About Unpaid Fare Notice

It is estimated that the UK rail network carries in excess of 750 million passengers each year. If only a small percentage of these rail users travel without paying the appropriate fare the loss of revenue is considerable.

The Transport Industry work in a number of different ways to combat ticketless travel. In addition to operating a penalty fares scheme, passengers can be issued with an Unpaid Fare Notice if they fail to pay the full appropriate fare or fail to produce a valid ticket when requested to do so by a representative. An Unpaid Fare Notice is not the same as a Penalty Fare Notice. Where the incident is considered to fall outside of the scope of the Railways (Penalty Fare) Regulations 2018. Unpaid Fare Notices are issued in accordance with the Transport Provider’s Policy & Procedures and/or the National Rail Conditions of Carriage.

An Unpaid 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.

For more information, download a copy of the current National Rail or TfL Conditions of Travel from our Document Library.