Southeastern makes millions from fines but Kent commuters say its too pricey to pay

Exclusive data shows that 50,000 penalties were handed out, 14% less than the previous year.

Transcript

00:00 South Eastern made more than £2.5 million in penalty fares in 2023. The fines? For commuters

00:09 who didn't buy a ticket. Despite fewer penalties issued in that year, the rail company made

00:15 double what they did in 2022. A lot of it has to do with the government's hike in penalty

00:21 fares. Fines that were £20 now cost £100.

00:27 The minimum amount that you would pay increased and that was for all operators right across

00:32 the country. That was clearly intended to be more of a deterrent to people who consider

00:39 trying to get away with not paying their fare. We have methods in place, like all train operators

00:44 do, to recoup that money either through what's called a penalty fare or if they refuse to

00:49 pay that there's obviously the opportunity to take them through the courts as well.

00:54 But commuters in Rochester have mixed opinions about the data.

00:58 They're too high, they're too high. For what the ticket is and for what the fine is, it's

01:04 not fair. Everyone has a choice whether to pay or not.

01:08 I have no sympathy with people who try to do away with not paying, who don't pay.

01:16 The trains aren't always reliable, they're not always on time, they cancel them and the

01:21 fares are at astronomical price now so you can't blame people for trying to get away

01:26 with it I suppose. There's rules and regulations and people

01:29 should follow them, you know. I feel like £100 maybe could even go up to £200, £300.

01:36 People take the chance that they won't get fined, that they will do the journey and nobody

01:43 will catch them. So maybe if there were more inspectors around then that would cost money

01:48 and reduce the profit they make on the fines.

01:52 The rail company says the money made goes back into improving the rail service.

01:57 But high ticket prices, during a cost of living crisis and all while ticket offices are being

02:03 closed down in many places in Kent, could it make a recipe for disaster?

02:08 When people have made a genuine error, like for example they bought slightly the wrong

02:12 type of ticket for that day or perhaps tried to pay with contactless where it's not possible,

02:18 our team will take a common sense approach to that and can judge that on the individual

02:22 merits. The £100 fines are reduced to £50 if the

02:26 passenger pays within 21 days, plus the cost of a single journey.

02:31 But some commuters say the entire rail service is just too expensive for already tightened

02:37 budgets. Abbey Hook for KMTV in Rochester.

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