Parliament and Home Office: Scrap the use of criminal law in fare evasion matters

As thousands of people find out to their shock every year, rail operating companies and public transport bodies like TfL utilise the Regulation of Railways Act 1889 and National Railway Byelaws 2005 to prosecute people for having invalid or no tickets. This leads to a potential maximum fine of £1000 or even 3 months' imprisonment for what can be a financial loss for the companies of a few pounds.

The above mentioned legislation is intepreted by the courts very narrowly and gives the absent-minded or mistaken traveller a criminal record. Alternative legislation is more suitable to deal with persistent fare evaders.

I do not condone fare evasion and support the deployment of ticket gates, CCTV and revenue inspectors to challenge fare evasion. However, the railways are unique in being able to criminalise debtors, which other retailers or utility companies are unable to do. The Regulations of the Railways Act comes from an era when the abolition of debtors' prisons was still fresh in the memory, and plainly does not match with modern society.

Prosecutions for fare evasion are overloading Magistrates' Courts when they could be dealing with more serious crimes.