Passenger who fraudulently travelled on Thame commuter trains for five years fined £6k

Chiltern Railways has confirmed the prosecution of a persistent fare dodger who used its trains between London Marylebone and Haddenham and Thame Parkway.

They have been ordered to pay just under £6,000 after an investigation found that the individual had travelled on 378 occasions without a valid ticket.

Chiltern Railways staff caught the dodger on one of their journeys, and it was discovered that they had previously been prosecuted twice for fare evasion.

Revenue protection officers representing the rail operator found that the offender used child rate tickets and 16-25 discounted tickets, despite not holding a valid railcard.

Overall, the offender has been asked to repay five years’ worth of fares for a total of just under £6,000.

Tony Baxter, operations director at Chiltern Railways, said: “The vast majority of customers pay for their journeys but this case should come as a stark reminder that customers need to purchase the correct ticket for their journey before they travel.

“Revenue lost through fare evasion is crucial for the railway. Anyone caught on board our services without a valid ticket for their journey is at risk of a £100 Penalty Fare and potential prosecution so it is simply not worth the risk. Chiltern have recently significantly increased the number of colleagues in this area which means more tickets are being checked on more services than ever before.”

Chiltern Railways has signage outside its ticket gates to remind customers to buy a valid ticket, more details on its campaign can be found here.