| State of service - South Western, as at October 2025 Posted by grahame at 08:00, 20th October 2025 |     |
The state of service ... South Western from The BBC
An estimated £45.5m of annual revenue is being lost from passengers not paying for tickets, South Western Railway (SWR) has said.
The data was released after a campaign group submitted a Freedom of Information request to SWR, which said the overall rate of ticketless travel was about 3.9%.
The rail operator runs services in London, Surrey, Hampshire, Berkshire, Dorset, Devon, Somerset and Wiltshire.
An SWR spokesperson said: "Our revenue protection team is focused on effectively deterring fare evasion and bringing down the rate of ticketless travel."
It said ticketless travel had reduced by 40% since 2017 and was now at its lowest ever level.
The figure appears to be £5m higher than what SWR said in May, while across the rail industry in the UK, it is estimated fare evasion costs nearly £240m a year.
The Freedom of Information request also said that SWR spent more than £370,000 reimbursing passengers for hotels and taxis due to delays and cancellations.
Additionally, 7,293 trains in the last year were short formed and had less carriages than planned, due to train faults and other issues.
The data was released after a campaign group submitted a Freedom of Information request to SWR, which said the overall rate of ticketless travel was about 3.9%.
The rail operator runs services in London, Surrey, Hampshire, Berkshire, Dorset, Devon, Somerset and Wiltshire.
An SWR spokesperson said: "Our revenue protection team is focused on effectively deterring fare evasion and bringing down the rate of ticketless travel."
It said ticketless travel had reduced by 40% since 2017 and was now at its lowest ever level.
The figure appears to be £5m higher than what SWR said in May, while across the rail industry in the UK, it is estimated fare evasion costs nearly £240m a year.
The Freedom of Information request also said that SWR spent more than £370,000 reimbursing passengers for hotels and taxis due to delays and cancellations.
Additionally, 7,293 trains in the last year were short formed and had less carriages than planned, due to train faults and other issues.
It says something about the system that's in place, doesn't it? What are acceptable rates or reimbursement, cancellation, and ticketless travel? Do those elements need attention to help reduce them?
