Higher Tram Penalty Fares Coming Down the Track

Penalty fares of £70 for passengers travelling without a valid ticket could soon be in place on the Midland Metro.

Centro, the delivery arm of the West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority (ITA) wants to see the existing £10 penalty updated as it believes it currently offers no deterrent.

The organization, which owns the tram system, is applying to Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin MP for an order to introduce the new £70 figure.

The penalty would be reduced by 50% if paid within 21 days.

If the Department for Transport is satisfied, the scheme could be in place by spring.

Cllr John McNicholas, chair of the ITA’s delivery committee which oversees Centro, said the current penalty dated back to before the Metro first opened in 1999.

“Whilst the penalty of £10 may have been an appropriate sum back then it is no longer much of a deterrent now,” he said. “When you consider the cost of a single journey from one end of the Metro line to the other is just £4 you can see why some people think it’s worth the risk of not paying at all. That can’t be allowed to continue. It is not fair on Centro, National Express West Midlands who operate it on our behalf nor the vast majority of passengers who do pay their way.”

Cllr McNicholas added that refusal to pay could ultimately end up in prosecution.

The £10 charge on the Midland Metro is set by the Midland Metro (Penalty Fares) Act 1991.

This legislation was introduced after the plan to build a new tram system in the West Midlands was first developed in the late 1980s.

The Metro runs between Birmingham and Wolverhampton city centres and carries five million passengers a year.

Today, penalty fares on tram systems vary across the UK.

Midland Metro, along with Supertram in Sheffield and Edinburgh Trams are the lowest at £10. The most expensive are Manchester’s Metrolink at £100 and Croydon Tramlink at £80.

A total of 132 penalty fares were issued by Midland Metro in 2015.

Transport Focus, the national passenger watchdog group, is supporting the Centro- proposed penalty.

Ben Ackroyd, director of Midland Metro for National Express said,"We want to protect the majority of our passengers who do pay for their tickets from the minority who think the rules don't apply to them.
Midland Metro prices are really good value - you can get from West Bromwich Central to The Hawthorns and back for just £3.00. There are also discounts if you're a student, if you're travelling in a group or off peak, and it's even easier to buy a ticket now that you can use Swift cards on Midland Metro trams. So there's really no excuse for not buying the proper ticket for your journey and we believe the penalty for not doing that should be fairer."

Cllr McNicholas added, “The Midland Metro will be expanding greatly over the next few years and is going to play a significant part in the economic growth of the region. The Birmingham city centre extension is nearing completion and following the recent devolution deal with the government we will be seeing new lines built, taking millions of people to key locations such as the HS2 station and the airport. As part of that it is important that penalty fares are proportionate to today’s prices.”