Fare dodging on the Tube 'up by over 200 per cent'

Transport for London has seen a staggering 207 per cent increase in losses to Tube fare dodgers in five years, new data shows.

It is estimated TfL will lose £61.47m to fare evasion by the end of 2015/16 – up £41.47m from the same period five years ago – across the 1,358 million journeys made.

In 2010/11, TfL lost 1.81p per single passenger journey, reaching a total of £20m across 1,107 million passenger journeys.

Labour London Assembly said the figures, obtained by transport spokesman Val Shawcross, mean 4.53p from every passenger journey on the London Underground in 2015/16 is expected to be lost to fare evasion.

But TfL said Tube fare evasion continues to fall against passenger numbers and the interpretation of the data did not take into account money recouped through penalty fares and maximum fare charges.

A TfL spokeswoman said costs gained from both types of penalty charges were reinvested back into the running of transport services.

But Ms Shawcross said the rise in money lost to fare evasion had surpassed the 23 per cent rise in passenger numbers across the Tube network in the last five years.

The data was analysed after the Government announced TfL would lose £700m in revenue grant by 2019/20.

Labour London Assembly's analysis also found that ticket barriers at some stations were left open more than 60 per cent of the time, which they claim, makes it easier for fare dodgers to access the Tube network.

Bromley-by-Bow was said to be the worst offending station for having its gates open in 2015, with barriers open 61.4 per cent of the time in weeks nine to 12 of this year.

Ms Shawcross said: “With TfL having to watch every penny, we need to see a real clamp down on fare evasion on the Tube.”

The Labour London Assembly Transport spokeswoman said Tube stations should be properly staffed so ticket barriers are not left open.