ScotRail reveals how many £10 minimum fares issued to passengers since new penalty introduced
Train operator says publicity over move triggered £400,000 ticket sales boost
Thousands of ScotRail passengers have been charged £10 minimum fares for not buying a ticket before travelling since the penalty was introduced a month ago, The Scotsman has learned.
The Scottish Government-owned train operator also said publicity over the policy since April had also increased ticket sales by more than £400,000.
ScotRail said between July 1 and August 3, 14,336 minimum fare tickets were issued - an average of more than 400 a day.
The Scotsman revealed a year ago that it was considering the move.
ScotRail customer operations director Phil Campbell said: “The success of our £10 minimum fare policy will be measured by the number of customers who buy the correct ticket before boarding, not by the number of minimum fares issued.
“Since the policy was announced on April 1, we estimate that increased ticket sales have generated an additional £403,166 in revenue.
“The majority of that increase has come from customers buying before they board who may otherwise have travelled without paying.”
Mr Campbell said exemptions remained for passengers unable to buy a ticket “because facilities are unavailable, or because of accessibility, safeguarding, or other exceptional circumstances”.
Alex Campbell, director of strategy at the passenger watchdog Transport Focus said: “Passengers recognise fare evasion is a problem the railway should address, both to challenge anti-social behaviour and to protect against revenue loss.
“Passengers also make honest mistakes that should not be confused with fare evasion.
“The discretion element of the policy should err on the side of passengers when genuine mistakes are made.”
Glasgow-based fares campaigner George Eckton said: “It’s good to see increased revenue emerging as an outcome of clearer expectations and better up‑front purchasing.
Yet it also shows the scale of what’s possible. If systems and digital access were designed so every passenger could buy the right ticket easily, regardless of confidence, connectivity or station facilities, the revenue uplift would be far greater.
“Minimum fares are a backstop - the real gains come from removing the barriers that stop people participating fully in systems.”
However, Scottish Greens MSP Mark Ruskell criticised the policy.
He said: “Minimum fares have been a pain for commuters, station staff and ticket inspectors.
“In many circumstances, they are effectively a punishment for people running late or those travelling by rail for the first time.
“Public transport should always be run in the public interest, not simply to increase revenue.
“It concerns me that rail workers are being left to essentially issue penalty fares to those who have chosen to use our railways.
“Unfortunately, ticket issuing staff already face unacceptable levels of abuse and violence on our railways, and I fear this latest decision by ScotRail management is going to make it worse.”
Scottish Conservatives transport spokesman Tim Eagle said: “Scots struggling with rising bills will hope they won’t pay the penalty for the minority seeking to dodge paying their fares.
“They will want any additional revenue raised by this new policy to be directed towards improving services in SNP-run ScotRail, which can be frequently unreliable.”
A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: “The financial benefit of this policy will be the reduced loss of revenue from fare avoidance, particularly on journeys with frequent short stops between ungated stations.”