Northern Rail putting a stop to train fare dodgers with a new security device across its network

Britain's second largest train operator Northern Rail is launching a new security device across its network to catch ‘fare dodgers’.

Fare dodgers – people travelling without a valid ticket – are responsible for an estimated £240 million in losses on British railways each year.

Northern are implementing a new device at train stations it says are “known hotspots” across its network, that will hopefully put a stop to those travelling without a valid ticket.

It is installed at train station barriers to automatically detect whether a ticket is valid or not and alert staff.

The system was trialled at Manchester Victoria station for one day and caught some 180 fare dodgers.

Northern’s customer and commercial director Mark Powles said: “This technology will be invaluable for our gate line and revenue protection colleagues whose job it is to ensure ticket checks are carried out quickly and efficiently.

“We know that a small minority of customers try to exploit the automated nature of barrier checks to travel on tickets they know they’re not eligible to use.”

The fine for travelling without a valid ticket will also increase from £20 to £100 from 23 January 2023.