East Midlands Railway (EMR) has warned passengers that they could face a £100 fine if they don’t have enough battery power left on their phone to show e-tickets and railcards.

EMR says it has no way to distinguish between passengers who have genuinely lost power and those who are deliberately attempting to avoid paying for their train fare.

The rail company says gate staff “often have access to phone chargers” and may ask customers to charge their phones in order to show their tickets – or to buy another one.

Neil Grabham, customer services director at EMR, said: “Customers not only have a duty to buy a tickets before they board one of our trains – but also they must be able to present it for inspection.

“Some fraudulent travellers think they can avoid paying for an e-ticket by pretending they bought one and then informing EMR staff that their phone has no charge when challenged. This excuse won’t work and if the phone cannot be charged, EMR enforcement officers will issue penalty fares.

“The majority of our trains provide customers the opportunity to charge their phones, while many of our gatelines have chargers available as needed.

“For the railway to successfully operate, improve, and secure investment, fares need to be paid for and if you choose to deliberately avoid paying for a tickets you should expect to receive a £100 penalty fare. Don’t risk it, buy a ticket.”

You can read the full update from EMR here.

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