Tram fare evasion cost network nearly £90,000

Passengers who did not pay their fares for Supertram journeys in Sheffield cost the network nearly £90,000 in the past year.

About 1% of all Supertram passengers did not pay the fare - with some people deliberately dodging payment while others were not seen by a conductor before getting off the tram, according to South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA).

The authority took over ownership of Supertram in March 2024.

South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard said: "Fare evasion is about 1% of passengers and is costing the network about £1,700 a week, which is right down from what it was."

The network was previously run by Stagecoach before it returned to public ownership.

The combined authority said it did not have any figures on fare evasion before the takeover, but that the level was low compared to other tram and train networks across the country.

New ticket machines had also helped tackle the problem, the authority said.

A SYMCA spokesperson said: "There are two types of non-payment, one where someone deliberately avoids paying and one where, on a short journey, the conductor may not have time to reach the passenger on a busy tram before they have to leave at their tram stop.

"Since taking the trams back under public control, while the number of conductors has remained at similar levels, we have introduced new handheld ticket machines for our conductors to speed up the taking of payments and checking passes.

"Using these, they can reach more customers and log the number of instances where someone deliberately does not pay their fare."

They said the network was also looking at improving mobile and online payment options.

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