GREATER Anglia received more than £4million in fines last year.

The firm says it issued a staggering 54,000 penalty fares to passengers in 2021 due to them having either the incorrect ticket or none at all.

Fraudsters were also targeted, with a common occurrence seeing adult passengers purchasing a child’s ticket.

Last year, Greater Anglia was awarded £1.79m by magistrates following successful prosecutions of fare dodgers and fraudsters.

A further £1.63m was claimed via direct fines issued to passengers.

Greater Anglia’s fraud team meanwhile uncovered £451,184.16 in fraudulent delay repay claims, where passengers had claimed delay repay compensation for journeys they hadn’t made.

Passengers were asked to pay back the money they had fraudulently claimed with no further action taken.

Failure to do so led to a referral to British Transport Police and legal action.

Kim Bucknell, Greater Anglia’s head of revenue protection, said: “People not paying for their journeys or fraudulently claiming delay repay compensation or refunds for journeys they haven’t made are effectively stealing from Greater Anglia.

“It’s not acceptable – it’s the equivalent of going into your local supermarket and either not paying for your shopping or only paying for some of it.

“The railway is now funded by the Government – and ultimately the taxpayer – so not paying for a ticket or making a false delay repay claim is effectively stealing from other taxpayers “Not paying fares and making fraudulent claims means there is less money available to keep the railway running and improving for everyone – which could result in fares going up higher or other implications.”