Former STRAP II cleared civil servant. IYKYK. Also DBS cleared.
- Tweets7.6K
- Following1.9K
- Followers238
- Likes5.2K
ALT Infographic titled “SWR fare evasion: what the FOI figures show”. It shows £35.6m revenue at risk (3.423% of revenue) next to a previous figure of £45.5m (3.9%, method not supplied). A table shows penalty fares issued down 42% from 23,742 to 13,714, and cases concluded in court, which are not prosecutions commenced, down 71% from 4,463 to 1,280. Revenue protection staffing is stated as 150 FTE in both years. Five questions for SWR follow, covering penalty fares falling faster than evasion, the incomplete methodology report, the revenue basis, and the data supplied on court cases and out-of-court settlements.
ALT First page of South Western Railway’s response to Jeremy Varns, dated 30 October 2026, reference FOI3704. Question 1 asks for SWR’s latest estimate of annual revenue lost to fare evasion. The answer states revenue at risk is £35.6m per annum and 3.423% of total revenue, and refers to an attached “May 2026 ticketless travel report” as the methodology. Question 2 shows revenue protection staff at 150 FTE for both 26/27 and 25/26.
ALT Contents page of “SWR Ticketless Travel July 2026 Final Report” by The Railway Consultancy Ltd. It lists Introduction, Method, General results, Results by route, Product-specific issues, Conclusions and Recommendations, and Appendices A and B, running to page 30. An added red note says only pages 1 to 8 were supplied, page 9 is blank, and pages 10 to 30 and the Introduction were not provided.
ALT Spreadsheet titled PFN Summary showing monthly counts for three rail years, RY25, RY26 and RY27, of cases concluded in court, out-of-court settlements and penalty fares issued, each with a year-to-date total. Red notes beside two rows say the stated out-of-court totals don’t match the monthly figures: RY25 shows 5,200 against months that sum to 3,585, and RY27 shows 1,706 against 1,702.
ALT Letter dated 2 November 2026 from Jeremy Varns, Campaign Coordinator of SWR Watch, addressed to Zöe Franklin MP to forward to Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander regarding SWR weekend services during engineering works on the Portsmouth Direct line (31 Oct - 1 Nov). The letter outlines key failures on Sunday 1 November, including: Intermediate stations left with up to 5-hour service gaps. First Travel Solutions attempting to recruit sub-contractors less than 36 hours before operations began. Timetable updates delayed until late Saturday night/early Sunday morning. Reports of small vans replacing entire trains, raising accessibility and capacity concerns under PSVAR. Station staff reportedly instructed not to book taxis for stranded passengers, with help points routed to National Rail Enquiries who lacked information. Complete lack of local bus ticket acceptance notices on JourneyCheck or the SWR website despite claims of a "good service."
ALT Page 2 of the letter from SWR Watch to the Transport Secretary. Includes a data table from ORR passenger rail usage figures (2016/17 to 2025/26) comparing London operators: Southeastern: -20.1% vs 2019/20 (+4.0% YoY) c2c: -16.4% vs 2019/20 (+6.1% YoY) South Western Railway: -15.6% vs 2019/20 (+3.8% YoY - lowest growth among peers) Chiltern: -15.0% vs 2019/20 (+5.3% YoY) GTR: -9.4% vs 2019/20 (+6.0% YoY) GWR: -3.4% vs 2019/20 (+5.3% YoY) London Overground: +2.0% vs 2019/20 (+5.3% YoY) Greater Anglia: +3.6% vs 2019/20 (+7.6% YoY) Lists 6 specific questions for the Secretary of State regarding SWR's contract transparency, DfT replacement spending caps, taxi booking restrictions, accessibility compliance, minimum standards, and passenger-growth targets. Concludes with a request for a formal meeting between DfT representatives, SWR Watch, and affected passengers. Signed by Jeremy Varns.
