Fare dodging: EMR recovers nearly half a million pounds from fraudulent travellers

East Midlands Railway (EMR) has recovered nearly half a million pounds from fining or taking to court fraudulent travellers in the past ten months - helping reduce costs for taxpayers. 

From January 1 to October 13, its Revenue Protections Officer and onboard staff have issued 9,642 Notices and successfully prosecuted 1,470 fare avoiders through the courts - returning a combined total of £493,000. 

The fines and prosecutions were made for a number of reasons, including travelling without a valid ticket, fraudulently travelling on a child's ticket, and travelling beyond the destination of their ticket. 

People were only pursued through the courts after they travelled without a ticket and refused to pay for their journey and the corresponding fine. 

Neil Grabham, Customer Services Director at East Midlands Railway, said: "The vast majority of our customers always buy a ticket, and they understand that for the railway to successfully operate, improve, and secure investment, fares need to be paid for. 

"Sadly though, there are a minority of determined people who always look to evade paying or look for ways to work the system.

"We have recently added to our revenue protection teams and created a totally new fraud team, all of whom will be doing everything they can to reduce ticketless travel and hold persistent offenders to account.’’

More information concerning East Midlands Railway's fare policies can be found on its website here: https://www.eastmidlandsrailway.co.uk/help-manage/about-us/policies/penalty-fares