Penalty fares will increase from £20 to £100 on 23 January as Southeastern seeks to deter fare evasion across the railway in Kent, East Sussex and south east London.
The decision to increase the cost of a penalty fare has been made by the Department for Transport following a consultation process and aims to encourage customers to pay for their ticket before they arrive at the station or do so at the station.
Alicia Andrews, Commercial Director for Southeastern, said:
“It’s easier than ever to buy a ticket to travel, on the Southeastern app.
“The vast majority of our customers do the right thing and pay for their journey before boarding, and we’re grateful to everyone who thinks ahead and pays for their journey before boarding.
“We have a responsibility to reduce the costs of the railway and bear down on ticketless travel, and so with the fine increasing on 23 January it’s a great time to remind the people who don’t pay the right fare for their journey that they could end up paying a lot more if they are issued with a penalty fare.
“We offer a choice of ways to buy before you travel: if a customer boards a train without a ticket at a station where the ticket office is open, or there is a working ticket machine; or if they haven’t got a digital ticket, among other reasons, then they may be liable for a Penalty Fare. We hope this will encourage more people to be honest and buy the right ticket before they board”.
Southeastern is preparing colleagues who work at stations and on trains thoroughly for the changes and is committed to ensuring that penalty fares are applied fairly in line with the law. It is also assessing how best to check the tickets of younger customers, and is examining the impact of the increasing use of eTickets, which can be used on a smartphone and, like many tickets, can be bought in advance.
In addition, when customers are buying or printing tickets including on trains or at stations, colleagues will remind them about the penalty fares policy and advise them to use our ticket buying facilities before boarding in future.
