Northern's 'Cross the line, risk a fine' message to train users

The rail operator has warned 'Don’t cross the line!' in a bid to tackle persistent fare evaders.

In 2020 alone, there were 8,300 court prosecutions for fare dodgers "who think they are above the law".

Northern issued 30,000 penalty fares in the same period.

And, while it was the end of the story for the vast majority of people fined £20, some reoffended.

Jason Wade, head of retail operations at Northern, said: “There are plenty of ways for our customers to buy tickets and we’ve made big improvements to our website, app and ticket machines in recent months.

“There are still some, however, who think they can travel without paying and we are doing all we can to tackle this small minority who think they are above the law.

“We have penalty fares in place across most routes of the Northern network which can see those who do not have valid tickets issued with on-the-spot fines.”

People can buy tickets from Northern’s website, the mobile app or one of 600 ticket machines at stations across the rail network in the North.

Jason added: “In some cases we are reluctantly left with no option but to take the matter to court where the average fine in the past 12 months has been just over £400.

“A court appearance is very much the last resort and not something who choose to do lightly, but prospective fare dodgers should be aware that trying to avoid even a small value ticket could result in a heft fine and even a criminal record.”

As part of the new campaign Northern has added red lines at some of its station entrances with the stark message ‘cross the line, risk a fine’.

Jason said: “We want everyone to be aware of the requirement to have a valid ticket for travel and are doing all we can to remind our customers.

“Most people will already have bought tickets before they get to our stations and we hope that these additional warnings will also encourage the small minority who don’t have tickets to buy before they board.”