TfL’s £168m price rises wiped out by fare dodgers

By the Editorial Team · Monday, July 27, 2026

Transport for London’s recent fare increases, meant to fund transport improvements, have been nearly nullified by approximately £165 million lost annually due to fare evasion on the Underground and Elizabeth line. This significant revenue gap highlights enforcement failures, prompting TfL to implement a new strategy with increased staffing and legal actions to reduce unpaid journeys and protect paying passengers.

Transport for London’s (TfL) recent fare increases, intended to support improvements across the city’s transport network, have effectively been offset by losses stemming from widespread fare evasion, according to a new analysis by the Centre for Government Reform (CGR).

The CGR’s research estimates that fare evasion on the London Underground and Elizabeth line alone costs TfL approximately £165 million annually. This figure closely matches the £168 million revenue boost expected from the fare rises implemented across TfL’s bus, underground, and overground services in March 2026. As a result, nearly the entire yield from the price increases may be used solely to compensate for revenue lost to unpaid journeys.

Ameer Kotecha, chief executive of the CGR, criticised TfL’s current approach to managing fare evasion. He argued that the organisation has not adequately enforced fare payment rules, noting frequent instances of passengers bypassing barriers without intervention from staff. Kotecha characterized fare evasion as less a funding issue and more a failure of enforcement, urging TfL to adopt stricter measures rather than relying on increased fares to cover losses.

Data also reveals a significant decline in prosecutions for fare evasion. According to a report by Conservative lawmakers, convictions have dropped from around 29,000 cases before the COVID-19 pandemic to about 14,000 in the current year. Additionally, less than half of penalty fares issued for fare evasion are actually paid, with unpaid journeys costing TfL an estimated £190 million in 2022-23, up from £116 million in 2018-19 based on Freedom of Information requests.

Robert Jenrick, Treasury spokesman for the Reform party, highlighted the impact on law-abiding passengers, stating the fare increases unfairly burden those who pay, while fare dodgers continue to evade consequences. He warned that the issue will worsen unless enforcement and penalties are strengthened.

Across TfL’s network, fare evasion accounts for approximately 3.5% of the 3.6 billion annual passenger journeys—roughly 126 million unpaid trips each year, or 2.4 million each week. Specifically, the Tube’s fare evasion rate stood at 5.03% during the first three quarters of the 2025-26 financial year, representing an annual financial loss near £141 million.

TfL responded by emphasising efforts to curb fare evasion. The organisation reported issuing over 69,000 penalty fares and referring more than 21,000 individuals for potential prosecution in the previous financial year. TfL has launched a new enforcement and education strategy, including deploying additional staff and police officers to high-incident locations, with the aim of increasing compliance and ensuring persistent offenders face legal consequences.

This article was reported by synthesizing coverage from multiple independent news outlets to present a balanced, unbiased account. Read about our editorial standards. Spotted an error? Let us know.