Northern rail 'names and shames' schools over fare-dodging pupils

Northern wants parents to buy their children discounted season tickets

A train operator has "named and shamed" several schools for allegedly having large numbers of fare-dodging pupils.

Northern published a "top five" list, saying fare evasion mainly involved students travelling between rural and suburban stations without barriers.

It said "conductors cannot always carry out a full ticket inspection, which emboldens students to 'risk it'".

Honley High School in West Yorkshire, which is on the list, said it was "disappointed" by Northern's actions.

The other schools on the list were Rainhill High School in Merseyside, Wade Deacon High School and Wilmslow High School in Cheshire, and Turton School in Bolton.

A spokeswoman for Honley High School said: "We do not appear to have any records that indicate that Northern has contacted the school to raise a concern regarding children failing to pay to travel."

She added the school was "disappointed by the stance taken by Northern to name and shame" but would be "happy to work with Northern to address any concerns that they might have, should a representative contact us".

Northern runs nearly 2,000 services daily

The operator issued the list in a campaign to promote discounted educational season tickets for the start of the school year in September.

Mark Powles, Northern's commercial and customer director, said his company was "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".

He added: "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."

Mr Powles added that it was "important they know that fare evading is a criminal act and, in the future, they could end up with a criminal record".

Wilmslow High School said it "regularly promoted" the educational season tickets and that it would work with Northern to tackle fare evasion.

The BBC has contacted the other three schools for a response.

Northern said it was deploying staff to conduct ticket checks.

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