Fare dodgers feel force of tram-stop crackdown

Reporter: ALEX CAREY
Date published: 03 October 2014


A crackdown revealed 85 per cent of passengers on one Oldham tram hadn’t paid the fare.

A staggering 73 fare dodgers - mainly students and children - were fined at the King Street stop during a routine inspection.

Peter Elsworth, Metrolink customer service manager, said: “This area is one of the worst on the line for ticket evasion. Most people today are students, but we cannot just say they are the problem, it is this stop as a whole that seems to be a problem.”

The station, close to Oldham College and Oldham Sixth Form College, was targeted by Metrolink staff and police from 12.30pm-6pm last Thursday. Every passenger at the stop was asked to present a ticket.

On the first tram inspected only one in seven passengers had a ticket. During the operation not one tram passed without someone being fined.

Staff at Oldham Sixth Form College, Oldham College and Newman RC College, Chadderton — where most of the youngsters caught without tickets were from — support Metrolink over fare-dodging and remind students about buying a ticket. Those without a ticket can be fined £100 — £50 if paid within 14 days.

One man ran when he left the tram but was stopped by police andfined.

Peter Cushing, TfGM’s Metrolink director, said: “We take fare evasion very seriously and have a number of measures in place to tackle it, from education and enforcement to court action and the potential for a criminal record.”


AS someone who regularly uses Metrolink, seeing others using the service without paying is a constant annoyance, writes Alex Carey.

So when I saw 73 fare dodgers given fines during a routine inspection at King Street, it was quite satisfying.

I know from personal experience that some users avoid buying a ticket, but the number of passengers — mainly students and school pupils — caught without them was staggering.

It is no coincidence that 18 per cent of fare-dodgers on the Oldham line are aged 16-17 - the stop is the closest to both Oldham College and Oldham Sixth Form College.

It is clear that King Street station is an issue but from seeing the looks on the faces of all the teenagers dreading telling their parents they had a fine to pay, I can see more and more of them putting their hands in their pockets and paying for a ticket from now on.