Rail companies in England are implementing new measures to combat ticket fraud, which costs the network an estimated £400 million annually. South Western Railway and GTR, which operates Thameslink and Southern services, have introduced restrictions on digital ticket sales for certain routes, requiring passengers to purchase physical tickets instead after discovering that up to 95 percent of tickets on some short routes were being used fraudulently.
The fraud methods identified by operators include several techniques exploiting digital ticketing systems. “Short-faring” involves purchasing a last-minute digital ticket for only the final portion of a journey, regardless of where a passenger originally boarded. “Quick scanning” refers to buying a ticket seconds before inspection, while “tailgating” involves following paying customers through ticket gates. A particularly costly scheme termed “donutting” involves purchasing separate cheap tickets for the first and last segments of a journey while avoiding payment for the full trip. A former banking executive received a suspended sentence earlier this year after using this technique 740 times to save over £5,900 in fares.
Government officials and railway commentators attribute the rise in digital fraud to the shift away from traditional ticket purchasing methods. Industry observers note that while reducing staff numbers may be a contributing factor, technological solutions appear necessary given the difficulty of maintaining staff presence at every station. The government is responding by trialling a mobile application that calculates fares by tracking user phone locations, currently being tested on routes in the East Midlands and Yorkshire regions.
The Department for Transport has allocated £33 million for new or enhanced ticket gates at locations identified as fraud hotspots across England and has closed a refund loophole that some passengers exploited dishonestly. Officials have indicated the digital ticketing app could be expanded across Great British Railways, the public entity expected to assume control of the renationalised network next year. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander described fare evasion as both illegal and damaging to all passengers, stating that tackling ticket fraud is a priority for the government.
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