Our Ref:         FOI-3078-1819

Thank you for your request received on 13 February 2019 asking for information about penalty fares.
 
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm we hold some of the information you require.
 
Fare evasion costs Transport for London (TfL) millions in public money and takes money away from TfL that would allow us to develop our infrastructure. We have strategies in place to tackle fare evasion head on and a commitment to reduce any form of ticketing irregularities, which has helped fare evasion to fall to around two per cent of all journeys, which is low compared to other transport authorities around the world. Efforts to tackle fare evasion have been helped also by changes to the way TfL manages its stations, with more staff visible in and around stations including on gatelines.
 
You asked:
 
1.       Please can you tell me how many penalty fares were issued by TfL ticket inspectors on all forms of transport in total in the financial years:
 
2014-15 83,885
2015-16 73,315
2016-17 85,943
2017-18 76,554
2018-19 76,343
 
2.       Please can you tell me how much money was collected from penalty fares issued by TfL ticket inspectors on all forms of transport in total in each of the financial years:
 
2014-15 £723,016.77
2015-16 £978,452.59
2016-17 £667,827.59
2017-18 £662,357.93
2018-19 £604,699.05
 
3.       Please can you tell me how many penalty fares were overturned on appeal in total in the financial years:
 
We hold this data from 2017-18 onwards, prior to this the information was recorded as a percentage.
 
  Penalty Fares Appealed Overturned at 1st Stage Overturned at 2nd Stage Overturned at 3rd Stage
2014-15 21.29% 12.45% 18.54% 10.79%
2015-16 18.86% 12.77% 24.75% 5.47%
2016-17 13.62% 13.35% 28.93% 4.55%
2017-18 2,591 2341 230 20
2018-19 1,947 1774 159 14
 
4.       Please can you tell me how much money was returned following a successful appeal of a penalty fare in total in each of the financial years:
 
  London Buses London Overground London Underground DLR TfL Rail
2014-15 £4270.00 £4145.50 £1806.20 £794.30 n/a
2015-16 £2320.00 £3522.55 £1337.35 £189.50 n/a
2016-17 £3720.00 £2031.50 £1430.80 £999.24 £524.70
2017-18 £4028.60 £2154.40 £1737.75 £834.95 £200.00
2018-19 £2920.00 £1214.35 £755.10 £2222.70 £318.30
 
If this is not the information you are looking for please feel free to contact me.
 
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.

Yours sincerely

Gemma Jacob
Senior FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London

[email protected]