About one in 20 tube Passengers are dodging the fare – at a cost of £ 130m a year – amidst an increase in violence against employees who try to stop them.
About 5 percent of Rets now become unpaidNew Transport to London (TFL) show figures when many increase prices London people are already feeling pinch Cost-lived crisis.
This shadow has come as justice secretary Robert Jenrich London underground To catch the fare doors on camera. He said: “It is annoying that so many people break the laws and run away with it.”
In a video posted on X, he was shown interrogating the passengers who stopped the previous obstacles without paying any tickets. He met oral misconduct and a warning from a person who claimed that he was carrying a knife.
Many of them Fare stopped for stealing Already wanted for others CrimesWhen the suspects are stopped and discovered, knives and drugs are seized.
Now, as part of a new clampdown, TFL has drafts in 500 enforcement officers to try to reduce the number of tube passengers that are not paying, but are subject to many violent and racial abuse.
In 2023/24, about 10,500 reports of violence and aggression by TFL employees increased by 5 percent in the last year. Nearly half of these incidents were related to doors.
“People are being sworn in, in more than 50 percent of cases, where the violence of the workplace is experienced by our frontline teams, the fare is a trigger.” Independent,
Frontline staff has told Independent They have also suffered racial abuses and said they are afraid that they may face.
Statistics from the British Transport Police show that there were more than 480 examples at the national level, where a person in the last one year, such as a knife, and former Superintendent of Met Police, Dr. Learoy warned Logan, warning the knife crime.
“We know that employees are reluctant to challenge anything until they are really in large numbers,” he told The Independent.
“Employees do not do this because they are afraid of attack. You need visibility, you need high visibility patrolling tube And just the network to assure people and support employees. ,
However, it’s not just a knife CrimeOfficials also arrested those who have hired for possession of drugs and theft.
At Finsbury Park in February, the authorities stopped a person who pushed through ticket hurdles without paying. He became aggressive and violent when he detained him – he was detained – he was arrested for theft and attack of an emergency worker. But when the police discovered him, he also got a stolen phone.
In April, a man was stopped to chase someone through the gate London Bridge. He was discovered and officials found class B drugs and an electronic items that were used to remove safety tags from goods. He was arrested for stolen and equipped with class B drugs.
Ms. Heword statched the fare dodge “one” is away from suffering Crime“As TFL loses about £ 130 million in revenue – this money can use this to make the service” reliable, safe and cleaner “.
across the tubeAccording to TFL data from 2024/25, paying rent on 4.7 percent tube.
Increasing common crime prices – the fare of a tube for an adult daily tickets increased by 4.6 percent in March.
“People are choosing to commit that crime and we really want to provide cheap transport network London“Ms. Heword said.
He said, “The bus fare is frozen, and we try to reduce the increase in rail fares, but those who get out of the rent are reducing the efforts made to travel cheap and accessible in London,” he said.
However, as the cost of life is increasing, fare theft is likely to be even more wider.
The trust’s Chief Executive Officer for London Manny Hothi said: “There is no excuse for rent-deoding, but the increase in it points to a comprehensive problem. Many London people are facing an impossible squeeze on the already tight budget.
“The cost of everything from the housing to the childcare in London is in less than half a million, and the cost of everything from the housing to the childcare is very high. When the fare increases, the people of London rely on public transport to work, just forced to cut elsewhere to meet at the end.”
London Mayor, Sadiq Khan said: “Fare theft is a criminal offense that deprives thousands of pounds of important revenue every year which can be reinstated in London’s transport network.
“That’s why we are expanding our team of professional investigators to invest in the latest technology to cover the entire network and target the worst criminals. This sends a clear message: Fare theft will not be tolerated, and we will catch those who will account for it.”
