Tube Fare Evaders could be ASBO'ed

And London Transport fare evasion fines may rise to Fifty Quid

I have a confession to make. Before barriers were introduced on the London Underground, I used to evade fares like mad - or rather - deliberately travel outside of my travelcard zone. We are talking, I spose, over eight years ago now, as I knew that at certain stations like Kew Gardens or Richmond, that there would often be no one checking tickets and before the advent of barriers you could walk through "scot free".

Obviously it's harder to evade fares on the Tube now, due to barriers at virtually every London Underground Tube station (possibly with the exception of Shadwell DLR - any other stations like this?). Over the years, I've seen people vault barriers, "tailgate" - ie walk really quickly and closely behind the person in front of them so they go through on their ticket, pay Child fares and use all sort of scams to avoid paying for a ticket.



But now it appears that fare evaders, if caught, will have to pay the largest fine ever: "People who evade paying transport fares in London could be fined up to £50 and persistent evaders issued with Asbos" (Anti Social Behaviour Orders) report the BBC today.

"Transport for London (TfL) is consulting on a private bill that will go before Parliament in November.

Last year it raised the fine from £10 to £20. If the new legislation is given the go-ahead it will rise to £50.

The bill will also give TfL the power to apply for Asbos for people who continually fare evade, which the organisation says costs it £70m a year.......

Speaking about the fare rise, TfL's Steve Burton said: "We want fare evaders to know that dodging their fare will no longer be an easy option.

"The majority of our customers pay the correct fare. A small minority don't and this costs TfL approximately £70m a year, money which could be spent improving London's transport network."

This is all well and good, but this does mean that Transport for London may end up doing sensible things with their money instead like taking a woman to court over an accidental one pound, twenty bus fare evasion.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Tuesday, October 25, 2005 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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