TfL Announces New Measures to Tackle Fare Evasion
Team of investigators will target most prolific offenders
The new team will complement the work of uniformed enforcement officers
April 30, 2025
Transport for London has announced plans to reduce the level of fare evasion across its network.
A new team dedicated to investigating the most prolific offenders is being formed to halve the amount lost through people not paying to travel. Individual high-impact offenders cost TfL thousands of pounds each year.
Its efforts will be supported by new technology and will complement the existing work of over 500 uniformed TfL officers already deployed. TfL says that a data-driven strategy to tackle fare evasion is already making an impact, with the pan-TfL fare evasion rate dropping to 3.4 per cent from 3.8 per cent in 2023/24. This represents still about £130 million lost due to unpaid fares.
The target is to halve fare evasion across all TfL services to 1.5 per cent or less by 2030.TfL says that the fare evasion rate is already well below other major cities quoting a level of 13% for New York.
Initially the focus will be on the Elizabeth line and London Overground before the team expands to cover all other rail modes.
The investigations team will take an intelligence-led approach, using advanced tools, including TfL’s Irregular Travel Analysis Platform (ITAP) which uses ticketing and journey data, passenger information, and CCTV to identify fare evaders responsible for the greatest revenue loss. By analysing travel patterns, the team will focus on those who evade fares repeatedly, ensuring they are caught and held accountable.
More than £400,000 was awarded to TfL by the courts last year following the prosecution of 360 prolific fare evaders on London Underground. ITAP complements a range of deterrent measures, including targeted email campaigns warning customers of fare evasion penalties, station interventions, and a register of repeat offenders to prioritise enforcement and potential prosecution. In 2023, TfL prosecuted 19,614 individuals for fare evasion, a 56% increase from the previous year.
One major area of focus for TfL’s enforcement teams is contactless payment card fare evasion. In one recent case, an individual used a contactless payment card to evade paying the correct fare across 202 journeys. After investigation, the individual was ordered to pay £1,472 in fines, one of the thousands who are caught and prosecuted each year, resulting in financial penalties and criminal convictions.
TfL says it will also continue to tackle blatant fare evasion, such as gate-pushing by increasing the number of accredited enforcement officers on its network who can refuse entry and remove people from stations, and deploying them to locations with high prevalence of people pushing through gates. TfL is also working to improve wide-aisle gates, which are the main access point for chronic offenders.
Other key measures include enhanced monitoring and analysis of data to identify fare evasion trends and tailored interventions for each transport mode.
Despite these efforts, fare evasion continues to be a visible issue. A YouGov survey revealed that 79% of Londoners have witnessed fare evasion, with nearly half observing it frequently. Moreover, only 24% reported seeing staff intervene in such instances. The prevalence of fare evasion, especially blatant acts like "gate-pushing," has been attributed to factors such as rising living costs and a perceived decline in rule adherence post-pandemic.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said, “Fare evasion is a criminal offence which deprives TfL of thousands of pounds of vital revenue every year that could be reinvested in London’s transport network.
“That's why we're expanding our team of professional investigators to cover the whole network and investing in the latest technology to target the worst offenders. It sends a clear message: fare evasion will not be tolerated, and we will hold those who do it to account.
“The team is supporting more than 500 uniformed TfL officers across the network who are already going after fare evaders and helping to keep the public safe. The latest data shows that TfL’s efforts to reduce fare evasion on the network is working, but there is more to do. I'm determined to do all I can to support the vital work TfL is doing to ensure these vital funds are reinvested into improving transport services for Londoners."
Siwan Hayward, TfL’s Director of Security, Policing, and Enforcement, said: “The overwhelming majority of customers pay the correct fare, and it’s unfair to those who do that a minority avoid paying. We are strengthening our capability to deter and detect fare evaders ensuring they face the consequences of their actions and that the cost of fare evasion is paid by the evaders, not our fare paying customers or taxpayers. Fare evasion is not a victimless crime. It robs Londoners of vital investment in a safe, frequent and reliable transport network and we are committed to reducing the current rate of fare evasion to 1.5 per cent by 2030.”
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