Transport for Wales introduces penalty fares on South Wales Mainline services
Penalty Fares will be introduced on the South Wales Mainline from today (4 March) as part of a clampdown on fare evasion and fraud.
According to Transport for Wales it loses an estimated £10m a year due to fare evasion.
Passengers will get a three-week grace period before the introduction of penalties. Anyone travelling without a valid ticket or permit to travel for their journey during this time will be given information about the potential consequences by Revenue Protection Officers.
From Monday 25 March anyone travelling without a valid ticket or permit to travel for their journey will be given a Penalty Fare of £20 or twice the full fare – whichever is the greater amount.
The fines will apply for journeys on routes between Severn Tunnel Junction in the east and Carmarthen in west Wales on all Transport for Wales (TfW) services.
Vital
Alexia Course, Chief Commercial Officer at TfW, said: “The vast majority of customers pay the correct fares and this revenue is vital for us as we continue to transform the Wales and Borders network with £800m of brand-new trains and the delivery of the South Wales Metro.
“Unfortunately, there are a minority who don’t pay their fare or use fraudulent activity to try and avoid paying the correct amount for their journey. Not only is this unfair on their fellow passengers, but it also costs TfW millions each year in lost revenue.
“TfW is a not-for-profit organisation with no shareholders, and all revenue is used to fund the running of the services and future improvements. By reducing the money we lose through fare evasion and fraud, we can also reduce the subsidy required from Welsh Government, which is funded by the taxpayer.
“We will be using the initial three-week period to educate customers about the new scheme and we encourage all passengers to buy before they board using the TfW website, award-winning app or by using the best value Pay As You Go fares, where available.”
Wales and Borders
This is TfW’s second Penalty Fares scheme on the Wales and Borders network following the successful launch of the first roll-out between Shrewsbury and Birmingham. The scheme will be rolled out to the rest of the network over the coming months.
Penalty Fares are administered by authorised Revenue Protection Officers who can check tickets and issue Penalty Fare Notices to passengers who are found without a valid ticket or permit to travel. Revenue Protection Officers will always wear uniforms and carry identification badges.
They can also issue Unpaid Fare Notices (UFNs) to passengers who cannot pay the Penalty Fare on the spot or who have committed a more serious offence, such as using a forged or altered ticket.
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If there is no opportunity to buy the correct ticket for your needs will a permit to travel ticket will always be available ?
What happens if there is no way to obtain one ? (i.e. If the machine is not working?)
Does that mean the potential traveller cannot use the train and has therefore to find alternate travel arrangements ?
In that case there must a reciprocal pay-back by providing first a seat and a loo, even a cup of tea. all three unavailable to my step-daughter on her expensive journey from Bristol to Caergybi…
Smile you are on CCTV, sat on the floor, legs crossed and dehydrated …
So! Drakeford want to take us off the roads & onto public transport! The bus companies are now readjusting their timetables to cater for his blanket 20mph farce, which means that the slower buses will travel less frequently! Trains, prices going up & not enough carriages to cope with the “expected” surge inpassengers! Unused bicycle lanes being constructed adding to the chaos on the roads by using up car lanes! Does he & the nodding donkeys in the Senedd have no ability to forsee the “knock on” effects of their dictats?
I was surprised to see a decent looking cycle path last time I was in Caerdydd. Then I walked 50m down the street and it just stopped. It didn’t go anywhere. People would use cycle paths if they were anything more than an afterthought painted on the edge of roads for purposes of greenwashing car-centric design. Nice to hear that in Cymru excess car lanes are being converted into bike lanes, I’ve literally never seen that happen anywhere else. Where I live our council proudly boasts of its ultra green credentials, which it demonstrated by spending millions on active transport… Read more »
Is there a quid pro quo ? Like TfW paying compensation when their trains are not running to schedule, or not at all ?
Perhaps TfW should stop spending money on advertising their Aberystwyth to Birmingham service, we want a north south line without having to travel into a different country.