Prosecutions for fare-dodging passengers have hit a six year high.
Two people a day are caught travelling without a ticket in West Yorkshire, Ministry of Justice figures reveal.
Passengers were
taken to magistrates courts 846 times in 2016 for boarding a train in West Yorkshire without a valid ticket.
This shows a rise of a whopping 47 per cent from 2015 when there were only 575 prosecutions for fare dodgers - and is the highest number since at least 2001.
Prosecutions in West Yorkshire for travelling without a ticket
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20152016
Ministry of Justice
The number of prosecutions is 53 times higher than the 16 recorded in 2011.
The news comes as the cost of train tickets for journeys across Britain is set to increase.
National Rail has announced that
prices are set to go up by an average of 3.4 per cent - the biggest rise in five years - as of January.
National Rail chiefs say that although the price of some tickets will increase, many fares will stay the same - or even drop in price.
Prosecutions for travelling without a ticket have hit a six year high
30,000 prosecutions across England and Wales
Across England and Wales, passengers were taken to magistrates courts 29,868 times in 2016 for boarding a train without a valid ticket.
The number of people taken to court has risen by a quarter in a year (up 24 per cent), from 24,180 in 2015, and is the highest number since at least 2011, according to figures supplied by the Ministry of Justice following a Freedom of Information request.
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Other offences that took passengers to court
As well as this, passengers were taken to magistrates courts 7,595 times in 2016 for failing to hand over a valid ticket after boarding a train to travel in non-compulsory ticket area.
This offence would most likely cover passengers travelling from stations without barriers, who falsely claim there were no facilities
to buy a ticket before they got on the train.
Prosecutions in England and Wales in 2016
1.1%0.2%20.0%78.7%
Travelling without a valid ticketFailing to hand over valid ticketEntering a compulsory ticket area without a ticketOccupying a reserved seat without a valid ticket
Ministry of Justice
The number of people taken to court has fallen by 10 per cent in a year, from 8,438 in 2015, its lowest number in at least six year.
There were also 63 people prosecuted for entering a compulsory ticket area without a ticket and 425 people were prosecuted in 2016 for occupying a reserved seat without a valid ticket, usually for being in first class without a first class ticket, although this was down from 861 prosecutions in 2012
