ScotRail to introduce £10 minimum fare for those not buying before boarding

[WesternLancer]

Curious to know how the "customers who can only pay in cash" part will be enforced / confirmed as true.

E.g, passenger takes £20 note out of wallet and conductor / RPI catches sight of bank card in said wallet.

"Why didn't you use that card to buy before boarding"?

How can the endless list of possible reasons given - e.g card is cancelled, waiting for new PIN, account is empty etc etc - be verified?

Like on Northern - you have to go thru a few hoops and stages to get the Promise to Pay - can't be verified tho

 

[Bletchleyite]

Or even if someone has decided to rub spit (or another bodily waste product) over the touchscreen for a laugh. To the various systems the TVM is reporting that it's working until someone reports the screen is unusable.

I've never seen this. I wonder does it happen often? Probably the same people at specific locations?

If ScotRail moved into the modern era with PDF e-tickets rather than the more restrictive app based M-Tickets they might see more uptake in digital sales

There may be some who would buy online and print at home, but for people who use it on their phone I doubt they care. And the m-ticket format would have one advantage - the passenger-unfriendly refund rule changes wouldn't have been necessary!

 

[JamieL]

I think this is an excellent development so I am not sure why people are looking for loopholes to stop it? I see far too many people ride free on my local line including some who use the "I only have a £20 note" to try and force the guard who has no change to let them ride free. That won't work anymore!

 

[Tram203]

I think this is an excellent development so I am not sure why people are looking for loopholes to stop it? I see far too many people ride free on my local line including some who use the "I only have a £20 note" to try and force the guard who has no change to let them ride free. That won't work anymore!

I haven't seen any posts suggesting anyone is looking for loopholes.

Genuine question; passenger has a promise to pay and the guard comes along. Passenger presents promise to pay, and asks for the ticket they require, and presents said £20 note. Guard says "sorry I can't change that". Passenger says "sorry but that's my only method of payment".

What happens next?

 

[davp]

Example, you have boarded train at Livingston South, aren't asked for a ticket until you are close to Haymarket, and buy a discounted return to Wester Hailes or Slateford. This allows you back in the barriers on the way back.

I think they started to disincentivise this one when peak fares went. It used to be £12+ for a Livi to Haymarket anytime return, with a single around £6-7 (£4-5 if you used a flexi). The Slateford to Haymarket single was £3.40. If you could get to Haymarket with a Slateford single then you would save something even if you bought a single to return with.

Now the anytime return is £7.30 from Livi South to Haymarket. There is a good chance you'll be checked after Haymarket on the return in which case you'll be paying £6.70 for a single if the conductor believes you were the person who boarded at Slateford or Wester Hailes, when they probably saw no-one boarding, or you'll soon pay a tenner in which case you'll have spent almost two days worth of travel in a single day. They might start to remember you too in case you keep at it.

Must admit I'm surprised to hear there are still peak queues at Glasgow QS and Central. Haymarket and Edinburgh are almost non-existent now. By far the majority are using digital tickets.

It won't stop everyone, but I think it's a sensible approach.

 

[hexagon789]

I haven't seen any posts suggesting anyone is looking for loopholes.

Genuine question; passenger has a promise to pay and the guard comes along. Passenger presents promise to pay, and asks for the ticket they require, and presents said £20 note. Guard says "sorry I can't change that". Passenger says "sorry but that's my only method of payment".

What happens next?

I thought vouchers to redeem at a ticket office were an option for lack of change on part of the conductor/guard?

 

[JamieL]

Genuine question; passenger has a promise to pay and the guard comes along. Passenger presents promise to pay, and asks for the ticket they require, and presents said £20 note. Guard says "sorry I can't change that". Passenger says "sorry but that's my only method of payment".

I think the Guard would probably be able to give £10 change and hopefully next time they will get a ticket before travelling. Everyone and anyone can buy digital tickets these days.

 

[Tram203]

I think the Guard would probably be able to give £10 change and hopefully next time they will get a ticket before travelling. Everyone and anyone can buy digital tickets these days.

With respect that's not an answer.

Firstly, if a passenger has a promise to pay with the intention of buying with cash then the £10 minimum fare is irrelevant, and hence your comment regarding £10 change from a £20 note is too.

Secondly, and again with respect, please do not be insulting towards the hundreds of thousands if not millions of the population who do not have a look a way of buying digital tickets on fancy phones.

 

[JamieL]

With respect that's not an answer.

Firstly, if a passenger has a promise to pay with the intention of buying with cash then the £10 minimum fare is irrelevant, and hence your comment regarding £10 change from a £20 note is too.

Secondly, and again with respect, please do not be insulting towards the hundreds of thousands if not millions of the population who do not have a look a way of buying digital tickets on fancy phones.

Where would this individual get a 'promise to pay' note from? I am guessing a ticket machine and only because they insist on paying cash? In which case, I don't think an allowance needs to be made for that in this day and age. Pay by card and get a ticket! Or pay the minimum cash fare - £10 - onboard. Also, can you not buy tickets via your home computer as well as a "fancy phone"?

 

[Tetchytyke]

Curious to know how the "customers who can only pay in cash" part will be enforced / confirmed as true.

In the same way as it currently is on Northern, which has had the Promise to Pay system for a few years.

If you get a Promise to Pay and pay cash, no issue.

If you get a Promise to Pay and try and pay by card, depends on who is inspecting your ticket.

If you don't get a Promise to Pay then you're in bother, irrespective of whether you want to use cash or a card.

 

[WesternLancer]

Where would this individual get a 'promise to pay' note from? I am guessing a ticket machine and only because they insist on paying cash? In which case, I don't think an allowance needs to be made for that in this day and age. Pay by card and get a ticket! Or pay the minimum cash fare - £10 - onboard. Also, can you not buy tickets via your home computer as well as a "fancy phone"?

sorry - this is ridiculous - anything can happen - you are out and about (not carrying your lap top round with you because you don't actually have one or want one), then realise you need to get a train a couple of stops as plans have changed, only got cash £20 note on you and it's a £3 fare.

Just like if you had a car and your plans change you don't need a computer to pre book a slot o the road on line you should be able to pay by that choice and receive change.

Cash is legal tender - railways are public services that should be open to all - not to just those who have bank accounts, computers etc - even if that is a reducing and small group of people.

 

[Tetchytyke]

I've never seen this. I wonder does it happen often?

I have, and it tends to be the quieter suburban stations where it happens- Frizinghall near Bradford is a common victim.

 

[WesternLancer]

I have, and it tends to be the quieter suburban stations where it happens- Frizinghall near Bradford is a common victim.

then there is also ketchup / mustard etc from take away sachets smeared on them. Seen that occasionally.

I suppose you could then spit om it to try and clean the screen a bit....

 

[Tetchytyke]

Cash is legal tender - railways are public services that should be open to all - not to just those who have bank accounts, computers etc - even if that is a reducing and small group of people.

Legal tender doesn't mean anything in this context, no business has to accept cash if it doesn't want to. TfL don't accept cash on their buses. If you want to use cash on TfL buses you need to go to a newsagent or a TfL ticket office and put cash on to a plastic card, then use the plastic card.

Not that I think the railway should phase out cash acceptance, but they could if they wanted to.

I think the Promise to Pay is the best compromise tbh. It removes the cost of cash handling from TVMs but also prevents people from short-faring. No different to the PERTIS back in the day- and yes, I only ever put 5p into those, even if I had more cash on me.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Apr 2026 ==

then there is also ketchup / mustard etc from take away sachets smeared on them. Seen that occasionally.

Yeah, where I've seen it it tends to be sticky things like ketchup, Coca-Cola, hot chocolate, etc, which have been smeared on the machines, not bodily fluids. I'm still not going to touch it though.

 

[JamieL]

sorry - this is ridiculous - anything can happen - you are out and about (not carrying your lap top round with you because you don't actually have one or want one), then realise you need to get a train a couple of stops as plans have changed, only got cash £20 note on you and it's a £3 fare.

Just like if you had a car and your plans change you don't need a computer to pre book a slot o the road on line you should be able to pay by that choice and receive change.

Cash is legal tender - railways are public services that should be open to all - not to just those who have bank accounts, computers etc - even if that is a reducing and small group of people.

I think it is more ridiculous to ask every train to carry a large cash float simply to aid those who can't be bothered to pay in advance. A minimum fare - thus imposing a cost for such intransigence - seems a good compromise to me.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I think it is more ridiculous to ask every train to carry a large cash float simply to aid those who can't be bothered to pay in advance. A minimum fare - thus imposing a cost for such intransigence - seems a good compromise to me.

Some bus companies used to use change vouchers in that situation - you would have to go and cash them in at the depot.

 

[Tetchytyke]

I think it is more ridiculous to ask every train to carry a large cash float simply to aid those who can't be bothered to pay in advance.

Keeping a cash float isn't expensive or a particularly difficult administrative task. Especially as the float stays with the guard/ticket examiner. If it's really an issue they could go down the route of issuing change vouchers which can be redeemed later at a staffed ticket office.

Card transactions aren't free either; 1.5% transaction fees are about the norm.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Card transactions aren't free either; 1.5% transaction fees are about the norm.

Generally once you account for costs of counting and transport card is cheaper to accept, but the downside is that to get all that cost back you need to accept NO cash, if you accept any cash is probably cheaper of the two (or about the same).

 

[35B]

I think it is more ridiculous to ask every train to carry a large cash float simply to aid those who can't be bothered to pay in advance. A minimum fare - thus imposing a cost for such intransigence - seems a good compromise to me.

That may or may not be true, but Scotrail have been quite explicit that the minimum fare will not apply to someone who wishes to pay cash and has obtained a Promise to Pay voucher.

Having prepared a few floats in my time, it need not be that large or heavy - just a reasonable prediction of the amount of change that is likely to be given out in a shift.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Generally once you account for costs of counting and transport card is cheaper to accept

Yes, it is, especially as most banks will also charge businesses a fee when they come to paying the cash in. They get you either way. But it isn't free of charge to accept cards.

But as you say, if you're already accepting cash then the banking fees aren't such a consideration. And TOCs are already accepting cash at staffed ticket offices.

 

[Tram203]

Where would this individual get a 'promise to pay' note from? I am guessing a ticket machine and only because they insist on paying cash? In which case, I don't think an allowance needs to be made for that in this day and age. Pay by card and get a ticket! Or pay the minimum cash fare - £10 - onboard. Also, can you not buy tickets via your home computer as well as a "fancy phone"?

I'll round off my input to this thread by saying that, unfortunately for and in contrast to you by the sounds of it, ScotRail *do* think an allowance needs to be made for people to pay in cash for short and cheap journeys, hence £10 is not the only payable cash fare onboard.

With this fact in mind, the purpose of my initial question was to understand what the process would be if a guard was unable to fully change the cash payment offered by a passenger.

For reasons best known to yourself, you decided to respond to that by apparently suggesting anyone paying cash should be charged £10 as a minimum or basically should stop being luddites.

What a charming individual you are.

 

[Bill57p9]

I received the email from Scotrail on Friday.
One scenario I can think of that isn't covered by the exceptions: What if there is no ticket office available and the TVM can't/won't sell the ticket you wish to purchase? I do note they have excepted the National Entitlement Cards, as they fall into this category, though there are probably others. I can't think of a Scotrail one at this moment, however I had this experience on Northern when I wanted to purchase a through ticket to the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway: Available from guards but not TVMs. (To stay squeaky clean, I purchased a Permit to Travel however the guard wasn't impressed as I wanted to pay the balance by card and his machine wouldn't let him do this and subtract the PTT).

 

[kkong]

ScotRail have issued another press release today, ahead of the new policy's introduction on 1st July.

ScotRail customer education successful ahead of new minimum fare

Last updated: Friday, 5 June 2026

Almost 170,000 more journeys have been bought by customers before they board a ScotRail train in response to the train operator’s customer education campaign about its new minimum fare.

From Wednesday, 1 July a £10 minimum fare will apply to customers who board a train without buying a ticket before they travel, where facilities were available to do so.

The education process began on 1 April and since the start of May, 168,000 more journeys have been bought before boarding than there would have been without the policy announcement.

Analysis by the train operator suggests at least 13,000 of those journeys would have been taken by people dodging their fare and not paying.

Fare evasion is estimated to cost Scotland’s Railway £11million each year, money which could be reinvested in improving services for customers.

During the education phase, ScotRail staff have been supporting customers to understand the different ways they can buy tickets, including at station ticket offices, from self-service ticket machines, online, and through the ScotRail app.

Signage and posters have been in place at stations and on trains, supported by announcements, radio advertising, and increased social media activity.

The minimum fare will apply to customers who choose to travel without buying a ticket before boarding when they had the opportunity to do so.

For many shorter journeys, the minimum fare will be higher than the standard ticket price. For example, a return ticket between Bishopbriggs and Glasgow Queen Street costs £3, meaning a customer who deliberately travels without a ticket could end up paying significantly more.

Independent analysis of ticketless travel shows that many passengers travelling without a ticket had the opportunity to buy before boarding. In 74 per cent of cases, the station ticket office was open, while 90 per cent of journeys involved stations with working ticket vending machines.

The change is also expected to help reduce anti-social behaviour on the railway, which is often linked to a small minority of passengers travelling without a ticket.

There are several circumstances where the minimum fare will not apply, including where ticket offices are closed, stations do not have self-service ticket machines, or where customers have disabilities that prevent them from using ticket machines.

Since returning to public ownership in 2022, ScotRail has strengthened revenue protection across the network, including introducing dedicated Revenue Protection Officers and improving tools for frontline staff.

Ticketless travel has reduced from 8.8 per cent in April 2022 to 2.98 per cent, while ScotRail's Revenue Protection team recovers around £2million each year that would otherwise be lost.

Phil Campbell, ScotRail Customer Operations Director, said:

"We are delighted that our education campaign to remind everyone of the importance of buying before boarding is proving to be successful.

"It's about making sure customers understand the different ways they can purchase a ticket before they start their journey.

"Fare evasion costs Scotland's Railway millions of pounds every year, and that is money which could otherwise be reinvested in improving services for customers.

"The introduction of a minimum fare from 1 July will help ensure fairness for the vast majority of honest, fare-paying customers, who do the right thing and buy their ticket before they travel, while supporting our frontline teams in tackling deliberate ticketless travel."

 

[furlong]

Any information yet about the legal mechanism they intend to use to impose this new requirement?
Or is it going to be one of those situations where we get a new version of the NRCoT rushed out at the last minute complete with avoidable flaws?

Perhaps some journalist would like to ask them in response to the press release?

 

[TUC]

With respect that's not an answer.

Firstly, if a passenger has a promise to pay with the intention of buying with cash then the £10 minimum fare is irrelevant, and hence your comment regarding £10 change from a £20 note is too.

Secondly, and again with respect, please do not be insulting towards the hundreds of thousands if not millions of the population who do not have a look a way of buying digital tickets on fancy phones.

'Fancy phones'? You mean the kind of normal modern phones the large majority of the population have?

 

[island]

Any information yet about the legal mechanism they intend to use to impose this new requirement?
Or is it going to be one of those situations where we get a new version of the NRCoT rushed out at the last minute complete with avoidable flaws?

Perhaps some journalist would like to ask them in response to the press release?

I read elsewhere that they were going to set the anytime fare to be £10 (as off peak is now valid whenever), and use the existing NRCoT verbiage about selling anytime fares when someone doesn't buy before boarding.

 

[kkong]

If that is the approach they will be taking, it would be sensible to suppress the display of Anytime tickets on TVMs for affected flows (I assume this is possible) and all online sales channels (somewhat less possible?).

 

[furlong]

I read elsewhere that they were going to set the anytime fare to be £10 (as off peak is now valid whenever), and use the existing NRCoT verbiage about selling anytime fares when someone doesn't buy before boarding.

So they would be dropping the 'Promise To Pay' element mentioned in the original press release? The current NRCoT tie that to Penalty Fares.

 

[The exile]

I think this is an excellent development so I am not sure why people are looking for loopholes to stop it? I see far too many people ride free on my local line including some who use the "I only have a £20 note" to try and force the guard who has no change to let them ride free. That won't work anymore!

It will if there’s no ticket office ooo po enhance the TVM doesn’t take cash.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 8 Jun 2026 ==

'Fancy phones'? You mean the kind of normal modern phones the large majority of the population have?

Unless and until 100% of the population has access and is guaranteed perfect reception in all locations at all times (not to mention easy opportunities to charge), anything you need a phone for must remain a “nice to have” extra.

 

[najaB]

Unless and until 100% of the population has access and is guaranteed perfect reception in all locations at all times (not to mention easy opportunities to charge), anything you need a phone for must remain a “nice to have” extra.

Tell that to airlines who now charge to get a paper boarding pass.

Being more serious, we really aren't that far away from that level of universality. Looking at one recent survey:

Mobile phone user statistics show that as of 2024, 100% of adults aged 16-24 in the UK use a smartphone. Among the older age groups, 93% of those aged 55-64 owned a smartphone device, compared to just over three-quarters (77%) of those aged 65 and above.

Link: https://www.uswitch.com/mobiles/studies/mobile-statistics/

While I don't think we can drop support for paper tickets, I think we're at the stage where phone-based solutions can be treated as the default option.