South Western Railway and Network Rail Wessex have launched a major crackdown on ‘short-faring’ where customers deliberately buy a ticket only for part of their journey instead of paying the correct fare for the full distance travelled after identifying widespread misuse of barcode tickets and e-tickets by customers deliberately avoiding paying the correct fare.

The data-led approach targets one of the biggest challenges facing the railway and forms part of SWR’s wider revenue protection strategy, helping to recover millions that can be reinvested into the railway.

Using operational, retail and customer data to target fraud more effectively, SWR has identified fare evasion patterns, launched targeted enforcement activity and responded quickly to emerging hotspots.

The strategy has helped reduce fare evasion by more than two thirds (67%) since 2017, with fare evasion down a further 11% over the past year.

Across the SWR and NR Wessex network, around 172 million journeys are made each year.

While most customers pay the correct fare, around 6.5 million journeys are made without a valid ticket, costing SWR close to £40 million a year which the operator says is money that “could be reinvested to deliver the best possible service and value for money.” According to the Rail Delivery Group, this figure rises to close to £400 million a year for the whole of the rail industry.

SWR estimates that up to 95% of barcode tickets purchased between Vauxhall and London Waterloo are being used fraudulently, putting up to £1 million of revenue at risk.

To tackle this, SWR launched a targeted trial in June 2026 at London Waterloo, a hotspot with high numbers of persistent ticket misuse.

SWR says the early results have been significant. Since the launch, revenue protection teams have identified 153 short-faring offences compared with just seven cases in the same period last year.

Early data also indicates that around one-third of those previously identified as short-faring on this route are now purchasing the correct ticket for their journey. In the first four weeks, the trial has already helped to protect £45,000.

The trial has also shown how quickly some fare dodgers adapt their tactics, with some attempting to purchase barcode tickets from alternative SWR London stations instead. Following the trial, one location saw an 89% increase in barcode tickets compared with the same period last year, highlighting how data-led monitoring is helping identify and respond to emerging patterns of fare evasion.

Recent short-fare case studies include:
• A customer who owed more than £11,000 after repeatedly travelling from Hampshire to London without purchasing the correct ticket over four years
• A short-faring customer who evaded £20,000 over three years travelling between Surrey and London in addition to fraudulently using a 16-17 railcard

Matthew Winnie, South Western Railway & Network Rail Wessex Chief Customer and Commercial Officer, said:
“The overwhelming majority of our customers pay the correct fare. However, there’s growing evidence of some people deliberately exploiting the system – a criminal offence that deprives the railway of hundreds of millions of pounds each year.

“We know our customers don’t like seeing blatant fare evasion, whether that’s tailgating through ticket gates or simply travelling without a ticket. But we’re also tackling the less visible forms of fare fraud, including short-faring and misuse of e-tickets.

“Every fare avoided is money that can’t be reinvested into improving the railway and delivering the best possible service. We have a responsibility to protect revenue and our specially trained teams work around the clock to check tickets on stations and trains to improve fairness for the millions of customers who do the right thing.”