Rail fare dodgers

sir – The introduction on January 23 of a new £100 fine for travelling by train without a ticket, lauded by the Department for Transport, ignores the elephant in the room for the railways.

Increasing numbers of people are travelling by train without having to pay because they have found out that it’s easy to do so. Fare evasion invokes the ire of those who do purchase a ticket to travel, but even some of these folk are joining the ranks of “if they can’t be bothered to check I have a ticket, I cannot be bothered to buy one”.

Throughout the industrial action on the railways, we have heard much about modernisation and the need to extend driver-controlled operation. The trade unions say they are campaigning to keep a second staff member on the train, yet on many services where there still is a second staff member, a passenger seldom sees them or has his or her ticket checked.

Without the rigorous, daily and persistent enforcement required to deliver a deterrent to fare dodgers, the increased fine will do little to stem the losses which taxpayers are picking up. Fraser Pithie