Should the authorities do more to combat barrier jumping?

[Purple Train]

Late January evening, pink sunset on the western horizon. Burnham station, awaiting the outward rush of the evening peak. In comes the 16.51. It is slightly late, as usual, disgorging the first ranks of Reggie Perrins from the big city, contactless bank cards poised and ready. Through the swell, a young man all in black, balaclava over his face, elbows and squeezes his way towards the front at a brisk trot. One hand on the contactless reader, then a practised, graceless swoop over the barriers, disappearing into the twilight. The regulars of the 16.51 tut and shake their heads. I put my season ticket through the barrier, walk through the ticket office, and, while standing at the bottom of the steps, waiting for my friend who still insists on buying an e-ticket despite the fact that he has to ask the barrier attendant to be let through, I have a chance to take in my surroundings. There is one member of staff manning the gateline. There is one member of staff behind the ticket desk. There are four police officers having a conversation next to their car in the forecourt, blissfully unaware of the jumper. I shake my head wryly and move on with my life. Then I think about the situation a little more and am met with a sudden urge to bang my head against the wall.

I'm not saying that barrier jumping is rife and nothing is done - this is the only instance I've personally witnessed, although admittedly I am usually at the front of the horde and therefore don't see the gaggle behind me. Equally, I'm not trying to suggest incompetence on the part of TfL/revenue enforcement/the police/etc. I do think, however, that, if such brazen behaviour can occur with two members of staff on hand and four police officers, something needs to change, or, at least, something needs to become more visible. Especially given the current media interest in people pursued for well-meaning mistakes with arcane and illogical rules (e.g. the rather random £12 minimum fare at some times on certain railcards), surely there needs to be some concerted campaign or visible effort to battle the problem? As a humble commuter, rather than someone with an in-depth knowledge of these matters, I can't quite lay my finger on what needs to change, but I definitely think something needs to.

Thoughts? Or am I going off onto my usual brand of unhinged rant?

 

[Sonic1234]

The kind of people who jump barriers are tough to deal with.

The ones who have fallen foul of a minimum railcard fare, or even have been knowing sneaky buying short tickets etc. are generally compliant. When caught, they own up and co-operate (or claim rightly or wrongly it's a mistake, but they still co-operate). If there's any resistance a reassuring comment like "I just need to take your details and you'll get a letter to pay the fare, you can appeal". Their ticket was bought online, with correct details giving further confirmation. Easy £100+ settlement for the railway. They're people who are invested in society, have jobs or aspiring to in the case of students so have something to lose if "the system" sanctions them. You can see on the dispute forum how many are worried about a criminal record.

Now your barrier jumper doesn't have a paper trail because they don't have a ticket. If you catch them, they're likely to turn abusive or aggressive. At the very best, staff would get the silent treatment or false details. At worst, assaulted (TfL has had a member of staff killed recently). Even if you can find out who they are, they're not part of the system so criminal sanctions aren't a threat - probably have a record already and don't aspire to professional work, nor do they have assets officially, or even a fixed address.

 

[Purple Train]

The kind of people who jump barriers are tough to deal with.

The ones who have fallen foul of a minimum railcard fare, or even have been knowing sneaky buying short tickets etc. are generally compliant. When caught, they own up and co-operate (or claim rightly or wrongly it's a mistake, but they still co-operate). If there's any resistance a reassuring comment like "I just need to take your details and you'll get a letter to pay the fare, you can appeal". Their ticket was bought online, with correct details giving further confirmation. Easy £100+ settlement for the railway. They're people who are invested in society, have jobs or aspiring to in the case of students so have something to lose if "the system" sanctions them. You can see on the dispute forum how many are worried about a criminal record.

Now your barrier jumper doesn't have a paper trail because they don't have a ticket. If you catch them, they're likely to turn abusive or aggressive. At the very best, staff would get the silent treatment or false details. At worst, assaulted (TfL has had a member of staff killed recently). Even if you can find out who they are, they're not part of the system so criminal sanctions aren't a threat - probably have a record already and don't aspire to professional work, nor do they have assets officially, or even a fixed address.

All very sad and true.

 

[Halifaxlad]

Not so long ago someone snuck up behind me at Bradford Interchange to pass through right behind me.

 

[bramling]

Late January evening, pink sunset on the western horizon. Burnham station, awaiting the outward rush of the evening peak. In comes the 16.51. It is slightly late, as usual, disgorging the first ranks of Reggie Perrins from the big city, contactless bank cards poised and ready. Through the swell, a young man all in black, balaclava over his face, elbows and squeezes his way towards the front at a brisk trot. One hand on the contactless reader, then a practised, graceless swoop over the barriers, disappearing into the twilight. The regulars of the 16.51 tut and shake their heads. I put my season ticket through the barrier, walk through the ticket office, and, while standing at the bottom of the steps, waiting for my friend who still insists on buying an e-ticket despite the fact that he has to ask the barrier attendant to be let through, I have a chance to take in my surroundings. There is one member of staff manning the gateline. There is one member of staff behind the ticket desk. There are four police officers having a conversation next to their car in the forecourt, blissfully unaware of the jumper. I shake my head wryly and move on with my life. Then I think about the situation a little more and am met with a sudden urge to bang my head against the wall.

I'm not saying that barrier jumping is rife and nothing is done - this is the only instance I've personally witnessed, although admittedly I am usually at the front of the horde and therefore don't see the gaggle behind me. Equally, I'm not trying to suggest incompetence on the part of TfL/revenue enforcement/the police/etc. I do think, however, that, if such brazen behaviour can occur with two members of staff on hand and four police officers, something needs to change, or, at least, something needs to become more visible. Especially given the current media interest in people pursued for well-meaning mistakes with arcane and illogical rules (e.g. the rather random £12 minimum fare at some times on certain railcards), surely there needs to be some concerted campaign or visible effort to battle the problem? As a humble commuter, rather than someone with an in-depth knowledge of these matters, I can't quite lay my finger on what needs to change, but I definitely think something needs to.

Thoughts? Or am I going off onto my usual brand of unhinged rant?

For me the answer is yes, more should be done. But it shouldn’t be left to the gateline staff to deal with, they simply aren’t equipped to challenge this sort of thing.

One does wonder if there’s a case for more impenetrable gatelines, and you could then put the member of staff in a proper place of safety (ie behind thick glass), but then this introduces the question of what then happens. Will the railway then be held responsible if the person injures themself climbing a fence, or gets struck by a train? But this approach *could* introduce a culture shift where people realise they have to have the means to pay, or else they don’t travel - much as they wouldn’t have the expectation of getting on a plane without having paid.

As an aside, I note you say the person in your incident was wearing a balaclava. This is another unfortunate leftover from Covid, that it is now seen as normalised to have a covered face in public. One wonders if all the pro-mask “my mask protects you” lot from 2020 are happy with what they’ve caused on this.

 

[HSTEd]

For me the answer is yes, more should be done. But it shouldn’t be left to the gateline staff to deal with, they simply aren’t equipped to challenge this sort of thing.

One does wonder if there’s a case for more impenetrable gatelines, and you could then put the member of staff in a proper place of safety (ie behind thick glass), but then this introduces the question of what then happens. Will the railway then be held responsible if the person injures themself climbing a fence, or gets struck by a train? But this approach *could* introduce a culture shift where people realise they have to have the means to pay, or else they don’t travel - much as they wouldn’t have the expectation of getting on a plane without having paid.

As an aside, I note you say the person in your incident was wearing a balaclava. This is another unfortunate leftover from Covid, that it is now seen as normalised to have a covered face in public. One wonders if all the pro-mask “my mask protects you” lot from 2020 are happy with what they’ve caused on this.

The bigger problem is what happens when a station fire burns people to death who are unable to force the gatelines.

Gatelines are made penetrable for safety reasons.

 

[bramling]

The bigger problem is what happens when a station fire burns people to death who are unable to force the gatelines.

Gatelines are made penetrable for safety reasons.

I’m not sure that issue is insurmountable. LU gatelines are already linked in to the fire pane, for example, though of course this merely introduces the possibility for someone to set off the fire alarm as a means of getting in or out.

But even if the inward gates could be made impenetrable that would help to some extent.

To be honest I suspect many passengers would be happy to have the very small risk of fire if it keeps some pretty undesirable people out.

 

[Harpo]

One wonders if all the pro-mask “my mask protects you” lot from 2020 are happy with what they’ve caused on this.

Yawn.

Yes, less make decent, well-intentioned citizens the scapegoats for an increasing lawless and unpoliced society.

Maybe you could blame motorcyclists who comply with the law on wearing helmets for the increase in helmet-wearing shop theft and drive-by theft too?

 

[jon0844]

People wore masks before Covid, albeit not the medical ones. In some environments, people are instructed to remove face coverings but I guess the criminals realised that you can't ask someone to remove a medical mask - so it's their way of avoiding recognition on CCTV.

It would appear to have now become a standard uniform for people who want to fit in with a certain style. Quite young kids now act out the 'roadman' role even if they wouldn't say boo to a goose. To further clarify, they come from all ethnic backgrounds and not everyone dressed like it is up to no good.

 

[brad465]

Perhaps we could setup auto-tranquiliser guns pointing at ticket barriers. If someone is seen jumping a barrier, either an auto-detection system fires a dart at the jumper, or someone manning it presses the relevant button to activate the gun. On hitting the suspect, they pass out, dream of Sammy Davis Jnr and wake up in police custody.

Or alternatively, trap doors each side of the barrier, with one active depending on direction of flow. If the ground is hit with enough force (from someone landing off a jump), or some surveillance tech detects someone jumping, the trap opens, the offender falls in, then they are removed by the police on arrival.

 

[bramling]

Yawn.

Yes, less make decent, well-intentioned citizens the scapegoats for an increasing lawless and unpoliced society.

Maybe you could blame motorcyclists who comply with the law on wearing helmets for the increase in helmet-wearing shop theft and drive-by theft too?

The fact is that it was uncommon and noteworthy to wear a face covering in public before summer 2020. It then became commonplace, and straight away it was common to see young males wearing them. This has never really been shaken off, so it’s one of many undesirable legacies the Covid response has left us to pick up pieces from.

 

[Blindtraveler]

I think the original poster has partly answered their own question. It's much easier for the railway to pursue the innocent who might be proven guilty with enough pressure from some fake Railway enforcement officer who just a couple of nights before was forcefully manhandling drunken football veg at a stadium or removing equally drunken girlies underage from a nightclub. Proving the innocent guilty is all together. Much less effort than banging the pay when challenged or worse to rights. This is equally a side topic but does this kind of behaviour not rather prove that the whole concept of physical ticket barriers is a bit flawed and there are reasons other countries don't use them

 

[The exile]

I think the original poster has partly answered their own question. It's much easier for the railway to pursue the innocent who might be proven guilty with enough pressure from some fake Railway enforcement officer who just a couple of nights before was forcefully manhandling drunken football veg at a stadium or removing equally drunken girlies underage from a nightclub. Proving the innocent guilty is all together. Much less effort than banging the pay when challenged or worse to rights. This is equally a side topic but does this kind of behaviour not rather prove that the whole concept of physical ticket barriers is a bit flawed and there are reasons other countries don't use them

Have you seen the revenue protection “snatch squads” employed elsewhere? Much more intimidating than anything I’ve ever seen here - and they often have the advantage that being unable to produce ID is technically an offence in itself.
Barriers do their job pretty well - but of course do make fare dodgers a bit more obvious. On a couple of occasions I’ve been very grateful to them as they’ve made me realise that my season ticket is still sitting at home while there’s still a chance to do something about it.

 

[bramling]

I think the original poster has partly answered their own question. It's much easier for the railway to pursue the innocent who might be proven guilty with enough pressure from some fake Railway enforcement officer who just a couple of nights before was forcefully manhandling drunken football veg at a stadium or removing equally drunken girlies underage from a nightclub. Proving the innocent guilty is all together. Much less effort than banging the pay when challenged or worse to rights. This is equally a side topic but does this kind of behaviour not rather prove that the whole concept of physical ticket barriers is a bit flawed and there are reasons other countries don't use them

The problem is that gates are a 1990s thing, that worked fairly well in a country where generally it wasn’t part and parcel of daily life for some people to stab someone else for attempting to do their job.

Fast forward a couple of decades, and we are where we are.

 

[Turtle]

For me the answer is yes, more should be done. But it shouldn’t be left to the gateline staff to deal with, they simply aren’t equipped to challenge this sort of thing.

One does wonder if there’s a case for more impenetrable gatelines, and you could then put the member of staff in a proper place of safety (ie behind thick glass), but then this introduces the question of what then happens. Will the railway then be held responsible if the person injures themself climbing a fence, or gets struck by a train? But this approach *could* introduce a culture shift where people realise they have to have the means to pay, or else they don’t travel - much as they wouldn’t have the expectation of getting on a plane without having paid.

As an aside, I note you say the person in your incident was wearing a balaclava. This is another unfortunate leftover from Covid, that it is now seen as normalised to have a covered face in public. One wonders if all the pro-mask “my mask protects you” lot from 2020 are happy with what they’ve caused on this.

Hardly the fault of the " law abiding" population who were ceaselessly bombarded by government propaganda during Covid.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 31 Jan 2025 ==

Perhaps we could setup auto-tranquiliser guns pointing at ticket barriers. If someone is seen jumping a barrier, either an auto-detection system fires a dart at the jumper, or someone manning it presses the relevant button to activate the gun. On hitting the suspect, they pass out, dream of Sammy Davis Jnr and wake up in police custody.

Or alternatively, trap doors each side of the barrier, with one active depending on direction of flow. If the ground is hit with enough force (from someone landing off a jump), or some surveillance tech detects someone jumping, the trap opens, the offender falls in, then they are removed by the police on arrival.

Has anyone in authority considered Japanese style barriers? As I understand it these remain open as the default position but immediately close if a passenger attempts to pass through without tapping in, swiping etc.

 

[SynthD]

Staff are told not to engage, so their presence is irrelevant. Did the police have a sight line to the barrier, or were they around a corner?

 

[deltic]

Massive police operation again today at London Bridge underground station supporting revenue protection but also with drug detection dogs. Your blantant fare evader is also likely to be involved in other illegal activities. These sort of operations are only really worth doing at major stations such as Brighton, cost versus return is to small elsewhere.

 

[Purple Train]

The fact is that it was uncommon and noteworthy to wear a face covering in public before summer 2020. It then became commonplace, and straight away it was common to see young males wearing them. This has never really been shaken off, so it’s one of many undesirable legacies the Covid response has left us to pick up pieces from.

It may not be uncommon any more, but it most definitely is noteworthy again. After all, I did mention it!

Staff are told not to engage, so their presence is irrelevant. Did the police have a sight line to the barrier, or were they around a corner?

Both - the barrier would have been visible but through the glazed walls of the ticket office. I'm not suggesting that the staff should have restrained him - in light of what's happened elsewhere on the line I don't blame them - or that the police officers should have seen him from where they were, merely that if this behaviour can occur with six authority figures on site, something's gone wrong.

 

[Mikey C]

Massive police operation again today at London Bridge underground station supporting revenue protection but also with drug detection dogs. Your blantant fare evader is also likely to be involved in other illegal activities. These sort of operations are only really worth doing at major stations such as Brighton, cost versus return is to small elsewhere.

I was amazed by the number of police there on Friday, I don't recall ever seeing sniffer dogs at a tube station before.

 

[Thirteen]

Surely taller barriers would be the solution although a taser/tranquilliser/trap door approach would be funny.

 

[Indigo Soup]

Surely taller barriers would be the solution

Even with due regard to the need for gates to be forceable in an emergency - I can't see that replacing the barriers with ones that extended high enough to be difficult to jump would be a problem. Depending on weight it may even be possible to replace the leaves on existing gates with transparent ones 1.5m to 2m off the ground.

Transparent material takes care of the safety concerns about someone potentially lurking on the other side, and is demonstrated in service with wide gates. There's enough of a gap over the ticket reader gubbins to allow a member of staff on the opposite side to inspect a ticket if needed.

It'll always be possible for someone sufficiently determined to overcome the barriers, of course. Crawling under them is perfectly possible, but doesn't seem to be a thing that happens in practice. Presumably too slow, or else the threat of being trampled by fellow travellers is a convincing deterrent.

 

[dk1]

Not so long ago someone snuck up behind me at Bradford Interchange to pass through right behind me.

That’s when I stop just as I go through, look back and smile.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 4 Feb 2025 ==

I’ve not noticed anybody actually jump the barriers in years. As I’ve mentioned before my favourite was at Victoria several years ago. This lad jumped them and smashed his head really hard on the sign above. Barrier staff looked at me as I said “ouch, that is going to seriously hurt” and we both laughed.

 

[trainbow]

I don't see many try to jump at mainline stations, as wrong'uns on long distance journeys will often pay a little to get through the barriers (doughnuting, child ticket, railcard/RST fraud). However at my local GTR South London Metro station, I'd say there's usually at least one or two people per minute who force the barriers. In 7 years of living here, I've had my ticket checked on board by an RPO once. GTR seem to make an effort for revenue on their long distance services, but zero effort for metro.

Not that these people would give their details to RPOs, so RPOs would need to be accompanied by BTP. With BTP facing an £8.5million shortfall in funding, I can't see this situation getting any better.

It's certainly cheaper to push through barriers and even pay a penalty fare once a year if successfully apprehended than to purchase a ticket every day.

 

[DM352]

I think fare evasion is the world over, maybe except Singapore!

New York Transit installed new gates but people can still jump them even when they make a noise like a 2p amusement arcade machine being bumped.

 

[Thebaz]

It's difficult isn't it. On hand it's incredibly irritating to witness people doing this and getting away with it, knowing that if I tried it I'd be swiftly caught and transferred to the local nick quicker than you could say Englebert Humperdinck. But on the other hand it's nice to be safe in the knowledge that I don't have to live in that shady world forever taking risks in my daily life and with little prospect other than future jail time when I'm eventually caught for something (probably much worse.)

 

[Meerkat]

How do they jump the barrier - if it involves levering off with a hand can that opportunity be designed out?
I don't think taller barriers would make the environment nicer for the innocent travelling public.
Still think we need the technology that all barrier jumpers are recorded with high quality snap shots. Even with a balaclava people and their clothing/bags can be distinctive.
As has been mentioned there is a good chance that they will be involved in other stuff so if the local plod could be given the photo fast enough they might appreciate the excuse to give them a stop and search for fitting the description, even if the evidence isnt good enough for a conviction (is barrier jumping an offence in itself?)

 

[stuu]

I don't think taller barriers would make the environment nicer for the innocent travelling public.

The newer barriers on the Paris metro are a lot taller but they are transparent, so a bit less oppressive than if they were solid

 

[styles]

That’s when I stop just as I go through, look back and smile.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 4 Feb 2025 ==

I’ve not noticed anybody actually jump the barriers in years. As I’ve mentioned before my favourite was at Victoria several years ago. This lad jumped them and smashed his head really hard on the sign above. Barrier staff looked at me as I said “ouch, that is going to seriously hurt” and we both laughed.

I had someone quite aggressive towards me doing this at Bond Street a few years back.

Decided it's not worth the potential consequences since then tbh.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 7 Feb 2025 ==

I don't see many try to jump at mainline stations, as wrong'uns on long distance journeys will often pay a little to get through the barriers (doughnuting, child ticket, railcard/RST fraud). However at my local GTR South London Metro station, I'd say there's usually at least one or two people per minute who force the barriers. In 7 years of living here, I've had my ticket checked on board by an RPO once. GTR seem to make an effort for revenue on their long distance services, but zero effort for metro.

Not that these people would give their details to RPOs, so RPOs would need to be accompanied by BTP. With BTP facing an £8.5million shortfall in funding, I can't see this situation getting any better.

It's certainly cheaper to push through barriers and even pay a penalty fare once a year if successfully apprehended than to purchase a ticket every day.

I suspect also the risk is higher on longer distance routes. If someone is going to be on a train for half an hour or more, there's a reasonable chance you could get an officer to meet them on the train somewhere en-route. Someone taking a 10 minute hop on the Central Line is going to away before you've even identified which every-2-minutes train they got on.