Call for evidence conclusions
ORR has concluded its review of train operators’ revenue protection policies. We have now published the Call for evidence: Key findings which gathered insights on the revenue protection landscape and how passengers are treated when travelling without valid tickets.
Call for evidence: Review of train operators’ revenue protection policies
Status: Closed
Date of publication: 16 December 2024
Closing date: 31 January 2025
We carried out an independent review of train operators’ revenue protection practices, including the use of penalty fares and prosecutions.
We invited responses from individuals who, for any reason, had boarded a train without a ticket or with an invalid ticket (or were informed by rail staff that this was the case), and as a result:
- were required to purchase a new ticket for their journey or pay an additional fare
- were required to pay a penalty fare, which included the cost of a new ticket
- faced prosecution by the train operator
- faced another action by the train operator
Participants were required to be aged 16 years or over.
Ways to respond
This call for evidence is now closed.
More about the review
In November 2024 the Secretary of State for Transport wrote to ORR and requested that we conduct this review. Further details on the review’s scope, timeline and governance were provided in the terms of reference. We submitted our final report to the Secretary of State by 15 May 2025. The report made recommendations on areas for change and improvement.
We also published a guide to explain more about the process and the type of information we were seeking.
Use of your personal data
We used the information provided on an anonymised basis to inform our review, which also form part of our final published report. We have contacted some individuals to learn more about their experiences. Those interested had the opportunity to provide their name and contact details at the end of the survey. At the end of the survey, we asked some voluntary questions, such as age, gender, and ethnicity, to help us understand how experiences varied across different groups.
Any personal data provided was used solely for the purposes of this survey and handled in accordance with our privacy notice, which set out individuals’ rights and how we complied with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.
We relied on Article 6(1)(e) of the UK GDPR to process personal data for the performance of our public tasks as a regulator. Where special category data was provided, we relied on Article 9(2)(g) – substantial public interest, equality of opportunity or treatment. For criminal offence data, we relied on the substantial public interest conditions in Part 2, Schedule 1 of the DPA 2018 – Schedule 1, Part 1, Paragraph 6 – statutory etc. and government purposes.
Survey data will be retained by ORR for 12 months and then destroyed. Personal data was used solely for the review and was not shared with any third parties. We did not publish any personal data in an identifiable form without consent.
SmartSurvey operated the online survey on our behalf. You can find their privacy policy.