§ Mr. PicklesTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will estimate the loss of revenue because of fare evasion on London underground in each of the last 10 years. [37244]
§ Mr. SpellarThis is an operational matter for London Underground (LU) who have provided the following information.
Estimated loss of revenue due to fare evasion on London underground year Estimated loss of revenue (percentage) Total revenue for the year (£ million, cash) Estimated loss of revenue (£ million, cash) 1992 2.37 703 16.7 1993 2.28 749 17.1 1994 1.19 824 9.8 1995 1.44 849 12.2 1996 1.50 864 13.0 1997 2.00 945 18.9 1998 2.30 993 22.8 1999 2.41 1,059 25.5 2000 2.37 1,131 26.8 2001 2.54 1,150 29.2 LU have identified particular revenue loss hotspots, and these areas have been targeted in liaison with the British Transport Police (BTP) and where appropriate the train operating companies. They are also engaged in initiatives with the BTP to mitigate the effects of ticket touting, for example, by making announcements to customers to ask them not to give their tickets to touts and asking them to report touts to LU staff. Steps have been taken to make ticket purchase far simpler, by introducing phone and internet ticketing facilities and the installation of "Queuebuster" ticket machines at the busiest stations. The development of smartcard technology, being introduced under the Prestige project, should help to make fare evasion more difficult in the future.