Bans and £100 fines on the Tube after surge in fare dodgers

CHRONIC fare dodgers are to be banned from the Tube under a new crackdown, amid concerns that evasion is costing Transport for London "significantly" more than £100 million a year.

- Ross Lydall

Two years of not checking tickets - inspectors were told to focus on passengers not wearing masks and the cost of living crisis is thought to have pushed fare dodging to record levels.

It comes as the crime rate across the TfL network has increased, with more offences on buses than before the pandemic - despite passenger numbers being 21 per cent lower. TfL is particularly concerned at the number of teenage schoolboys being mugged on buses for their mobile phones, and gangs on e-scooters carrying out robberies outside stations.

An extra 60 ticket inspectors are being hired this month and the penalty for not paying a fare is due to rise from £80 to £100 later this year. Prior to the pandemic, fares were dodged on about three per cent of journeys, costing about £100 million a year.