Fare-dodging has ‘wiped out’ TfL’s £168,000,000 price increase

Transport for London has been accused of ‘sheer incompetence’ after the scale of fare dodging was revealed.

In one year, the practice cost the network £165million – practically wiping out the £168million in extra revenue raised from fare rises on buses and Tubes.

Ameer Kotecha, from the Centre for Government Reform, which released the figures, said passengers were told the price rise was necessary to improve the network.

She said: ‘What they weren’t told is that fare evasion is costing TfL almost exactly the same amount the rise was expected to generate across the entire network.

‘Before asking Londoners to dig deeper into their pocket, TfL needs to get serious about enforcement. This is not a funding problem, but sheer incompetence.

‘Almost everyone using the Tube will see people pushing through the barriers day in day out.’

An official report published last year revealed TfL staff believed fare dodging had become ‘normalised’ as they were struggling to cope with passengers who refuse to buy tickets.

TfL said that fare evasion had dropped to 3.5% from 3.9% in 2022/23. Their target is 1.5% by the end of the 2030 financial year.

A spokesperson said: ‘This builds on the work of our team of more than 500 uniformed officers already deployed across the network to deal with fare evasion and other antisocial behaviour, keeping staff and customers safe.’

In March, plans were unveiled to stop ‘chronic free-loaders’ who cost the taxpayer £350million every year across the UK.

Among the measures, railcard users now have to carry out ‘simple validation checks’ to prove they qualify for discounted travel.

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