ScotRail’s new £10 minimum fare for passengers who board a train without buying a ticket where ticket buying facilities are available came into force on 1st July.
The rail operator said the change is aimed at reducing fare evasion, which it estimates costs Scotland’s Railway more than £11 million each year.
Ahead of the new rule being introduced, ScotRail ran an education campaign from April to help customers understand how the system would work.
The operator said almost 750,000 additional journeys were bought before passengers boarded during that period. It said 743,000 more journeys were purchased in advance, with analysis suggesting at least 36,000 of those journeys would previously have been made by people deliberately avoiding paying their fare.
Under the new rules, passengers who board without a ticket where ticket buying facilities were available before travel can be charged a minimum fare of £10.
Renfrewshire has ten railway stations: Paisley Gilmour Street, Paisley Canal, Paisley St James, Hawkhead, Crookston, Hillington West, Johnstone, Milliken Park, Howwood and Lochwinnoch. None of the stations has ticket barriers, meaning passengers can board trains without passing through a gate. However, under ScotRail’s new rules, passengers are still expected to buy their ticket before travelling where ticket buying facilities are available. Crookston is included as it lies within the Renfrewshire Council boundary, despite having a Glasgow postal address.
For many shorter journeys, the minimum fare will be higher than the standard ticket price. ScotRail said, for example, that a return between Bishopbriggs and Glasgow Queen Street costs £3, meaning a customer who deliberately travels without a ticket could end up paying significantly more.
The minimum fare will not apply in several situations, including where stations do not have ticket buying facilities, where customers have disabilities that prevent them using ticket machines or booking offices, for some concessionary tickets and offers such as Kids for a Quid.
ScotRail said ticketless travel has fallen from 8.8 per cent in April 2022 to 2.63 per cent following the introduction of dedicated Revenue Protection Officers and other measures since the railway returned to public ownership.
Phil Campbell, ScotRail Customer Operations Director, said: “We want to say thank you to customers who have learned from our education campaign prior to the minimum fare being introduced on 1st July.
“We know most people are honest and pay the correct fare but the minority who don’t are costing the railway millions of pounds each year.
“There are lots of different ways customers can pay for their ticket before they start their journey, and ScotRail staff will continue to help people understand how to do this.
“The success of our new policy will not be measured by the number of minimum fares we hand out, but by the amount of people who buy a ticket before they get on board a train.
“The education campaign, which has resulted in almost three quarters of a million more journeys being bought before customers get on board, has been a resounding success and we look forward to more and more people doing the right thing and buying before they board.”