NORTHERN Rail say they have saved more than £10 million in fraudulently claimed refunds on train tickets in the last 18 months.

The rail operator’s own team of investigators at Trainline have worked to identify offenders and block fake refund claims.

These fraudulent claims cost the industry tens of millions of pounds each year.

Jason Wade, head of retail operations at Northern Rail said:”Our customers are at the heart of all we do, and we want to ensure we are able to reinvest as much money as possible into making the improvements those customers want to see across the Northern network.

“Sadly all to often our investigators find there are those who try to make fake refund claims to effectively steal public money from the railway.

“This doesn’t just harm Northern as an operator, it means those funds are then not available to put back into making the network the best it can be.”

Northern Rail has been publicly owned since March 2020.

Champa Magesh, at Trainline Partner Solutions, said: “Working with Northern to reduce fraud has meant we are saving taxpayer money and helping our partner reinvest these funds.”