Metro fare dodging down near pre-pandemic levels
BBCFare evasion on the Tyne and Wear Metro appears to have dropped back to close to pre-pandemic levels.
The rail service's operator Nexus estimated fares had been dodged on about 4.6% of journeys in 2024. This is down from the 8.3% level it estimated in 2021 and closer to the 4.0% recorded in 2019.
Nexus operations director Kevin Storey said the company had worked "extremely hard" to reduce ticket fraud.
Kevin Dickinson, who runs the Sort out the Metro Facebook group, said the drop could also be due to the Metro becoming free in 2021 for children aged below 11 who travelled with an adult.
Nexus said it had made its estimates using a team of researchers who survey people on the Metro.
"While this is based on passengers admitting they don't have a ticket, our team of researchers do not issue penalty fares and act as neutral surveyors," a spokesperson said.
LDRSMr Dickinson said it was "good to see" fare evasion was dropping on the rail service but suggested that if this was due to some children aged below 11 no longer having to pay for the service, it did not mean an increase in revenue.
He also said the figures did not take into account the fact that the annual number of journeys on the Metro had yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, which also affected income levels.
The data, provided following a freedom of information (FOI) request, showed there were more than 34.5m journeys on the Metro in 2019 compared to 30.9m in 2024.
Nexus said a major factor behind the fall in fare evasion was the penalty fine for not buying a ticket rising from £20 to £100 in January 2023.
"This has undoubtedly made people think twice about travelling without a ticket," said Mr Storey.
He said 75% of Metro journeys had to pass through ticket gates and new barriers would be installed at Regent Centre this year.
"Metro is a public service and doesn't make a profit," said Mr Storey.
"Every penny that we receive in fares helps to meet the cost of operating the system."