£50 Fine or Court: Connex Hold Students to Ransom


Ben Brook


Travelling from London Road to Falmer has just shot up to £50 for many students following the most severe clampdown on fare dodgers anywhere in the country. As part of the new 'Pay When Challenged' campaign squads of undercover ticket inspectors seek out those who fail to pay their fares. When confronted students face a stark choice: pay over fifty pounds or face court action.

The £50 'contribution cost' is five times as large as the heavily publicised 'Penalty Fares' campaign where inspectors can issue on the spot £10 fines.

Sinead, a third year AFRAS student, travelled onto campus last week to print off her third-year dissertations, when the Connex guards swooped: "I was going from London Road and was really, really stressed. The train arrived at the station as I got there so I didn't have a chance to get a ticket. As I got to Falmer a Connex inspector came up to me and asked me about may fare. I thought it was a bit strange because they didn't make me pay the fare there and then. Instead, a few days later a bill came from Connex for the train fare plus a £50 'contribution cost'." Sinead continued, "I was gobsmacked - my fare was all of £1.40. Now I have £51.40 to pay for a slow trip on a clapped out train."

Connex's Media Relations Director, David Ewart, says the £50 cost is not a fine but an 'alternative' to Court: "If someone is open to prosecution because they haven't paid their ticket this is an alternative to being prosecuted." He admitted that plain clothes detectives would target those without tickets much in the same way as store detectives target shoplifters. If they see someone taking a journey without attempting to pay for their ticket they may well hit them with the new costly alternative to court. However, many students claim they had every intention of paying but the inspectors fined them before they could get a ticket.

In the last fortnight, many passengers have been arriving at the Students' Union with stories of what they see as intimidation and harassment at Falmer Station due to the new crackdown. Many complain of rude staff and missed lectures because of being held up in queues.

Sinead told the badger: "When they stopped me they asked me a load of questions without detailing the consequences of what I was saying. Because I was stressed I answered 'no' to the question about whether I intended to buy a ticket. Even if I was trying to dodge my fare I would hardly admit it!"

However saying that you did not intend to buy a ticket is the icing on the cake for Connex who then have evidence of potential fraud. Section 5 (3) of the 1889 Railway Act confirms intent to withhold payment is a criminal offence and that Connex are justified in swooping on travellers. "The intention to avoid payment may be proved by showing that the passenger has ignored opportunities to pay his fare or has taken measures to avoid a ticket inspector."

The important point is that under the new scheme those without a ticket can end up with a criminal record, whilst under the Penalty Fares scheme, which is a railway by-law (not law) it is only a civil offence. Surely, however, Connex could publicise the scheme so students could be warned of the consequences. It could than act as a deterrent rather than a punishment. A spokesperson told us Press Releases went to local newspapers but nothing was sent to the University because they "didn't have Sussex's details on file." Mr Ewart had a different justification however and said, "we wouldn't publicise it, as this would stop its effectiveness." Mike Hewitson of the Regional Passengers Committee for Southern England disagrees with this policy. He points out that South West Trains have very clear warnings at platforms even though they don't have a Penalty fares on all routes.

Mr Hewitson, although not condoning fare dodging, remarked: "The net that's supposed to catch criminals seems so wide in this case that is catching those on the fringes as well who may not have paid there fare out of ignorance of the system". Many students don't realise the importance of a Permit to Travel, or that they are potentially breaking the law if they pass a working ticket machine but enter the train anyway intending to pay on board.

It has also been revealed that Connex administer the Penalty Fares Scheme for all train companies, and that their new penalties are some of the harshest in the country. According to the National Rail website no other train company advertises a £50 penalty scheme, many in fact do not even charge penalty fares.

So how can you avoid getting a £50 fine? Well, obviously the best way is to buy a ticket in the first place. If you cannot do this, you have to show you intended to pay. If the ticket office is closed you can buy a Permit to Travel on the station. You put in what money you have (as little as 5p), and if an inspector checks you simply pay the rest with what form of payment you have (your Switch card or notes, maybe). If this fails then try to find the guard on the train or go to the nearest guard on the platform. This way Connex cannot prove you were intentionally dodging your fare.

Railway companies estimate fraudulent travel costs them millions in revenue and Connex often blame their lack of modern rolling stock partly on this. Connex is the first company in Britain to lose a franchise and within the next two months will hand over the South Central network to New Southern Railway, owned partly by Thameslink and Brighton and Hove Buses. However, Connex reacted angrily to the suggestion they were cashing on Sussex travellers whilst they can: "This scheme is in operation all over the Connex network, not just South Central." The moral is buy a ticket, or be damned.

isn't No 1 canada square , the address of a newspaper group ?

Remember any old tickets(only travel cards,short or long) from before and including some of 1997 work on the tube. The machines are broken. Try it & travel for free for ever??? maybe. if theyre that crap!!!

OK, first off, the law:

Railways Act 1889 sez:

It's a criminal offence to travel on trains
without a ticket
with the intent of not paying your fare.

That's it.
Nothing to say you have to buy your ticket in advance.
Nothing to give the inspector powers to keep you from walking off (that's false imprisonment).


Criminal offences have to be tried in court. You can't say 'give us fifty quid and I'll keep it quiet'.



The Penalty Fares Act then goes (a little) further:

If you are caught without a ticket, you can be charged £10 or double the single fare.
You also have to give your name and address if requested.

Nothing to say you have to give your parents' address (they don't like halls of residence)
Nothing to say you have to givce your date of birth.
Nothing to say you have to sign anything.
Once you accept the charge, there's no law says they can keep you while they ask you endless questions in an attempt to gain evidence for their bitch-ass, abuse-of-process court case.


So what can you do?

1) you can keep your nose clean(ish), explain why you weren't intending to avoid paying. Accept a £10 fare and give them your name and address to ensure that you pay in the future.

2) if you do let slip you were intending to avoid paying your fare, then the inspector has a legal duty (jus' like all right minded citizens) to report you for the crime you have committed. Not an option, a duty.
And here's the good bit:
An offer not to take you to court for
_intent to avoid paying your fare_ is called extortion.
Yup, all those inspectors have commited a far more serious crime than we have. It's extortion! - get a solicitor, report it to the police!

But don't try to get any money out of it - that's illegal, and who needs money, the sheer joy of prosecuting Connex should be worth it :D




PS, as for the FDLF - Anyone interested in putting time in to resurrect it? I know I am.

whats the fdlf?
i beg of you...tell me the fd stands for fare dodgers

FDLF = Fare Dodgers Liberation Front, sure I wanna bring 'em back, email me. Got catchy sticker slogans like:
£2million pounds: two cruise missiles or a million free tube tickets, and so on. ;-)

Send 'em to ur local activist group ;-)

www.geocities.com/faredodgersliberationfront