Northern issues plea to headteachers to help tackle ‘persistent, calculated fare evasion’ by students

As the end of the academic year draws near, the train operator says it’s time for headteachers to work with them to combat the issue.

It follows a catalogue of incidents since September 2023, including students travelling without tickets, ticket fraud and anti-social behaviour as well as verbal and physical assaults on conductors and station staff.

Behaviour at some stations has been so bad that Northern has had to request support from British Transport Police to maintain order.

The schools that Northern has written to are (in alphabetical order):

• Bingley Grammar in West Yorkshire
• Hazel Grove High School in Greater Manchester
• Highfields College in Greater Manchester
• Knutsford High School in Cheshire
• Nunthorpe Academy in North Yorkshire
• Rainhill High School in Merseyside
• Reddish Vale High School in Greater Manchester
• Sutton Academy in Merseyside
• Turton High School in Greater Manchester
• Ulverston Victoria High School in Cumbria
• Wilmslow High School in Cheshire
  

Mark Powles, commercial and customer director at Northern, said: “What we’re seeing is persistent, calculated fare evasion.

“With secondary school students, fare evasion incidents tend to occur on relatively short journeys between rural and suburban stations which are not barrier-controlled.

“That, combined with the limited time conductors have to carry out ticket checks, emboldens students to travel without a ticket.”

However, in recent months, Northern says incidents have had an increasingly anti-social element to them, with reports of verbal and physical assaults on train crew and station staff.

Powles added: “We’ve seen students climb on station canopies and assault station staff in order to avoid ticket checks - it’s completely unacceptable.

“That’s why we’re calling on headteachers to help us identify repeat offenders.”

The train operator is already working with the headteacher of Honley High School in West Yorkshire and says a joined-up approach really makes a difference.

Teachers have been deployed to the local station (Honley) to help identify students and ensure station staff are able to carry out ticket checks without a risk to their safety.

James Meads, assistant headteacher of Honley High School, said: “As part of the school’s on-going work with Northern we have deployed members of teaching staff to the local railway station to help identify students that have attempted to fare evade on their commute to school.

“As well as raising the topic of fare evasion in school assemblies we have also contacted the parents of students to make them aware - and we will continue to support Northern on this issue when the new academic year gets underway in September.”

Northern is now in talks with Highfields College and Sutton Academy to adopt a similar approach at their local stations from September. 

In January, Northern urged parents to ‘lock in’ a discount worth 75% off the cost of their child’s commute to school via its Under 16 Education Season Ticket scheme.

Northern has also invested in the largest network of ticket infrastructure of any train operator in the country, with students able to buy their ticket from the Northern app, website, ticket offices or one of more than 600 ticket vending machines across the network.

Northern is the second largest train operator in the UK, with 2,500 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England.