French train conductors get 10pc of any fines they hand out

Generous commission may prompt ‘aggressive’ ticket inspectors to dish out spurious penalties

FRENCH ticket inspectors have sparked outrage over reports they receive a 10 per cent share of any fine they hand out, leading some to line their own pockets from issuing spurious penalties.

An internal document belonging to the SNCF, France’s national rail operator, and seen by Le Parisien newspaper, stipulates that train conductors receive the generous commission on fines handed out on-the-spot on trains.

Failure to get a passenger to pay straight away causes the commission to drop to “less than €1”, according to “Alain”, a chief conductor on a highspeed TGV line in western France.

“That’s why some conductors are so insistent,” he said. If a passenger voluntarily seeks out a ticket inspector due to an issue, the cut falls to 4 per cent.

“We all know that some of us are overzealous. What’s more, we don’t like being on the same train with them... It always goes badly,” he said, while insisting that “more often than not, most of us are understanding. One shouldn’t generalise.”

French rail staff often get bad press for striking at the drop of a hat while enjoying generous pay and early retirement. Indeed, yesterday the union Sud Rail called a month-long conductors’ strike starting on April 30.

The passenger service SNCF Voyageurs said the commission was put in place to “improve the rate of fine payments” by inciting conductors to get the money up front. “The fight against fraud is a priority for us,” said SNCF Voyageurs, which said fraud accounted for €200 million (£170 million) per year, “the equivalent of 25 new [overground] TER trains”. However, staff interviewed by

Le Parisien said the system had prompted a “minority of overzealous conductors” to hand out a flurry of fines.

Social media abounds with passengers’ tales of unfair treatment. Karim was fined €170 (£145) while on a business trip from Paris to Bordeaux because he had his ID card in digital, not physical, format. “I had my ticket in order, in my name. I showed my photo ID on my phone,” he said. “The ticket inspector told me that only the original counted. She wouldn’t budge.”

The conductor told him to file a complaint and if it was the first time it happened, he would be reimbursed, which proved false.

Marie, 24, bought a €15 (£12.80) ticket and had her ID card only in PDF format and ended up paying €170.

“That’s more than 11 times the price of the ticket!” she exclaimed.

The conductor then used the information on the PDF to write the fine, suggesting he realised it was bona fide.

“Falsified identity papers are one of the most common forms of fraud. That’s why we’re strict,” conductor Alain said.

Lucas, for his part, said he was “disgusted” by his €100 (£85) fine at the end of February for travelling on an overground train in eastern France with a ticket “not used the day before”, on a journey of just four miles.

“The ticket inspectors didn’t even try to find out what my situation was, whether I could afford to pay... Sometimes, you get the impression that they have to fill quotas. Then they wonder why people prefer taking planes or cars.”