Northern Rail has released a list of schools "on report" due to high numbers of pupils dodging fares.
Rainhill High School and Wade Deacon High School, in Widnes, are among schools singled out for having high rates of pupils attempting to "bunk" trains. Many fare evasion incidents took place when students were travelling relatively short distances between rural and suburban stations which are not barrier-controlled.
Given the high number of schoolchildren on board and the limited journey time, conductors cannot always carry out a full ticket inspection, which emboldens students to "risk it", according to the rail company.
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The train operator is now working with the schools to urge parents to buy the existing, widely popular and heavily discounted (up to 75% off) Educational Season Tickets when schools return in September rather than give their child money for the fare – which some students decide to pocket and take the risk of travelling without a ticket.
The ‘Top 5’ schools for student fare evaders according to Northern Rail are:
- Rainhill High School in Rainhill, Merseyside
- Honley High School, Holme Valley, West Yorkshire
- Wilmslow High School, Wilmslow, Cheshire
- Turton School in Bolton, Greater Manchester
- Wade Deacon High School, Widnes, Halton
Mark Powles, commercial and customer director at Northern, said: “Everyone has a responsibility to buy a ticket before they travel. Unfortunately, some students think that rule doesn’t apply to them – and routinely fare evade on our services.
“It’s important they know that fare evading is a criminal act and in the future they could end up with a criminal record for the sake of paying the heavily discounted, student fare.
“With the end of the school year almost upon us, we are urging parents from September not to give their child money with the hope they will buy a ticket, but to save money by ensuring their child has a ticket by buying it for a cheaper rate in advance.”
A spokesperson for Rainhill High said: "Rainhill High School was recently made aware, from three members of the community, about a couple of isolated incidents of students from the school not having paid a fare when boarding the train at Rainhill Train Station. In a proactive approach to try and identify the students and re-educate them, in partnership with their parents, Rainhill High contacted Northern Rail to ask whether we could gain access to CCTV footage.
"Northern Rail declined to provide the footage, under GDPR, and instead advised we log the issue with the British Transport Police as the matter was outside of the school premises, which we did. We were not aware that the issue was more significant than a couple of isolated incidents and therefore it is very disappointing to hear this through a third party when we had tried to proactively engage with Northern Rail.
"We nevertheless remain committed to working proactively with all stakeholders to ensure our students maintain the high standards we expect in and outside of school.
"We would also like to highlight that the vast majority of our pupils are excellent ambassadors for the school and exemplify, both in and out of school, behaviour and conduct that we are proud of."
The ECHO approached Wade Deacon High School for comment.
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