Commuters and train travellers have been warned not to gamble on fare evasion, as south Essex train operator c2c unveiled the next phase of its new 'Fare evasion - not worth the gamble' campaign, featuring TV presenter and star of Police Interceptors, Ortis Deley.

c2c, which runs services between Fenchurch Street, London to Shoeburyness including stations at South Ockendon, Purfleet, Chafford Hundred, Grays, Tilbury, East Tilbury and Stanford-le-Hope in Thurrock, is at the forefront of combating ticketless travel (traveling without the correct ticket for your journey).

New measures include improvements to ticket gates, technology, data to support investigations, plus an increase in uniform and undercover revenue protection officers.

So far this year, c2c has issued more than 8,000 penalty fares and has recovered over £470,000 through its revenue protection activity. A number of repeat offenders have been caught, some of whom were long term fare evaders, with some ordered to pay nearly £10,000 to pay back their dodged fares.

TV Presenter Ortis is supporting the campaign.

He says: "Some people still think they can get away with ticketless travel and to combat this, c2c has invested in lots of clever ways to catch habitual fare evaders, so it's really not worth the gamble.

"Sadly, fare dodgers cost UK train companies hundreds of millions of pounds a year; as part of its contract with the Department for Transport, c2c is committed to being a financially responsible operator. Catching fare evaders ensures honest fare-paying travellers and the taxpayer do not pick up the burden of lost investment in rail."

New technology and a rise in revenue protection officers have been key to c2c's success. Over the 26 stations and trains along the c2c route have been fitted with more than 2,000 CCTV units, to ensure there's nowhere to hide. Further investment in bespoke technology has also been made to highlight patterns in ticketing and passenger data, identifying people who avoided paying for all or part of their journey.

Intelligence provided by digital sales channels and ticket barriers helps to identify passengers without a valid ticket for the entirety of their journey. Speed is also vital, when a suspect is under investigation, revenue protection officers can now track a passenger in real time. 

Each revenue protection officer has access to a body-worn video camera to gain further evidence and to reduce levels of anti-social behaviour. They're also highly trained to spot passengers' activity and see if they're 'short faring', i.e. travelling further than the ticket they've bought. The rail firm's team has been provided with revenue devices which can check the cost of the purchase and the time of the purchase, ensuring passengers have opted for the right ticket, before they stepped on the train.

Iain Palmer, c2c's Head of Revenue Protection and Security, heads up the team leading this charge, which has seen an increase in revenue of 2,100% over the past four years.

He explains: "It's a criminal offence to travel on a train without the right ticket, so this is a serious issue. c2c offers so many ways to buy a ticket, passengers can purchase a ticket from the station, our app or online, making it easy for passengers to have the right ticket before they travel."

He continued: "Our revenue protection officers are everywhere, uniformed and undercover. We use intelligence to ensure we have enough evidence to take long term fare evaders to court and we've been very successful at finding those that fare evade. If we don't get you today, we'll get you tomorrow or the day after, it's really not worth the risk." 

Koby Agagah, Brand and Marketing Manager and campaign lead, said: "It's great to see customers engaging with the campaign activation today at Fenchurch Street, we are asking questions to do with fare evasion and we are getting interesting responses on what customers believe c2c is doing to tackle ticketless travel." 

Fare evasion is a crime. Penalty fare notices across National Rail cost £100, plus the price of the appropriate single fare for your intended journey, which can be reduced to £50 if paid within 21 days.

Long term fare evaders are taken to court and are made to pay back unpaid fares, which can add up to thousands of pounds. Fare dodging is a criminal offence and the activity can result in a criminal record

To discover more about how c2c is tackling ticketless travel, visit www.c2c-online.co.uk/gamble.