About Penalty Fare Notice

The Penalty Fares scheme is a mechanism to assist the Transport Industry in the daily battle against ticketless travel, which currently deprives the UK’s railway system alone of £200m every year.

Where Penalty Fares apply, rail or bus passengers must buy their tickets before they start their journey wherever there are facilities for them to do so. If a passenger gets on a train without a ticket at a station where ticket facilities are available a Penalty Fare may be issued.

A Penalty Fare Notice must be paid or appealed against within the stated time in order to avoid further costs or action being taken by the Transport Provider to recover the debt.

You can download a copy of The Railways (Penalty Fare) (Amendment) Regulations 2022, the Penalty Fares Policy document or The Greater London Authority Act, 1999 by visiting our Document Library.