National Penalty Fare Scheme

If you get on a train without a valid ticket at a station where ticket buying facilities are available, you may have to pay a Penalty Fare. Ticket buying facilities include a staffed ticket office or a ticket vending machine.

A Penalty Fare is £100 plus the price of the full single fare applicable for your intended journey. However, if it is paid within 21 days, the Penalty Fare is reduced to £50 plus the price of the single fare applicable.

Full details on the national scheme can be found here.

Penalty Fares apply across the entire Merseyrail network. This is shown on the map here.

You may be issued a Penalty Fare if you:

• Travel without a valid ticket or pass for the whole journey you are making.
• Are unable to produce the correct Railcard for a discounted ticket you have bought.
• Are aged 16 or over and travel on a child ticket.
• Travel beyond the destination on your ticket or on a train service where your ticket is not valid.
• Travel during peak times (06:31 – 09:29 Monday – Friday, excluding bank holidays) with an off-peak ticket.
• Do not print a ticket purchased through an online third-party retailer (e.g. Trainline) before travelling.
• Were unable to buy a ticket at the station where your journey began and are changing trains at a station where there is a ticket office or ticket vending machine close to the platform, and you didn’t buy or collect a ticket before boarding a train and completing your journey.

Our customers have told us that it is important to them that all passengers travelling on our network pay the correct fare for their journey, and we agree.

Few of us want to pay more for our tickets because some people avoid paying. The loss of income, due to people travelling without tickets, also reduces the money available to invest in a better rail service.

Full details of the National Penalty Fare Scheme legislation can be found here.

In these circumstances the officer who stops you will ask you some questions to understand why you do not have a valid ticket and will decide what happens next. Ultimately, you are responsible for ensuring that you purchase a ticket that is valid for your entire journey before travelling, otherwise you may have to pay a Penalty Fare.

Merseyrail is responsible for ensuring that the facility to purchase a ticket is available.

No. Unless there is clear sign on display at the ticket office telling you to pay at your destination you must have a valid pass or ticket before you board a train.

If you board a train without a valid ticket or pass you may have to pay a Penalty Fare. If it is proven that you were trying to avoid paying, then you are breaking the criminal law and you may be prosecuted.

Payment can be made online with a credit/debit card by visiting www.merseyrail.org/paymynotice, or with a credit/debit card by calling 0151 434 4535. We also accept postal orders sent to Merseyrail Electrics 2002 Ltd, P.O. Box 6576, Liverpool, L69 1XZ.

You can appeal to the independent appeals body called Penalty Services. To do this you should visit www.penaltyservices.co.uk/make-an-appeal/ or write to: 

Penalty Services

PO Box 1258

KING'S LYNN

PE30 9GJ  

When you contact them, you should make clear why you are making your appeal.

Penalty Services follows a National Code of Practice when it considers appeals. It will consider all the facts you set out in your appeal to them and will let you know the outcome in writing.

If the Ticket Vending Machines doesn’t sell the ticket you need, you should buy a ticket to the nearest staffed ticket office, where your single ticket will be exchanged for the one you need.

You will receive a reminder letter telling you of the outstanding penalty owed. An admin fee will be applied if the penalty fare is not paid within 21 days.

If you travel on the railway and try to avoid  paying your fare then you may be prosecuted under criminal law. The current maximum penalty upon conviction is a £1,000 fine and/or three months in prison.

No. A Penalty Fare is simply an increased fare which may be issued under the Penalty Fare Rules and Regulations because you have not followed the ticket rules in place on our network.