Components
This annex sets out the acronyms and definitions of the main terms used in this report. Legislation is set out in Table A.2 further below.
Table A.1 Acronyms and glossary
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| Appeals body or bodies | TOCs that operate penalty fares must ensure that appeals are considered by an independent body in line with the 2018 Regulations. At present, there are two companies which TOCs can contract with to provide this service: Penalty Services Limited; and ITAL Group Limited trading as “Appeal Service” |
| ATOC | Association of Train Operating Companies (now part of RDG) |
| BTP | British Transport Police |
| Applicable byelaws or byelaws | See legislation section below |
| Code for Crown Prosecutors | This gives guidance to crown prosecutors on the general principles to be applied when making decisions about prosecutions. It is issued primarily for prosecutors in the CPS but other prosecutors may follow the code, either through convention or because they are required to do so by law |
| Code for Private Prosecutors | This document produced by the Private Prosecutors’ Association is intended to provide a benchmark for best practice in the conduct of private prosecutions |
| Common Platform | HMCTS’s digital case management system for prosecutions in England and Wales (further background is available here). |
Compulsory Ticket Area (mentioned in Figure E&W1.1 in Annex E) | This is defined in the 2018 Regulations as any area at a station which a person must not enter or be present in without being able to produce either (a) a valid travel ticket authorising travel on a train arriving at or departing from that area; or (b) a platform ticket authorising their entry to or presence in that area |
| Contactless | A payment method that can be used for certain train journeys, by touching a contactless debit or credit card (or a mobile device) on a card reader at the start and end of a journey. |
| Contracted TOCs | These are TOCs owned by private companies that hold a contract with government to deliver rail services. This includes TOCs running services on behalf of TfL and Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, as well as those with a contract to run services on behalf of DfT. |
| CPS | Crown Prosecution Service |
| Cross-Industry Working Group | The industry group that supported our work on this review, see chapter 2 for further information |
| Darwin | An industry system providing information on train times and performance. |
| DBS | Disclosure and Barring Service (the government agency that helps employers make safer recruitment decisions) |
| DfT | Department for Transport |
| DfTO | DfT Operator Limited |
| Digital Ticketing Services or DTS | A retail system supporting the delivery of e-tickets or smart tickets. |
‘Either way’ offences (mentioned in Figures E&W2 and S2 in Annex E) | These are offences that are more serious than 'summary only' offences, and can be heard in either a Magistrates’ Court or the Crown Court. |
| e-tickets | e-tickets are digital train tickets with a barcode containing the travel information. They are emailed directly to passengers as a PDF and can either be stored on a device or printed. |
| Excess fare | If a passenger has a ticket that is partially valid for their journey, they may be required to pay an excess fare. This covers the difference between the original fare paid and the correct fare |
| FTP or failure to purchase notice | A form of UFN (see below) |
| Fine | A fine is a financial sum required to be paid as a punishment issued by a court of law following a conviction for a crime. It is a criminal sanction |
| Fulfilment | The process by which a purchased ticket is delivered to the customer |
| Full Code Test | The test applied by crown prosecutors in England and Wales when deciding whether to prosecute an individual, defined in the Code for Crown Prosecutors. |
| GBR | Great British Railways |
| HMCTS | His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service |
| Knowledgebase | The information engine powering the National Rail Enquiries website, which holds information about station facilities, service disruption, and engineering work |
| LENNON | ‘Latest Earnings Networked Nationally Overnight’ – the industry ticket revenue settlement system used to allocate revenue between train operators based on tickets sold |
| Live Sales Management or LSM | A retail system supporting the delivery of ‘ticket on departure’ purchases, where tickets are collected from a station TVM |
| MG11 | An MG11 is a witness statement form used by staff to record details of incidents, such as fare evasion, which may be used in legal proceedings. MG stands for “Manual of Guidance” and designates a series of criminal case file forms which are used in England and Wales as part of the National File Standard used in preparing and progressing criminal cases. |
| NPCC | National Police Chiefs’ Council |
| NRCoT or National Rail Conditions of Travel | These are a key part of the binding contract that comes into effect between passengers and TOCs when a ticket is purchased for travel on the mainline railway |
| Open access TOCs | Open access passenger TOCs are those that operate services purely on a commercial basis, and which are not funded by or contracted to government. |
| Oyster | A Transport for London smartcard and payment method for pay as you go travel across the London network. |
| PAYG | Pay as you go (a form of train fare) |
| Penalty fare | A penalty fare is an exceptional fare that may be charged if a passenger does not comply with the normal ticketing purchase rules without good reason. This requires passengers to pay a set penalty either immediately or within a specific period. It is entirely a civil matter and is not a criminal punishment. It is not the same as a fine |
| Penalty Fare Guidelines | The National Rail document published by RDG providing information for passengers on penalty fares |
| PNC | Police National Computer |
| Product Management System or PMS | The system in which rail tickets and fares are created, stored, maintained and distributed |
| Prosecution | The process of charging an individual with an offence and trying the case in court. Where the individual pleads or is found guilty, they are then convicted of the offence |
| Publicly owned TOCs or TOCs in public ownership | These include DfTO-owned TOCs in England and those TOCs owned by the Scottish and Welsh governments |
| Rail Availability and Reservation Service or RARS | Rail Availability and Reservation Service. The new industry system providing information on train coaches and seats, allowing passengers to make seat reservations |
| RDG | Rail Delivery Group |
| Railcard | A railcard allows tickets to be bought at a discounted fare. There are a number of different types of railcard available for purchase. Each railcard may have its own specific terms and conditions, including restrictions on its use |
| Railcard database | The retail system setting out the T&Cs when travelling with a railcard |
| Railway byelaws | See table of legislation further below and “Byelaws” |
| Retail Control Service or RCS | This system is used to determine which rail products retailers can and cannot sell, and the permitted fulfilment options |
| Routeing Guide | This guide shows the full range of permitted routes available for use with tickets on the National Rail network |
| SJP or Single Justice Procedure | A streamlined process used in Magistrates’ Courts in England and Wales to handle less serious non-imprisonable offences committed by adults. It allows cases to be dealt with by a single magistrate (with a legal advisor) without the need for a court hearing, unless the defendant pleads “not guilty” or chooses to attend court instead |
| ‘Summary only’ offences | These are offences that can be heard only in a Magistrates’ Court (and include RoRA and applicable byelaw offences). |
| T&Cs | Terms and conditions |
| Terms of reference | The terms of reference for this review |
| TfL | Transport for London |
| Third party retailer (TPR) | Third party retailer (of railway tickets) |
| Ticketless travel survey | This is a survey of passengers on a sample of a TOC’s trains to see how many passengers are travelling without a valid ticket. These are generally carried out by an organisation independent of the TOC. The results from this can be used to inform a TOC’s approach as well as benchmark its performance in reducing ticketless travel |
| Ticket/travel irregularity/incident report, or TIR or IR | These vary across the industry. It can mean travel incident report, travel irregularity report, ticket irregularity report or ticketing irregularity report. These can be used where a passenger’s ticket is in question, whether due to a technical error, a misunderstanding, a failure to produce the correct ticket, or a more complex fare issue. They provide a way to record and address a ticket irregularity, either by allowing the passenger time to rectify the situation or by investigating further if necessary (and can lead to prosecution) |
| TIS | Ticket Issuing System |
| TOC | Train operating company |
| TVM | Ticket vending machine |
| UFN or Unpaid fare notice | This is a formal record that a passenger owes a fare. It requires the passenger to pay the outstanding amount within a specified time frame, often with an additional administrative fee for late payments. UFNs can vary between TOCs |
| Yellow card | Some TOCs operate a yellow card scheme. A yellow card is a warning issued to passengers who are found without a valid ticket, with their details being logged. It serves as a first-time warning without imposing any penalty. If the passenger is caught again without a valid ticket, they may face harsher penalties or prosecution. |
Table A.2 Terms relating to legislation referred to in this report
| Legislation | Description |
|---|---|
| Byelaws | A byelaw is a form of delegated legislation that does not require parliamentary oversight and which, among other things, can create minor criminal offences. Parliament has granted train operators the right to introduce byelaws, including in connection with ticketing and fare evasion. However, byelaws must be approved by a government minister before taking effect. There are currently three sets of byelaws relevant to the mainline railway in relation to revenue protection:
In this report, ‘applicable byelaws’ means any of the three above sets of byelaws that is relevant in a particular case. Byelaws are discussed further in paragraph 1.60. |
| Byelaw 18 | The byelaw that makes it an offence to travel without a valid ticket or to fail to produce a ticket on request (unless one of the few permitted defences applies) |
| RoRA | Regulation of Railways Act 1889. As set out in chapter 1, this provides for the prosecution of fare evasion |
| 2016 Order | The Criminal Justice Act 2003 (New Method of Instituting Proceedings) (Specification of Relevant Prosecutors) Order 2016. This enables mainline train operators to use the SJP for prosecuting certain offences |
| 2018 Regulations | The Railways (Penalty Fares) Regulations 2018 set out the legal framework for the use of penalty fares, including the process that passengers can use to appeal a penalty fare |
| 2022 Regulations | The Railways (Penalty Fares) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 amended the 2018 Regulations to (among other things) increase the level of the penalty fare (other than for services operated by or on behalf of the Welsh Government) |