Train passengers caught without a ticket should be given a “yellow card” warning instead of a fine for a first offence, a watchdog says.
Transport Focus has urged all operators in Britain to introduce the system to “make things fairer for everyone”.
The suggestion comes after the media highlighted a number of cases where passengers were being prosecuted over small amounts of money.
One of those was engineering graduate Sam Williamson, who told the Sky News Money blog back in October that he had been threatened with prosecution by Northern Rail after he mistakenly bought an invalid £3.65 ticket using his 16-25 railcard.
The full price of the ticket was £5.50 – £1.85 more.
Mr Williamson used the ticket to board a train just after 7am, not realising that under the fine print of the railcard terms his ticket was invalid. A minimum fare of £12 applies to any ticket bought with a railcard before 10am.
Northern dropped its action against him following media coverage.
Industry body the Rail Delivery Group previously estimated that around £240m is lost through fare evasion on Britain’s railways each year.
Other approaches suggested by Transport Focus to tackle the issue include introducing a digital database of railcards.
This would enable ticket inspectors to check a passenger’s eligibility for a discount if they say their railcard has been forgotten or cannot be loaded on a phone.
The watchdog also wants increased measures to collect fares – such as secure, proper barriers at stations – so passengers know they will be asked to produce a valid ticket at the start and end of their journey, as well as during it.
Natasha Grice, director for rail at Transport Focus, said: “We understand and support the principle that all users of rail should be paying for their ticket, but we want to make sure that passengers who make an innocent mistake aren’t punished unfairly.
“There are some things that the industry could do now to make things better, and our research tells us that if the railway is to build trust and confidence, an improved approach to revenue protection is needed.
“Recouping this money could help boost investment in services, making things better for passengers.”
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In November, the Department for Transport ordered regulator the Office of Rail and Road to carry out an independent review of rail fare prosecutions and enforcement.
It came after more than 28,000 prosecutions brought by Northern Rail and TransPennine Express were quashed, being declared unlawful.
Both firms apologised at the time and said they were “committed to ensuring that all our customers are treated fairly, which means ensuring all passengers who board our trains have a valid ticket”.
