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Proposals to double the penalty for fare evasion on the railways were announced by the Government today.
Publishing a consultation paper on the Penalty Fares Regime, Transport Minister David Jamieson said the Government plans to increase the penalty fare from 10 to 20.
Announcing the consultation David Jamieson said:
"At a time when Government is investing huge amounts of money into the railways it's estimated that hundreds of millions of pounds are lost to the industry each year through fare evasion.
It's obvious that the current penalty of 10 is not enough to deter the persistent fare dodgers who repeatedly avoid payment in the belief that they can easily afford the fine when they are caught. These proposals should help to reduce the number of fare dodgers and act as a more realistic deterrent for others."
The consultation will last for 12 weeks. If the proposals are confirmed, the Government expects the change to come into force around the turn of the year.
Notes to Editors
1. The consultation paper Penalty Fares Regime - Rail can be found at www.dft.gov.uk
2. It is estimated around 210 million a year is lost to the rail industry nationally from fare evasion. As well as recovering some of this lost revenue increasing the penalty fare may also have social benefits in reducing the level of crime of fare evasion.
3. Once we have received and considered the responses to the consultation the Department will make any necessary changes by laying a Statutory Instrument before Parliament.
Public Enquiries: 020 7944 8300 Department for Transport Website: http://www.dft.gov.uk
Railnews Archive ::: 2004-08-03 DfT-001
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