Train barriers given major security upgrade as Labour bids to end scourge of rail fare dodgers

A major security upgrade is now being rolled out as Labour attempts to bring an end to the scourge of rail fare dodgers.

Taxpayer-funded train barriers were installed at Buckinghamshire's busiest railway station, High Wycombe, this week.

Footage from a traveller reveals that, instead of the shorter barriers, new, taller barriers have been put in place to make it harder for criminals to push through the gates.

"An excellent idea, and about time too," ex-Scotland Yard detective Peter Bleksley told GB News.

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But, warning that the move might not be enough to put a stop to the fare-dodging, he added: "Unscrupulous criminals will find a way to defeat them, but something is better than nothing."

Last year, approximately 400,000 commuters on a standard weekday evaded fares across Transport for London, at the unsightly cost of £200million to the British taxpayer.

The Government confirmed that more ticket barriers like the ones managed by Chiltern Railways will be rolled out across the nation as part of Great British Railways.

Following a clampdown on the fare dodgers last year, around 69,000 fines were slapped on the evaders in the year towards the end of March, TfL data revealed.

The network added that it had managed to successfully issue 14,406 convictions across 2025/2026, jumping almost 1,000 from the previous year.

As a result, more Londoners have been saddled with £100 fines for their attempt to dodge law and order than before.

In one recent shocking case, an individual was found to be using bank card which had been banned due to past breaches.

The owner later admitted 181 offences and had to pay their dues in the form of a hefty £2,131 fine, The Independent said.

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London's City Hall Conservatives have, in the past, called for stricter conditions across stations all over London, proposing taller ticket barriers, fare evasion teams as well as a specifically-designed taskforce to clamp down on fare dodgers.

TfL is aiming to cut fare evasion by over half by 2030, from 3.4 per cent to 1.5 per cent.

But Thomas Turrell, Conservative transport spokesman, said that "simply isn't going to happen".

Last year, the then-Shadow Justice Secretary shared footage of himself confronting law-breakers in the capital, which amassed tens of millions of views.

In the video, staff were seen looking on as fare-evaders shoved their way through barriers, while Mr Jenrick said multiple police officers were in the station but "did nothing".

In the aftermath, TfL data obtained by GB News under Freedom of Information laws has revealed that penalty fare notices (PFNs) were handed out 55 per cent more in the month after Mr Jenrick's intervention than before.

But, by August, that number had fallen by two-thirds to just 503, by far the lowest monthly total in the last two years, according to FOI data obtained by the People's Channel.

"Sadiq Khan is only interested in tackling fare-dodging when there's public pressure. He's let it spiral out of control and it's costing the law-abiding majority," the Newark MP told Britain's News Channel back in February.

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