Rail regulator recommends improvements in revenue protection

After concerns were raised about how rules on fare evasion are enforced, rail regulator the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has published a report on its review of how the rail industry handles revenue protection and has recommended improvements to make the process more consistent, fairer and effective.

Commissioned by government, the ORR’s in-depth review reveals the current system needs to work better for passengers, train operators and taxpayers alike.

Fare evasion is a crime and costs Britain’s railway hundreds of millions of pounds each year in lost revenue. However, while train operators have stepped up revenue protection efforts in recent years, the ORR believes that safeguards to ensure passengers are treated consistently and fairly when subject to enforcement action have not kept pace.

In its review, the ORR found:

• Significant inconsistency in approaches to revenue protection across the network, leading to very different outcomes for passengers;
• Clear areas where better information would help passengers to buy the right ticket and to understand their rights and what options they have if action is taken against them for suspected fare evasion;
• Scope to improve fairness for passengers making honest mistakes, while helping the industry to address fare evasion better and deal with those who attempt to defraud the railway.

ORR’s comprehensive investigation looked at the root causes of what leads to passengers travelling without a valid ticket, and how industry responds to this.

The report identifies areas for improvement and makes targeted recommendations that will address these issues:

1. Make buying the right ticket simpler and easier
   Give passengers clearer information about conditions or restrictions when they are buying a ticket, for example, permitted routes, time restrictions or the use of railcards. This will help reduce confusion and unintentional mistakes.
2. Strengthen consistency in how passengers are treated when ticket issues arise
   Passengers should be treated fairly and consistently when they are found without a valid ticket, with industry focusing on targeting intentional fare evasion, as opposed to genuine mistakes, and responding proportionately.
3. Introduce greater consistency and fairness in the use of prosecutions
   Establish a consistent test for prosecution across all operators, ensuring cases only proceed when clearly justified and in the public interest.
4. Make information on revenue protection easy to access and understand
   Information should clearly set out passengers’ rights and how penalties, prosecutions, out-of-court settlements and appeals work.
5. Greater coordination, oversight and transparency of revenue protection activity
   Establish an appropriate forum or body tasked with identifying and promoting best practice across all aspects of revenue protection policy and enforcement.

The ORR having submitted its report, the Transport Secretary and the Department for Transport will now consider its recommendations and decide how, and to what extent, these should be implemented.

Stephanie Tobyn, ORR’s director of strategy, policy and reform, said:  “Effective revenue protection is essential for a sustainable railway, but it must be fair and proportionate for passengers. Our recommendations aim to protect both industry revenue and support passenger confidence.

“Our evidence shows a system that has evolved over time where the legal framework and enforcement processes are increasingly complex and appear weighted towards industry, leaving some passengers who make innocent errors vulnerable to disproportionate outcomes.

“But meanwhile, fare evasion remains a significant problem, and rigorous action should be taken against those who intentionally seek to defraud the railway.”

The Rail Delivery Group welcomed the ORR’s recommendations to standardise revenue-protection practices, remove complexity and improve transparency for customers. It commented: “Fare evasion remains a significant challenge for the industry, costing the railway hundreds of millions of pounds each year. That’s money that can’t be used to improve services, which increases the burden on customers and taxpayers. So, we need to strike the right balance addressing genuine, honest mistakes made by customers and taking firm action against those who deliberately and persistently seek to exploit the system.

“The rail industry is taking concrete steps to simplify fares, ticketing and retail which will lay the foundation for GBR (Great British Railways) to adopt and build upon, ensuring revenue-protection practices are proportionate, transparent, and customer-focused.”

Rail Minister Lord Peter Hendy commented: “Through the creation of Great British Railways, we’re bringing operators together to establish oversight and better standardise practices, putting an end to inconsistent prosecutions and making sure passengers are treated fairly.

“Deliberate fare-dodging costs the taxpayer up to £400m annually – money which could be better spent on improving passenger experience – and must be dealt with, but ham-fisted prosecutions that punish people who have made an innocent mistake is not the way to do this.

“We will look at this report in detail and set out what we’ll be doing to address the issues raised in due course. In the meantime, we are working at pace to stop this from happening again by simplifying ticketing and developing plans for GBR to sell tickets online, alleviating confusion and making it easier for people to buy the right fare.”