Why it was way easier to dodge London Underground fare before 1994

It's no secret that Tube fares aren't what they used to be - they've been on the up for a while now, but old school Londoners may remember a time when you could pretty much get away scot-free without paying.

Did you know that penalty fares weren't actually introduced until 1994?

Fare dodging still happens now but before penalty fares were introduced it was common practice for thousands of Londoners.

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To combat this, penalty fares were introduced and those caught were fined £10 on the spot.

Now, the penalties are significantly steeper. According to the TfL website, fare evasion is a criminal offence and could lead to prosecution.

You're now at risk of paying a £100 fee, up from £80 a few years back - but this is reduced by 50% if you pay within 21 days.

TfL has also revealed that fare dodging prosecutions have risen as, during 2023, the authority caught 19,614 people for the offence. This represented an increase of 56 per cent when compared to 2022.

Officials also investigated 421 people for 'habitual fare evasion', who made more than 50,000 'irregular' journeys across the London Underground network. This alone defrauded TfL of more than £300,000 in lost fare revenue.

Of these cases, 190 have been prosecuted to date and 189 were found guilty, with the remaining cases pending court action. A recent case investigated by TfL identified a passenger fare evading by using a contactless payment card and failing to validate correctly for their journeys.

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