COMMUTERS who tried to dodge fares have been ordered to pay back £100,000 to a south Essex rail firm. 

Since the start of 2023 c2c has seen 2,394 penalty fares dished out and almost 500 people reported for potential prosecution. 

The firm has also revealed more than 6,000 people are currently being dealt with for fare evasion.

c2c has upped patrols in a bid to clampdown on being travelling between south Essex and London without paying for a ticket. 

Now, the patrols, who work in uniform or plain clothing, have been extended across the route to catch repeating offenders.

Ian Palmer, c2c’s head of revenue security and protection, said: “Our teams of revenue protection officers do a fantastic job in bringing those to book for evading their fares, and c2c will continue to tackle this problem.”

Fare evasion is a criminal offence, and one may be prosecuted and if convicted, will receive a criminal record.

In the past 12 months, more than 350 commuters of the network faced a journey through the court system due to deliberately or inadvertently avoiding paying fares, with every individual being found guilty.

Recent cases include a passenger travelling without the correct tickets being slapped with a £2,048 fine due to purchasing Basildon to Laindon tickets but heading to West Ham.

Mr Palmer added: “Fare evasion costs the rail industry millions of pounds a year.

“Everyone travelling by train must hold a valid ticket to travel – for the entire length of their journey – those who don't risk a fine or potential prosecution and a criminal conviction.

“The impact of fare evasion is also felt by our fare paying customers. It’s not right for others not to pay for their travel, and I’m sure our customers do not want to sit next to someone who hasn’t paid for their full journey.”

If you know of a fare evader and want to let c2c know, then please contact them via their X – formerly Twitter – direct messaging platform.

To find out more information about the Trenitalia-owned train operator, click here.