Northern to use smart technology to catch 'chancers' – The Bolton News

Smart technology is to be used at train station to stop potential ‘chancers’ in their tracks.
Automated ticket checks at barriers in Northern-managed stations will use new technology to accurately check that a ticket is valid, but also alert staff if that validity requires additional checks such as presentation of the appropriate railcard.
Staff will then confirm the ticket is being used correctly, taking the necessary action if it isn’t.
Northern say that with over 300,000 people using automated barriers across its network every day, checking the credentials of every ticket is a huge task – particularly at the larger stations during rush hour.
Some tickets are only valid with a railcard, while others are discounted for customers of a particular age group, such as those for children
In a trial at Manchester Victoria earlier this month, the technology was used during a revenue protection exercise where it helped to detect 180 people in one day alone, with almost 900 caught during the full length of the trial.
Those attempting to travel using a ticket they were not eligible to use, included:
52 people benefitting from a railcard discount they were not able to present for inspection
24 adults travelling on a children’s ticket
As a result, the train operator was able to issue 79 penalty fares worth over £1,500 and launch 101 investigations into various ticket irregularities – the process by which Northern recovers money for the taxpayer lost by fraudulent travel.
Mark Powles, customer and commercial director at Northern, said: “This technology will be invaluable for our gate line and revenue protection colleagues whose job it is to ensure ticket checks are carried out quickly and efficiently.
“Unfortunately, we know that a small minority of customers try to exploit the automated nature of barrier checks to travel on tickets they know they’re not eligible to use.
“The kit is very easy to install and can be deployed to known hotspots across the whole network to help tackle this fraudulent activity.”
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