The rail industry loses around £250m annually in revenue from people travelling with no ticket or the wrong ticket. Some of this is deliberate, but in other cases it’s unintentional.
But how train operators approach revenue protection differs, and so the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), the rail regulator, is carrying out an independent review and will consider the impact of these different approaches, including how people are penalised or prosecuted.
ORR wants passengers who have either ‘had a ticket’ or no ticket to fill in a short survey of their experiences. This will inform ORR’s review of train company behaviours and whether any changes are needed.
To take part in the survey, click here
Stephanie Tobyn, director of ORR’s consumer team, said:
Notes to editors
The regulator’s ‘call for evidence’ will look at passengers’ experiences as part of its wider review of train operators’ behaviour when penalising passengers, as well as analysing ticketing terms and conditions and retailing information.
On 13 November 2024, the Secretary of State for Transport asked ORR to carry out an independent review of train operators’ revenue protection practices. ORR is looking into two main areas: operators’ and retailers’ consumer practices, such as how they are communicating ticket conditions; and operators’ revenue protection enforcement and broader consumer practices in this area, including the use of prosecutions. The review follows widely-publicised reports, particularly on social media, where passengers were prosecuted for seemingly minor offences, such as misunderstanding ticket conditions. A number of those examples on social media were of passengers with 16-25 railcards.