Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to prevent fare evasion on the cross-city line between North Worcestershire and Birmingham.

The Department supports DfT contracted train operators to reduce both fare evasion and fraud, but fare evasion is an operational matter and the responsibility of passenger train operators.

West Midlands Trains (WMT), which operates the cross-city line, like most train operators, have a multi-faceted strategy for revenue protection which includes ticket checking on train and operating gate lines effectively, as well as making it easy to buy a ticket. WMT is also in the process of recruiting additional mobile revenue protection officers who undertake ticket checking on train.