Tube fare evasion prosecutions highest since 2019

BBCAn estimated 3.4% of passengers evaded fares throughout all providers between April and December 2024, TfL saysThe variety of prosecutions for fare evasion on London Underground has risen to its highest degree for six years, figures seen by the BBC present.Transport for London (TfL) prosecuted 3,691 folks on the Tube in 2024-25, and likewise issued 13,118 penalty fare notices (PFNs) and 850 written warnings.In the identical interval, there was a report variety of PFNs (12,527) handed out on London Overground however the variety of prosecutions (3,044) fell by a 3rd on the earlier yr. Some 440 warnings had been issued.TfL says fare evasion is “not a victimless crime” and “robs Londoners of significant funding”, including that it was “dedicated to decreasing the present price of fare evasion to 1.5% by 2030”.The figures had been revealed in response to a Freedom of Data request by BBC London.The request was made after a video was launched in Could of shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick confronting fare evaders.Hundreds of thousands watched Conservative Robert Jenrick confronting Tube fare dodgersTube fare-dodging prosecutions peaked in 2018-19 when there have been 4,919, with the quantity dropping to three,279 the next yr.Through the pandemic, prosecutions fell steeply on account of the a lot decrease passenger numbers throughout the community. No London Overground passengers had been issued PFNs in 2020-21 and simply 134 had been prosecuted in 2021-22, which TfL mentioned was attributable to “income groups [instead] finishing up the enforcement of presidency Covid rules”.The variety of warnings issued has been steadily rising, with 2023-24 a report yr on each the Underground (948) and Overground (887).TfL mentioned it spent almost £14.2m cracking down on fare dodging throughout the Tube and £7.7m on the bus community in 2023-24, amassing £1.3m in penalty costs. The extent of such spending on the London Overground, Tram community and on the Elizabeth line is unknown as a result of these providers are operated by franchisees that outsource their enforcement groups.An estimated 3.4% of passengers evaded fares throughout all providers between April and December 2024, a drop of 0.4% on 2023-24, in line with TfL.Siwan Hayward, TfL’s director of safety, policing, and enforcement, mentioned “the overwhelming majority of our prospects pay the right fare” and that “evasion is unacceptable”. He mentioned: “That’s the reason we’re strengthening {our capability} to discourage and detect fare evaders, together with increasing our workforce {of professional} investigators to focus on probably the most prolific fare evaders throughout the community.”This builds on the work of our workforce of greater than 500 uniformed officers already deployed throughout the community to cope with fare evasion and different delinquent behaviour, maintaining employees and prospects protected.”