By Thomas Turrell AM

Recently I visited Stratford, where six months ago the Shadow Minster Robert Jenrick exposed to the country the scale of unconfronted fare dodging on the London Underground.

The purpose of my visit was to discuss fare evasion, ahead of the launch of my report examining the £190 million criminal practice, retreading the steps of the viral video this last Summer that laid bare to Britain what we in London have known for years: that the Mayor, and TfL, simply do not have a grip on fare dodging.

I’m ashamed to say that even despite assurances from the Mayor; despite TfL making performative crackdowns after Jenrick’s viral video; and despite promises that the issue would be dealt with, I still saw fare evasion happening before my very eyes.

Fare evasion occurs on roughly 3.4% of the more than three billion journeys made on the London Underground each year, TfL estimates.

Those 100 million or so journeys account for around £190 million worth of lost revenue that we, the........

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