, comes amid a decision by the Department for Transport to increase the penalty fare also to £100 on national rail routes.

The move was approved by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.

TfL investigated 421 people for habitual fare evasion during 2023 who made more than 50,000 fraudulent journeys across the London Underground network, defrauding TfL of more than £300,000 in lost fare revenue. 

Of these cases, 190 have been prosecuted to date and 189 were found guilty, with the remaining cases pending court action.

Mr Khan said when confirming the move: "TfL relies on revenue from fares to be able to deliver the safe, clean and reliable public transport that Londoners deserve. 

“Fare evasion deprives us of much needed revenue and so I welcome this tough new action from TfL to increase enforcement and ensure more fare evaders are brought to justice. 

“Latest figures show real progress is being made, but I will continue to work with TfL and the British Transport Police to crack down on fare evasion, and build a better, safer and fairer London for everyone."

TfL said a recent case of fare dodging involved a passenger failing to pay for their trip on 193 occasions, with total fares unpaid of £1,200.

Another passenger also attempted to evade fares by using a bank card that had insufficient funds to pay the fare for an entire year, with the passenger being ordered to pay £1,795.60.

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