London Midland campaign to target fare dodgers reveals £3,000 lost revenue in just one morning

The train company said the value of the dodged fares was more than £3,000 from passengers arriving in Euston.

A spokesman for London Midland said: “In one of the biggest exercises of its kind ever mounted at the terminus, forty London Midland revenue protection and security staff carried extra ticket checks at platforms across the station.

“Around 20,000 tickets were checked during the morning exercise. Revenue protection officers were on the lookout for passengers avoiding paying, counterfeit season tickets and abuse of London’s Oyster Card system.

“London Midland is working with the British Transport Police on a new approach to both fare dodging and customer service,” he added.

Passenger services director, Tom Joyner, said: “London Midland’s new approach is all about being flexible – so fare dodgers will never know when and where they might be challenged.

“You could say we want to keep people on their guard – so it is never worth the risk of trying to cheat.

“Our new approach is already being welcomed by genuine passengers. This will drive down anti-social behaviour and educate people about the need to buy a ticket before getting on the train.”

When revenue staff are not carrying out additional checks on trains and at stations they are also on hand to give additional customer support and mange crowds at special events such as music concerts and football matches.