February 2025
ORR review of train operators’ revenue protection practices – Response from the RMT Introduction
The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) is Britain’s largest specialist transport union and has more than 80,000 members from almost every sector of the transport industry including thousands of members working across the railway in roles that involve revenue protection and ticket examination duties. We note with concern that trade unions are not listed by ORR as one of the bodies that it will be gathering evidence from as part of this review. It is vital that the views of the frontline workers who undertake revenue protection duties on a daily basis are properly considered during this review, and we would welcome the opportunity to engage further with the ORR and Government on this matter.
Executive summary
Rail workers whose roles involve revenue protection on-board trains and at stations are dedicated individuals who work hard to ensure that revenue is not lost from the publicly funded rail network. Whilst most passengers are genuine fare-payers, there are those who deliberately and routinely seek to evade fares and this causes significant lost revenue to the public purse. It is therefore right that the rail industry seeks to recoup this lost revenue and deter fare evasion. RMT believes that there should be a consistent approach the rail sector to dealing with fare evasion and sufficient staff to properly tackle the problem. It is clear that as a result of the privatised and fragmented structure of the railway, it is harder than it should be for many passengers to navigate the complex ticketing system, and the reforms introduced by the Government via Great British Railways (GBR) must address this. This would also make it easier to identify and address examples of deliberate fare evasion. The presence of staff at stations and on-trains is vital to tackling and deterring fare evasion, but decades of policies under privatisation have sought to de-staff stations and trains and diminish dedicated revenue protection teams. This has made fare evasion easier and unaddressed in many areas on the rail network. An increased presence of staff, coupled with a consistent and proportionate approach to revenue protection across GBR will help to address fare evasion, make staff safer and help