Edinburgh trains: ScotRail announces new crackdown on ticket fraud and fare evasion

It is estimated that around £10 million of public money is lost each year due to fare evasion and fraud on ScotRail services - money that could otherwise be reinvested into the rail network to improve services.

ScotRail is to clamp down on fare evasion. Picture: John Devlin.

ScotRail said the most common types of fare evasion include people buying ticket for shorter journeys and traveling further than their ticket permits; passengers using discounted railcards they are not entitled to; and customers deliberately misusing self-service ticket machines to avoid paying the correct fare.

From this month, an extra 69 ticket examiners will be in post to make it more difficult for potential fraudsters to avoid paying the correct fare.

There will be increased ticket checks at stations, increased staffing, and the use of advanced data analysis to identify fraudulent behaviour.

ScotRail has increased the number of staff dedicated to revenue protection, adding more automatic ticket gate staff, on-train teams, and new mobile Revenue Protection Officers.

These teams are tasked with carrying out comprehensive checks on tickets, they can set up temporary barriers at any station and conduct full ticket checks, and they are authorised to take names and addresses for further investigation if passengers are found to be attempting fare evasion.

ScotRail said its Revenue Protection Team generates around £2 million each year, which would otherwise have been lost, from people who have been caught travelling without a valid ticket.

Advances in technology allow ScotRail to combine reports from frontline staff with data such as sales records, and historical ticket usage to detect fraud.

In cases where fraud is identified, ScotRail calculates the total unpaid fare owed, which can amount to thousands of pounds. And if necessary it can seek civil recovery, which may affect the offender’s credit rating, or work with British Transport Police to pursue criminal prosecution in severe cases.

Phil Campbell, ScotRail customer operations director, said: “Tackling ticket fraud has always been a priority for ScotRail. It’s a small minority of passengers who deliberately try to avoid paying the proper fare but it’s honest, fare-paying passengers who bear the burden of lost investment in Scotland’s Railway.

"Our goal is to ensure that our genuine customers can travel without disruption, knowing that the fare system is fair and enforced. We are fully committed to ensuring that everyone who uses our services pays their fair share.

“These measures not only protect public money but also allow us to reinvest in improvements for the benefit of all passengers.”