UK train operators review thousands of fare evasion prosecutions

Ten UK train operators have said they are reviewing fare-evasion prosecutions that date back years after a court cast doubt over the validity of an estimated 75,000 criminal convictions.

DfT OLR Holdings (DOHL), the government-owned company that runs services across the Southeastern, Northern Rail, TransPennine Express and LNER networks, said on Friday in a statement that it was reviewing prosecutions at all four of its operations.

FirstGroup confirmed it was reviewing prosecutions at its rail operations — South Western Railway, Great Western Railway, Avanti West Coast, Hull Trains and Lumo. Greater Anglia, which operates services from London Liverpool Street to Essex and East Anglia, also said it was reviewing past prosecutions.

The review comes after six “test cases” of fare evasion this week at Westminster Magistrates’ Court. The chief magistrate said the defendants had been notified by the court service that their convictions were “probably unlawful”.

The test cases involved prosecutions brought by train operators through the “single justice procedure” (SJP) process, set up under the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015.

The SJP allows minor criminal cases to be heard privately by magistrates rather than in open court.

Many train operators have brought prosecutions for fare evasion under the Regulation of Railways Act 1889.

However, the 2015 legislation did not allow rail companies, as private prosecutors, to use the 1889 act under the fast-track SJP process, making an estimated 75,000 cases potentially unlawful.

DOHL said it remained committed to ensuring passengers had a valid ticket. But it added: “DOHL train operators stopped bringing new cases under the single justice procedure for offences under the Regulation of Railways Act 1889 in January and are reviewing its previous use.”

FirstGroup also said it was reviewing past cases and had stopped bringing prosecutions under the SJP “earlier this year”.

Greater Anglia said it had stopped prosecutions for fare evasion under the SJP in March. “We are currently reviewing previous cases, and any associated implications, taking into account any further official guidance on this issue,” it said.

Train operators will be able to make representations at a further magistrates’ hearing on July 19.

Any decision to invalidate past prosecutions could prove logistically complicated for operators if it required them to repay fines and reverse other enforcement action.

One large train operator — GTR, which runs the Southern, Thameslink, Great Northern and Gatwick Express services — said it had never used the SJP to bring prosecutions under the 1889 legislation. Chiltern Railways and c2c also said they had not used the procedure.

Transport for London, which runs the London Underground, London Overground, Elizabeth Line, Docklands Light Railway and Croydon Tramlink, said it had used the procedure under separate legislation not affected by the ruling.

Since the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, fare revenue from franchised passenger train operations has been passed directly to the Department for Transport. Train operators are instead paid a management fee for running the services.

Penelope Gibbs, director of campaign group Transform Justice, said there seemed to be “unfairness” in the process of tackling fare evasion and the approach was “totally inconsistent”.

“Some people are offered the opportunity to pay the right fare; others are given a penalty fare and others are prosecuted,” she said.