Nottingham fare evasion crackdown sees 45% month-on-month increase in penalties

Nottingham Express Transit’s zero-tolerance approach to fare evasion saw more than 1100 Penalty Fare Notices issued to passengers caught travelling without a valid ticket, pass, or validated payment card. The high-profile fare evasion campaign will continue throughout 2024. On March 13, an early-morning service worked by Bombardier Incentro tram 209, destined for Toton Lane, calls at Radford Road tram stop.

Andy Coward

THE ZERO-TOLERANCE campaign launched by Nottingham Express Transit (NET) on fare evasion at the end of last year (Railways Illustrated issue 252) has seen a 45% month-on-month increase in the number of Penalty Fare Notices (PFN) issued by the tramway operator.

As with the second-generation tram systems in Manchester and Edinburgh, NET operates a ‘buy before you board’ policy, with tickets having to be purchased at vending machines on tram stops, or passengers must be in possession of a pre-purchased season ticket, validated pass, or have tapped in a payment card at the on-stop scanners prior to boarding.

Throughout 2023, NET issued a total of 7682 PFNs and prosecuted 2580 passengers who failed to pay the PFN issued to them. During the first month of the zero-tolerance campaign in December – which NET said will remain in force throughout the rest of 2024 – more than 1120 PFNs were issued by NET revenue staff, operating both in uniform and plain clothes.

NET service delivery and safety director Sarah Turner said: “Since December last year, we have taken a ‘no excuses’ approach to handing out Penalty Far