Rail firms to issue ‘yellow cards’ to passengers under new UK rules

UK train companies are set to issue “yellow card” warnings instead of penalties. Train firms and rail companies nationwide have been urged by the rail passenger watchdog to give a “yellow card” to people travelling without the correct ticket.

It comes after one Northern rail passenger was fined £462 for travelling before 10am on an Anytime ticket mistakenly bought with her railcard, saving just £1.60 on the fare. Transport Focus said a new system was needed as a result.

People should not be punished for honest mistakes, says the watchdog, amid a concern at fare evasion measures. It called for the introduction of a nationwide yellow card system, under which passengers who made a mistake for the first time would be informed of the issue and have their names taken and recorded, with fines only issued for repeat offences.

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Natasha Grice, the director for rail at Transport Focus, said: “We understand and support the principle that all users of rail should be paying for their ticket, but we want to make sure that passengers who make an innocent mistake aren’t punished unfairly.”

Grice added: “There are some things that the industry could do now to make things better and our research tells us that if the railway is to build trust and confidence, an improved approach to revenue protection is needed. Recouping this money could help boost investment in services, making things better for passengers.”

It comes after tens of thousands of prosecutions for alleged fare dodging brought by train companies are to be quashed after a court ruling. Four companies including Northern Trains and Greater Anglia unlawfully prosecuted more than 74,000 passengers in England and Wales using the single justice procedure (SJP), which allowed fast-track magistrates hearings on fare evasion cases to be held behind closed doors.

The challenge began when the Department for Transport (DfT) alerted the Ministry of Justice that four train operating companies were using SJP to prosecute without permission.

Image Credits and Reference: https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/rail-firms-issue-yellow-cards-30792523

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