Train companies are set to face a review over how they prosecute and enforce rail fare evasion after reports of disproportionate action taken against passengers.
Sky News understands Transport Secretary Louise Haigh will ask the Office of Rail and Road, the government department responsible for the economic and safety regulation of Britain’s railways and motorways, to examine how fare evasion is dealt with.
Passengers who have underpaid or not bought a ticket can currently be dealt with in several ways by train operators, with the most serious action seeing passengers in court and getting a criminal record.
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It is understood the government is not seeking to remove train companies’ ability to prosecute criminals who deliberately avoid paying.
However, there has been growing criticism of the action taken against people who have made innocent mistakes – often blamed on complicated ticket fares.
The independent review is expected to examine how clear ticketing terms and conditions are and how they are explained to passengers.
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One of the main questions it will seek to answer is what the bar is for prosecution.
In August, a court ruling found four train companies, including Northern Rail and Greater Anglia, brought prosecutions against thousands of passengers using the single justice procedure (SJP), despite not being permitted to do so.
SJP allowed firms to fast-track prosecutions and pursue them behind closed doors after it was introduced in 2015 for minor offences in magistrates’ courts.
Senior District Judge Paul Goldspring, the chief magistrate for England and Wales, said the cases “should never have been brought through” and the prosecutions were “probably unlawful”, which the train companies agreed with.
Judge Goldspring said the exact number of SJP prosecutions is unknown, but was most likely “over 74,000”.
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In October, government-owned Northern Rail dropped all action against engineering graduate Sam Williamson after threatening him with prosecution, which could have resulted in a fine of hundreds of pounds and a criminal record.
He mistakenly bought a £3.65 anytime day single ticket using his 16-25 railcard and used it for a train just after 7am, not realising it was only valid after 10am as all fares before that time had to be at least £12.
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The Department for Transport told the company to review its ticketing policy to ensure it was clear and fair to passengers.
Northern then withdrew all live prosecutions against those in similar circumstances and promised to review historical cases.
