UK rail firms urged to issue ‘yellow card’ warnings to ticketless passengers
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Train passengers caught without a ticket should be let off with a warning for a first offence, a watchdog has said. Transport Focus has urged train firms across Britain to introduce a ‘yellow card system’ to ensure that passengers who made an honest mistake are not punished unfairly.
![[2JR626K TransPennine Express Nova 2 class 397 civity electric train 397011 on West Coast Main Line in countryside at Lowgill in Cumbria on 22nd August 2022.]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_155480187-7ab3.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
A record of passengers found not to have the correct ticket or railcard would be kept instead so it can be checked in future. Several cases where passengers have been penalised or prosecuted for minor ticket offences have emerged, including some who had used their railcards incorrectly.
Engineering graduate Sam Williamson said he was left facing a criminal record after being told by Northern Rail that he unknowingly used his railcard at the wrong time, resulting in him paying £1.90 less than he should have. Sam said he was ‘unaware’ that his ‘anytime’ ticket wasn’t valid as it did not meet the £12 minimum fare that applies to 16-25 Railcards between 4:30am to 10am Monday to Friday.
He was still issued a prosecution letter by the government-owned operator, despite offering to buy the correct ticket and doing his best to ‘fix the mistake’. After national media picked up Sam’s story, Northern dropped the case against him. Industry body the Rail Delivery Group previously estimated that around £240 million is lost through far evasion on British railways each year.
