Almost 14,000 train passengers were hit with fines for failing to produce valid tickets in 2019.
Figures obtained by our sister title, the Irish Daily Star, show that Irish Rail issued 13,590 fixed payment notices to passengers who failed to produce valid tickets onboard trains in 2019.
Data for fines issued in 2020 - when capacity was reduced to as little as 25% to ensure social distancing and passengers were required to pre-book their train seats - is not yet available.
More than a third of the passengers, 37%, hit with fines in 2019 had no ticket.
Almost a fifth, 19%, of fixed payment notices were issued to passengers who failed to tag on with their Leap card and 13% of fines were issued to adults travelling with children’s tickets.
Some 12% of fines were issued to people who travelled on student tickets without valid student IDs and 4% of fines were issued to people who misused travel passes from the Department of Social Protection.
Fines were also issued to passengers travelling with out-of-date tickets, misusing annual tickets, misusing leap cards and travelling with invalid tickets.
Irish Rail refused to disclose how much revenue was generated by fixed payment notices in 2019 for commercial sensitivity reasons.
Passengers who cannot produce a valid ticket when requested to do so by an authorised officer may be issued with a Fixed Payment Notice.
In order to avoid a court appearance and the possibility of receiving a criminal conviction, the passenger may pay a fine of €100 plus the unpaid fare.
The Fixed Payment option is only available for a period of 21 days as set out in the Railway Safety Act.
If the fine is not paid within that period, a summons will issue and legal costs will be incurred.
A person prosecuted in the District Court under the Railway Safety Act 2005 faces a fine of up to €1,000 on conviction as well as legal costs if convicted.
