Letter from the Secretary of State for Transport to train
operating confirming that the Department for Transport will
accept all recommendations made by the Office of Rail and Road's
(ORR) independent
review of train operators' revenue protection practices.
Dear operator,
Deliberate fare dodging undermines our railway. It drains much
needed revenue and undercuts the trust of passengers who play by
the rules. The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) has estimated annual revenue
lost to fraud and ticketless travel is at least £350 to £400
million. But the damage goes beyond the numbers. Each ticket
barrier jumped dents confidence in the railway. While we carry
out much needed wider rail reforms – changes that will require
the patience of the travelling public – I want to address the
corrosive issue of fare dodging once and for all.
Your staff are at the heart of efforts to protect revenue. They
act with the utmost professionalism in what can be difficult
circumstances. Yet, to maintain the integrity of our railway, and
ensure we treat passengers fairly, I'm clear that any enforcement
must be proportionate and not punish those making genuine
mistakes. As set out in the recent publication of
the Office of
Rail and Road's (ORR) review of train operators'
revenue protection practices, the industry must ensure
enforcement practices are consistent and transparent.
I accept in full the recommendations of the ORR's review. Their report has
once again shown that 30 years of privatisation have left our
railways fragmented, inefficient and broken. Revenue protection
practices are inconsistent, and the complexities of the current
fares and ticketing system have increased the scope for passenger
confusion and error.
We are overhauling the complex fares and ticketing system to make
it easier for passengers to understand, so they can trust they
are buying the right ticket and getting the best fare for their
journey. The replacement of individual train operators with Great
British Railways (GBR) will also enable passengers
to receive a more consistent offer across the network.
The fares, ticketing and retail (FTR) team is now
coordinating our response to the ORR review,
with RDG delivering several
projects. The department will publish an update on this activity
in due course. I encourage you to engage with
the FTR team
and RDG as
constructively and collaboratively as you did with
the ORR during their review.
The cross-industry working group set up during the review will
continue, with the aim of sharing good practice across the
industry. We are also planning to review revenue protection
legislation to ensure this is as clear and effective as possible.
In their review, the ORR identified that it was
a common practice across train operators and third-party
contractors to use lay prosectors to present cases in court. My
officials wrote to all operators in June on the specific issue of
lay prosecutors. It is your responsibility to ensure that you are
adequately protecting revenue in a cost effective but lawful way,
and where it is appropriate, you should continue using
prosecutions as part of a robust and proportionate revenue
protection strategy.
However, as ‘good' and ‘efficient' operators, we would not expect
you to use lay prosecutors to present cases in court and carry
out other regulated legal activities until you are confident that
it is lawful to do so, having taken advice as appropriate. You
may wish to note the action taken by DFTO, which moved quickly to secure
additional legal resources for fare evasion prosecutions,
prioritising cases as appropriate.
Thank you again for your engagement with the ORR and my officials and
for your continuing efforts to counter fare evasion across the
network.
Yours sincerely
The Rt Hon MP
Secretary of State for Transport
See the ORR's independent
review of train operators' revenue protection
practices for more information.
