Transport for London (TfL) has announced the first results from Operation Vector, a new targeted enforcement partnership with the British Transport Police (BTP), designed to identify and stop persistent fare evaders across its network. The crackdown is part of a bold strategy to tackle fare evasion across all TfL services, with the goal of driving down the rate to below 1.5 per cent by 2030/31.
Operation Vector has already resulted in 467 people being stopped, 156 penalty fares being issued, 175 reports for possible prosecution and 24 arrests by officers for offences including fare evasion and wider criminality since it launched last month.
Operation Vector uses an intelligence-led approach and brings together plain-clothes BTP officers with Revenue Control teams and uniformed Transport Support Enforcement staff to identify and intercept persistent fare evaders who routinely push through ticket barriers. As part of the operation, officers are deployed beyond the gateline and use coordinated communications to track and stop those attempting to travel without paying.
The operation is expected to significantly increase the detection of persistent fare evaders, deter offenders and challenge the perception that people can push through barriers without consequences. By creating greater uncertainty around where and when enforcement activity is taking place, TfL aims to influence behaviour and improve compliance across the transport network.
Working closely with the BTP will also provide valuable intelligence on the links between fare evasion and wider criminality, helping TfL and its policing partners to better understand offender profiles and target resources where they can have the greatest impact.
Seb Dance, Deputy Mayor of London for Transport, said:
“Fare evasion is a criminal offence and prevents essential funds being reinvested to improve our transport network. We have a clear message for the small but persistent group of people that aren’t paying the correct fare: we will not tolerate it, and you will be held to account.
“It’s great to see our targeted enforcement work already having such positive results, supporting our wider fare evasion crackdown across the network with cutting-edge technology and intelligence-led policing. The Mayor and I will continue to support TfL in protecting these vital funds as we build a fairer, safer, better London for everyone.”
Siwan Hayward, Director of Security, Policing and Enforcement at TfL, said:
“The vast majority of our customers pay the correct fare, and it is only right that those who deliberately avoid paying are identified and held to account. Fare evasion and gate pushing creates an intimidating atmosphere for our staff and customers, and is something we are determined to tackle.
“In its first month, Operation Vector has already delivered promising results – demonstrating the value of a targeted, intelligence-led approach. By bringing together plain-clothes police officers, Revenue Control teams and our uniformed enforcement officers, we are making it harder for repeat offenders to evade detection and helping to challenge the perception that fare evasion can take place without consequences.”
BTP Chief Inspector, Daniel Rushall, said:
“We know there are several reasons why people choose to fare evade and one of those is due to their links to more serious criminality.
“In its first month, this operation has already provided us with valuable opportunities to identify and apprehend criminals and high harm offenders using London’s transport network, including the seizure of weapons and drugs.
“This is just one of many operations and strategies we have in place across the rail network to disrupt criminality. You may not realise we are there because of the nature in which we conduct some of these operations, but we are determined to hunt out criminals blighting our network, which in turn is making it a safer place, both for staff and the public.”
TfL continues to deploy enforcement teams to locations where there is a high prevalence of people forcing their way through ticket barriers, antisocial behaviour which creates an intimidating environment for both customers and staff. Enforcement tactics are varied regularly and include targeted checks at gatelines, onboard services and within stations, particularly at major transport hubs. Since April 2026, more than 2,400 individuals have been reported for barrier misuse across the network. Alongside this activity, TfL’s revenue enforcement teams have also issued more than 33,000 penalty fares and reported more than 11,000 individuals for prosecution consideration since April 2026.
This work builds on TfL’s fare evasion strategy launched in April 2025, which set out a data-led plan to halve fare evasion to 1.5 per cent or less by 2030/31. The strategy introduced expanded investigations targeting repeat offenders, strengthened enforcement across the network, and the use of advanced tools to identify evasion patterns, marking a shift to a more proactive and intelligence-led approach.
