A CRACK down on fare dodgers along the cross-city line is showing no signs of stopping as West Midlands Railway (WMR) continues to collaborate with local police on ticket inspection blocks at Redditch train station.
The latest revenue inspection block carried out by 17 revenue protection officers on May 30 resulted in 50 penalty fares issued after 438 passengers’ tickets were checked.
In the month of May, the Standard reported on 3 ticket inspection blocks at Redditch station which resulted in 1,204 passengers having their tickets checked with a total of 143 penalty fines issued.
WMR have collaborated with police constables and police community support officers from West Midlands and West Mercia Police including British Transport Police officers during the May clampdown.
Following an increase in the cost of penalty fares for ticket-less travel in January, Redditch has been highlighted as one of the hotspots for most penalty fares issued in the region alongside Birmingham New Street, Birmingham Snow Hill and Sutton Coldfield.
On January 23, the cost of a penalty fare issued by WMR increased to £100, plus the cost of the original fare, reducing to £50 if paid within 21 days.
In the month following the cost increase, WMR issued a total of 2,014 penalty fares, averaging 67 a day.
Annamaria Izzard, head of revenue protection for WMR, said:
“The vast majority of passengers pay for their tickets before travelling but operations like this at Redditch will encourage those who don’t to think twice about ticket-less travel.
“Millions of pounds of vital revenue is lost every year from fare evasion which goes towards enhancing passenger journeys and improvements to the railway.”
