Serial fare dodgers should be banned from the Tube, according to Tory politician Susan Hall.
The leader of the City Hall Conservatives said the scale of fare dodging was at “horrific” levels – and called for tougher penalties for persistent offenders.
She questioned how Transport for London calculated its loss from evasion to be only £130m a year, saying this was likely to be an underestimate.
It came as London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan also came under pressure over Tube fare rises that could result in a cumulative increase of 27 per cent over the next five years, according to his critics.
The mayor admitted that the fare rises would be “challenging” for Londoners because of the cost-of-living crisis.
Ms Hall, speaking during a London Assembly meeting on transport, told Sir Sadiq and TfL commissioner Andy Lord of the daily “frustration” of commuting by Tube.
She said: “Every single day without fail we see people rushing through the barriers, getting up close behind us so they can come through the barriers with us.
“If you come to the station [nearest to City Hall], Royal Victoria DLR, you hardly see anybody tapping out or tapping in. If you stand and watch it, you will be as horrified as I am.”
Ms Hall, a former Tory mayoral candidate and frequent user of the Metropolitan and Jubilee lines, added: “Fare evasion is so frustrating when we pay our fares to go on the Underground.
“Anybody who is on the trains would think that £130m is an underestimate. We see [fare dodging] all the time, everywhere, and it’s very frustrating.
“When we get people who are serial fare dodgers, is there any way we can stop them using the Underground at all?
“We have got frustrated commuters because they can see everybody cheating the system.
“They are sitting there surrounded by graffiti on many occasions. None of us want to be sitting there, paying our fares in a filthy carriage with graffiti all around.”
She added: “It’s so frustrating – and the public really want you to do something about it.”
The extent of fare evasion on the capital’s transport network was highlighted by Tory shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick, who posted a video showing what happened when he challenged fare dodgers at Stratford station.
At the same time, TfL’s success in apprehending some fare evaders has been seen in a TV documentary.
Sir Sadiq said TfL used CCTV cameras, information from the ticket barriers and artificial intelligence to target fare dodgers, including those who “tail-gated” fellow passengers.
He said that, in relation to “habitual law-breakers”, TfL had reported 18,000 passengers to a specialist prosecution team.
In some cases, court orders were obtained requiring people who had used “dodgy” season tickets to repay the evaded fares.
Mr Lord said 63,000 penalty notices for fare evasion were issued last year – and an additional 18,000 cases were subject to further investigation.
Last month The Standard revealed that Sir Sadiq is under orders to increase TfL fares by the RPI rate of inflation plus one per cent as a condition of the £2.2bn Government grant received by TfL in the most recent comprehensive spending review.
Tory assembly member Neil Garratt said the Government edict would result in “five years of inflation-busting fare rises” for passengers.
He asked the mayor: “It’s five years of cumulative inflation-busting fare rises. At the current rate of inflation, that would be 27 per cent over five years. Do you think Londoners can afford those kind of fare increases?”
Sir Sadiq said: “I think it is going to be a challenge, in terms of the cost-of-living crisis.”
He said the Labour government had done “exactly what the previous [Tory] government did”, in terms of requiring him to increase fares by the RPI rate of inflation plus one per cent.
Sir Sadiq said he would decide later this year on changes to fares from next March. He pointed out that in the most recent fares increase, he had been able to freeze bus fares and the cost of travelling on the Croydon tram.
“We know it’s important to try and encourage people to use public transport,” Sir Sadiq said. “We also know it’s important to help Londoners through the cost-of-living crisis.
“I’m well aware of the challenges Londoners face with the cost-of-living crisis, but I’m also well aware of the challenges caused to TfL where trains and roads need maintenance renewal and critical pieces of work being done to them.”
