The penalty for dodging rail fares in England is set to rise from £20 to £100 in January, the government has said.
The Department for Transport (DfT) said it is being hiked because of concerns that the current fine is not seen as enough of a deterrent.
The penalty will be issued as a surcharge on top of the price of a ticket for the passenger’s journey.
It will, however, be reduced to £50 if it is paid within 21 days.
The DfT suggests the crackdown will help modernise the railway system and ultimately reduce the cost to taxpayers, “who are currently footing the bill of those passengers travelling without a ticket”.
Currently, penalty fares for people who get the train without a valid ticket stand at £20, or twice the ticket price to the next station the train calls at.
But under laws passed by parliament on Wednesday, those penalties will increase in England for the first time since 2005.
