c2c recovers £250k from south Essex fare dodgers

A train provider said it had recovered more than £250,000 from people who did not pay for their fare this year.

c2c, which runs services between Shoebury, in Essex, and London, said it has issued 3,198 penalty fares in 2023.

It comes amid a clampdown on those trying to avoid paying to travel on trains from south Essex.

Iain Palmer, c2c's head of revenue protection and security, said: "It costs the rail industry millions of pounds".

"One individual recently paid back £2,352.20 in unpaid fares having travelled from Southend East to West Ham 142 times on a short ticket," Mr Palmer added.

"Another individual is currently paying back £2,462.40 having been caught regularly travelling from Benfleet to West Ham on a ticket which was only valid to Pitsea.

"The impact of fare evasion is also felt by our law-abiding fare paying customers. It is simply not fair or right that some people feel they should not have to pay for our services when the vast majority of our loyal customers do."

c2c revealed the sum for 2023 was an increase of about £100,000 in prosecution payments and fines from last year.

The train provider has submitted 447 cases for prosecution this year, with 319 already leading to successful prosecutions.

The crackdown was praised by Roger Blake, vice-chairman of the London and south-east branch of independent campaign group Railfuture.

"There is no getting away from the fact we are in a cost of living crisis. Nevertheless, the vast majority of the travelling public find a way to pay their way," Mr Blake said.

"[Not paying] is frankly another form of theft and the railway and all the people who work on it have to be paid for somehow."

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