Penalty fares on London transport up 9%, TfL says

The number of penalty fares issued has risen by 9% in the past year, Transport for London (TfL) says.

Overall fare evasion stands at 3.5% with TfL issuing 69,001 fines between April 2025 and March 2026 having checked 6.9 million contactless cards, an increase of 51% on the year before.

The highest rates of fare dodging, which costs TfL some £190m each year, are on the trams (7.3%), Tube (5%) and the DLR where 4% of passengers do not pay for their journey. Just 2.6% of bus fares are evaded.

Siwan Hayward, TfL's director of security, policing and enforcement, said: "Fare evasion is not a victimless crime. It robs Londoners of vital investment in a safe, frequent and reliable transport network."

If passengers do not tap in at the start of their journey or hold a valid ticket, £100 penalty fares are issued, reduced to £50 if paid within 21 days.

Last year, the BBC revealed the number of prosecutions for fare evasion on London Underground rose to its highest level for six years.

This year, prosecutions have increased again to 14,406, leading to court awards rising by a quarter to £2.6m.

The TfL figures also show that it raised £5.4m in revenue from penalty fare notices, a jump of 142% on 2024-25. Overall, 3.3m bus passengers had cards checked.

TfL previously said it spent nearly £22m a year cracking down on fare dodging across the network.

It aims to cut fare evasion to 1.5% within five years.

Hayward added: "We are committed to ensuring that those who evade fares face the consequences of their actions and that the cost of fare evasion is paid by the evaders, not our fare-paying customers."

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