A new intelligence-led operation to crack down on fare evaders is already bearing fruit, a senior Transport for London official has said with 50 people caught at one Tube station in a day.
By Kumail Jaffer, Local Democracy Reporter
Credit: Facundo Arrizabalaga/MyLondon
A new intelligence-led operation to crack down on fare evaders is already bearing fruit, a senior Transport for London official has said with 50 people caught at one Tube station in a day.
Operation Vector, a joint venture between the transport network and the British Transport Police (BTP), uses data and reports from frontline staff to deploy plain-clothed enforcement officers at fare dodging hubs across the capital.
Instead of being positioned on the ticket gate line, Revenue Control Teams and Transport Support Enforcement staff are deployed strategically throughout stations to catch those attempting to travel without paying.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) witnessed this first-hand on Monday (November 2) as we observed a string of interceptions at North Greenwich Jubilee line station.
The new approach, initiated on October 5, has already resulted in 467 people being stopped, 156 penalty fares being issued and 175 reports for possible prosecution.
Siwan Hayward, TfL’s Director of Security, Policing and Enforcement, boasted of “huge successes” in the initial weeks of the operation.
“What makes this distinct is that it’s a plain-clothed operation,” she told the LDRS. “We have officers targeting individuals who push through our gates or tailgate behind paying passengers.
“We receive a massive amount of feedback from frontline staff witnessing double-gating and gate-pushing, which directly informs where the operations take place, at what times, and who to look out for. We have seen huge successes in just the few weeks it has been running.”
Fare evasion is estimated to cost TfL up to £210 million a year – far more than the amount raised from recent fare rises.
The rate of evasion on the network as a whole is 3.5 per cent, down from 3.8 per cent last year, with officials aiming for 1.5 per cent by 2030. Fare dodging on the London Underground is far higher, however, at around five per cent.
Ms Hayward acknowledged that the presence of barrier bumpers feels “invasive” and unfair to “law-abiding” Londoners, and claimed the cost of evasion “robs Londoners of vital investment into a safe, secure, and reliable transport network.”
North Greenwich station has been identified as a hotspot for passengers failing to pay, and the LDRS saw the operation in action.
Across an hour of observing the barriers in the mid-morning, we saw passengers being immediately intercepted upon attempting their usual route straight through the wide gate.
The BTP stopped around 50 people during the operation on Monday. Officers have arrested 24 individuals in relation to Operation Vector since last month. In some instances, staff have seized drugs and knives from offenders. It is part of an ethos and outlook that suggests evaders are more likely to have also committed other crimes.
Chief Inspector Daniel Rushall said: “We know there are several reasons why people choose to fare evade and one of those is due to their links to more serious criminality.
“In its first month, this operation has already provided us with valuable opportunities to identify and apprehend criminals and high harm offenders using London’s transport network, including the seizure of weapons and drugs.
“This is just one of many operations and strategies we have in place across the rail network to disrupt criminality. You may not realise we are there because of the nature in which we conduct some of these operations, but we are determined to hunt out criminals blighting our network, which in turn is making it a safer place, both for staff and the public.”
On the surface, the operation looked extremely effective, with multiple passengers apprehended and potentially made to pay the £100 penalty fine levied by TfL on fare evaders.
However, it required around a dozen officers stationed around the gate line to be feasible. During busier periods – rush hour, for example – there may be too many people flooding the barriers to all be caught.
There is also the opposite end of the spectrum – while fare dodgers may not get away with their activities at major transport hubs, the BTP is unlikely to be able to spare thousands of officers for Operation Vector. But fare dodgers at all stations have been warned.
Asked if such resources could be spared for all 272 stations on the network, Ms Hayward said: “We have significant support at smaller stations as well, including overnight deployments. Our intelligence dictates how we deploy enforcement teams and British Transport Police.
“Whether it is a small station or a major interchange, whether it is midday or midnight, if you evade fares, you risk being caught. Our capability is deployed intelligently across the entire network based on data and risk profiles.”
Part of the strategy, she claimed, is to create uncertainty around where enforcement teams will be at any one time, acting as a deterrent for offenders.
