ScotRail create 42 new roles specifically to tackle ticket fraud, which they say costs them over £2m a year

The train operator is creating 42 new 'revenue protection officer' roles as it attempts to reduce ticket fraud, currently costing around £2m per year in Scotland. 

A pilot scheme using new ticket validation machines has also been taking place over the last few weeks at stations including Edinburgh Waverley, Glasgow Central, Glasgow Queen Street, Croy, High Street, Rutherglen, and Paisley Canal. 

The devices are designed to read mobile tickets and barcoded tickets as passengers pass through the ticket gates. 

Tickets are scanned and passengers who have paid the correct fare will pass through the gates as normal.  

The ticket validation devices are designed to flag up potentially invalid tickets.

Invalid tickets include those not valid for a particular journey, those where rail card conditions apply, an adult customer using a child's ticket, a customer claiming a ‘short-hop’ journey, such as Haymarket to Waverley, when they have been travelling a longer distance, and when a customer is travelling from a station that is staffed where they could have bought a ticket but chose not to. 

Head of operations for ScotRail, Phil Campbell, said: “Tackling ticket fraud has always been a priority for us.

“We are determined to drive down ticketless travel, making the rail network a safer and more secure environment for customers and colleagues alike.”