Train company recovers millions from fare dodgers

A railway company says its revenue officers have recovered £3.4m from fare dodgers over the course of a year.

South Western Railway, which operates between London Waterloo and Surrey, Hampshire, Berkshire, Dorset, Devon, Somerset and Wiltshire, estimates there are about seven million journeys made without a ticket on its services each year.

The operator says it believes that level of fare dodging costs it £40m a year.

One persistent offender was found to have evaded £49,000 over five years, and another more than £19,000, the company said.

Peter Williams, customer and commercial director, said: "We understand genuine mistakes happen. But, there's growing evidence of some systematically abusing the system.

"Our teams work around the clock to check tickets on stations and trains.

"They face many challenges, but their efforts have helped cut ticketless travel by more than 40% since 2017 and recover millions of pounds of taxpayer money."

Across the rail industry in the UK, it is estimated fare evasion costs nearly £240m a year.

Follow BBC Surrey on Facebook, on X. Send your story ideas to [email protected] or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.