Court orders fare dodgers to pay £42,000 for not buying tickets on Greater Anglia trains
Crime / Wed 11th Oct 2023 at 11:08am
| MORE than 500 fare dodgers have been ordered to pay £42,215 in fines and costs after travelling on the Greater Anglia network without buying a ticket.A total of 527 dodgers were caught riding Greater Anglia trains without a ticket or the means to buy a ticket by revenue protection ticket inspectors between January 2023 and March 2023. The fare dodgers were dealt with by four hearings of Essex Magistrates’ Court Single Justice Procedure sessions during August 2023. Kim Bucknell, head of revenue protection at Greater Anglia, said:“We have a team of revenue protection staff – both uniformed and plain clothes – who regularly go through our trains checking passengers’ tickets.”The majority of our customers are travelling with the right ticket, but when we come across people without a ticket or the wrong ticket, then we will take action.”It is easy to buy a ticket, either from a ticket machine, online or via our app, so there is no excuse for travelling without a ticket. It’s only fair that everyone buys the right ticket for the journey they are making and the railway conditions of carriage have always required all passengers to do so.”We have a range of great value fares and offers available – especially if you book in advance, and it’s cheaper to buy a ticket than pay a fine.”The railway is now entirely funded by the government and so ultimately taxpayers. By not buying a ticket, it means fares go up further for everyone and there is less money to invest in the railway.” Only people who board a train without a ticket and without any intention of buying a ticket are taken to court.Greater Anglia’s revenue protection teams use their discretion when inspecting tickets. They are informed if ticket machines are out of order or if ticket offices are closed, so when these are used as reasons, they know if they are genuine. As well as uniformed Revenue Protection Inspectors, Greater Anglia also employs plain clothes Fraud Investigations Officers who use the latest technology and systems to detect fraudulent activity, specialising in travel fraud, such as delay repay fraud rings.Customers are reminded to carry the correct ticket when travelling with Greater Anglia. Contactless and Oyster cards are not valid beyond Shenfield on the Great Eastern Mainline, or beyond Broxbourne on the West Anglia Mainline. Contactless and Oyster cards are not valid for journeys to and from Stansted Airport. |
Tony
2023-10-11 12:28:59
This is from a company who intends to close ticket offices at Bishops Stortford, Harlow Town, Broxbourne etc etc etc.
Dwayne Lard
2023-10-11 13:10:42
Tony, relax. It only takes 6 or 7 minutes to buy a ticket from the one working machine at each station. Will be fine.
David
2023-10-11 13:45:07
Dwayne lard, one working machine at Harlow Station on an average of 6-7 minutes per purchase, hope they lay on extra trains then because during rush hour when there's a que with those statistics you could could be in for a lengthy wait in which you'll miss your intended train😂😂
Luke Burton
2023-10-11 14:01:32
Easier to assume that there are no trains running these days - on time or otherwise. Impossible to plan your life around public transport these days yet these cretins charge a small fortune.
David
2023-10-11 15:44:24
Luke Burton, our whole public transport industry is on parr with that of a third world country, we're getting charged ridiculous prices for a pathetic service.
Richard Adams
2023-10-11 15:47:30
£42000 divided by 500 is £84 each. Not exactly punitive fines.
Guy Northridge
2023-10-11 21:16:06
Having made the journey from Liverpool Street station to Norwich at 11.00am on 29.9.23, returning to London at 9.00pm on the same evening, I cannot fault the service, or its cost, in any way at all. It left on time and it arrived on time. Those who cheat the system should be criminally prosecuted and obliged to pay at least ten times the fare that they have failed to pay. An £84 penalty for those who have contributed to an overall loss of £42,000 to our railways is utterly derisory.
Jannine
2023-10-11 21:16:06
Idiotic some people cannot use ticket machines or have smart phones to purchase a ticket. People should be able to purchase ticket on train
David
2023-10-12 07:40:08
Jannine, how would the ticket inspector know which station you got on at to purchase a ticket on the train, most trains have 8 cars, he cannot be in the same place at all times to see who gets on and where?
Clayton Cowley
2023-10-12 08:29:41
These occasional stories about clamping down on fare dodgers are not an accurate reflection on what happens at Harlow Town station on a daily basis. The amount of fare dodging that goes on is out of control, and most of it is simply allowed by the barrier staff. At peak times, especially late afternoon, it’s like a parade of fare dodgers coming into Harlow. There’s some people that travel on a daily basis, and they simply never buy a ticket because they know they can easily blag their way through the barriers each and every time. That’s assuming the barriers are even manned.
Ivory Engine
2023-10-12 08:49:23
The prices they charge are a joke some people simply can not afford to pay. I'm surprised the number is only 500. Why are the mangers owners not in court for running such a bad service, they put shareholders in front of passengers.
Brian Jones
2023-10-12 11:00:26
I have never witnessed someone being treated so badly by these people than at Stansted Airport yesterday. Appalling behaviour by a Greater Anglia employee. A young Jewish girl was stopped, her crime, tapping in with a bank card at Tottenham Hale, she broke down in tears,saying her grandma had been killed, they demanded £70 from her, she was severely distressed, they made her miss her flight, utterly utterly disgusting
Mark Bickley
2023-10-12 11:35:30
I left my wallet at home one morning ,I ran back got it got to the station as the train pulled in with no ticket,but went to the back of the train as it pulled away, tapped on the guards door to explain and guess what. He issued me a penalty fare. Greater anglia are a disgrace expensive, thay are a joke. Mark wivenhoe
Steve
2023-10-12 16:58:48
Why not simply strike more so no need to worry so much?
A real Tony
2023-10-12 17:33:00
Simply keep ticket offices put ticket machines on trains if people then sort to deceive fine them 10 x price off ticket give time to pay. But if goes to court add court add cost. and bring prices down can't afford to travel have to use underground. And last how much will the Tax payers get back from the £42000🤔😏🙄 .
15 Comments for Court orders fare dodgers to pay £42,000 for not buying tickets on Greater Anglia trains: