Correspondence

ORR train operator revenue protection review: Transport Secretary accepts recommendations

Published 13 August 2025

11 August 2025

Dear operator,

Deliberate fare dodging undermines our railway. It drains much needed revenue and undercuts the trust of passengers who play by the rules. The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) has estimated annual revenue lost to fraud and ticketless travel is at least £350 to £400 million. But the damage goes beyond the numbers. Each ticket barrier jumped dents confidence in the railway. While we carry out much needed wider rail reforms – changes that will require the patience of the travelling public – I want to address the corrosive issue of fare dodging once and for all.

Your staff are at the heart of efforts to protect revenue. They act with the utmost professionalism in what can be difficult circumstances. Yet, to maintain the integrity of our railway, and ensure we treat passengers fairly, I’m clear that any enforcement must be proportionate and not punish those making genuine mistakes. As set out in the recent publication of the Office of Rail and Road’s (ORR) review of train operators’ revenue protection practices, the industry must ensure enforcement practices are consistent and transparent.

I accept in full the recommendations of the ORR’s review. Their report has once again shown that 30 years of privatisation have left our railways fragmented, inefficient and broken. Revenue protection practices are inconsistent, and the complexities of the current fares and ticketing system have increased the scope for passenger confusion and error.

We are overhauling the complex fares and ticketing system to make it easier for passengers to understand, so they can trust they are buying the right ticket and getting the best fare for their journey. The replacement of individual train operators with Great British Railways (GBR) will also enable passengers to receive a more consistent offer across the network.

The fares, ticketing and retail (FTR) team is now coordinating our response to the ORR review, with RDG delivering several projects. The department will publish an update on this activity in due course. I encourage you to engage with the FTR team and RDG as constructively and collaboratively as you did with the ORR during their review. The cross-industry working group set up during the review will continue, with the aim of sharing good practice across the industry. We are also planning to review revenue protection legislation to ensure this is as clear and effective as possible.

In their review, the ORR identified that it was a common practice across train operators and third-party contractors to use lay prosecutors to present cases in court. My officials wrote to all operators in June on the specific issue of lay prosecutors. It is your responsibility to ensure that you are adequately protecting revenue in a cost effective but lawful way, and where it is appropriate, you should continue using prosecutions as part of a robust and proportionate revenue protection strategy.

However, as ‘good’ and ‘efficient’ operators, we would not expect you to use lay prosecutors to present cases in court and carry out other regulated legal activities until you are confident that it is lawful to do so, having taken advice as appropriate. You may wish to note the action taken by DFTO, which moved quickly to secure additional legal resources for fare evasion prosecutions, prioritising cases as appropriate.

Thank you again for your engagement with the ORR and my officials and for your continuing efforts to counter fare evasion across the network.

Yours sincerely

The Rt Hon Heidi Alexander MP
Secretary of State for Transport