Scotland’s national rail operator ScotRail will introduce a £10 minimum fare for passengers who board trains without a valid ticket, aiming to deter fare evasion while reinforcing fairness for paying customers. The charge will often exceed the standard fare for short journeys, encouraging passengers to purchase tickets before boarding.
The operator confirmed that no additional fee will apply where the normal ticket price already exceeds £10. However, passengers must still buy tickets prior to travel to qualify for discounted fares. For example, a return journey between Bishopbriggs and Glasgow Queen Street costing around £3 would be subject to the £10 minimum fare if a passenger intentionally travelled without a ticket.
The measure follows analysis showing that most ticketless passengers had the opportunity to buy tickets before travelling. ScotRail reported that 74% of such customers passed open ticket offices and 90% had access to functioning ticket vending machines but chose not to use them. The operator also expects the policy to contribute to reducing anti-social behaviour associated with a minority of ticketless travel.
Exemptions will apply to passengers holding national entitlement cards, those boarding at stations without ticket retail facilities, and customers with registered disabilities preventing ticket machine use. Staff will retain discretion to assess individual circumstances, including issuing ‘promise to pay’ tickets for passengers who can only pay with cash.
An education period will run from April 1 until July 2026 before full enforcement begins. ScotRail stated that its revenue protection teams will focus on short-journey claims and deliberate misuse once the policy is implemented.
Fare evasion is estimated to cost Scotland’s railway more than £11 million annually. Since returning to public ownership in 2022, ScotRail has strengthened revenue protection by deploying Revenue Protection Officers across the network, targeting known high-risk routes and repeat offenders, and equipping frontline staff with improved tools to address and report fare evasion.
The operator reports that ticketless travel has fallen from 8.8% to 3.7% during this period, with revenue protection activity recovering approximately £2 million each year.
The original announcement from ScotRail is available here:
https://www.scotrail.co.uk/about-scotrail/news/scotrail-tackle-ticketless-travel-new-minimum-fare
