Metrolink passengers are resorting to extreme measures to evade paying fares, including creating fake identities and using false addresses. Danny Vaughan, chief network officer at Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), revealed that while Metrolink takes a firm stance against fare evasion, instances of individuals providing fabricated information are not uncommon.
People are going to great lengths to avoid paying for the tram, according to the head of Metrolink. Danny Vaughan, chief network officer at Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), stated that Metrolink takes a 'harsh approach' to tackling fare evasion, but admitted that travelers without tickets sometimes provide fake addresses when caught. This comes after a woman from Heald Green was told she had to appeal a penalty fare that was incorrectly sent to her address.
Rebecca Westaway, 58, believes that someone who was caught on a tram without a ticket gave inspectors her address instead. After sending back the initial letter she received in December unopened, she got a 'final reminder' letter about the fine a month later. The diversity and inclusion coordinator who 'loves writing letters' complained to Metrolink but was told she must appeal the notice. However, she refused to open the letter which was addressed to 'parent/guardian of' a person whose name she did not recognize. TfGM has now apologized for the 'incorrect' penalty fare and promised to remove the address from their system. The issue was raised at the Bee Network Committee last week by Stockport councillor Grace Baynham who criticized Metrolink's approach in this case. She said: 'You've thankfully resolved that issue now but I think the response from Metrolink was to more or less threaten this person that they'd have to go all the way to magistrates' court before they could get the ticket removed. So I think there maybe needs to be a different way of approaching that when somebody reports that something has gone to the wrong address.' Responding, Mr Vaughan said: 'On the fake address issue, it does happen, unfortunately. The Metrolink operator does however work to our instruction though in that they do have quite a harsh approach to tackling fare evasion because we've asked them to essentially. 'I think we probably could have relented or at least escalated that individual issue with the fake address more quickly than we did. But it has happened in the past. 'I think some people go to great lengths to create a fake persona for themselves with fake addresses just so they can do this. So sometimes it's difficult to spot. 'We should have spotted that one. But we are increasingly hard on fare evasion, that is our policy because we're trying to protect our revenue to limit our losses in running the network.' Fare evasion on the Metrolink fell by more than a third last year with around £2.5m paid in penalties in the 12 months up to April 2024
METROLINK FARE EVASION TRANSPORT FOR GREATER MANCHESTER FAKE ADDRESSES PENALTY FARE
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