(Image: Lauren Hurley/PA Wire)
ScotRail has made over £250,000 from customers in three months after introducing £10 minimum-fare tickets designed to crack down on fare-dodging, while staff have pocketed thousands in commission.ScotRail introduced minimum fare tickets to reduce evasion, which the operator says costs Scotland’s Railway more than £11 million each year, on July 1, 2026.
For the past few months, passengers who deliberately board a train without a valid ticket have paid a flat £10 minimum fare, often far exceeding the standard cost of a short journey.
No additional fee applies when a journey already costs more than £10, though ScotRail says passengers must still buy before boarding to qualify for any discounted fares.
In response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request submitted by The Herald, ScotRail said it issued 26,856 Minimum Fare tickets between July 1 and September 29, 2026, generating £268,560.
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In the same FOI, ScotRail confirmed conductors receive a 5% commission on ticket sales made through their onboard devices, while ticket examiners and gateline staff receive 3%.
Staff also earn 2p for every QR-coded ticket or smartcard scanned, a payment introduced as part of a 2022 pay deal.
The vast majority of £10 minimum fares have been issued by gateline staff, ticket examiners, and revenue protection officers who receive 3% commission, resulting in thousands of pounds.
Passengers queue for a train in Glasgow (Image: NQ)
Phil Campbell, ScotRail Operations Director, said: “We have consistently said the success of our £10 minimum fare policy will be measured by the number of customers who buy the correct ticket before boarding, not by the number of minimum fares issued.
“We will continue to make customers aware of the requirement to hold a valid ticket before boarding, while ensuring appropriate exemptions remain in place for anyone who is unable to purchase a ticket because facilities are unavailable, or because of accessibility, safeguarding, or other exceptional circumstances.
“The minimum fare policy has been a resounding success with 2.8million more journeys being bought before customers get on board and it’s right our staff are incentivised for helping reduce ticketless travel on the railway.
“We will continue to focus on the small number of people who don't buy a ticket before they travel, ensuring fairness for honest, fare-paying ScotRail customers."
The publicly owned rail operator said staff do not receive bonuses or incentives linked to fare enforcement, penalty-style notices or revenue protection activity.
ScotRail also said it monitors conductors against performance measures, including revenue generated, ticket scans completed, and services worked, compared with depot averages. However, it added that these measures are used "to support staff and monitor onboard activity and do not directly affect commission payments."
When announcing the measures, ScotRail said that staff will "retain discretion when applying the new charge, and customers who can only pay in cash will be able to obtain a ‘promise to pay’ ticket from a vending machine before boarding." It added that staff will be trained to "distinguish between deliberate evasion and genuine mistakes."
ScotRail said the incentive scheme has not changed, and the instruction to customers to buy their tickets before boarding has been in place for almost 30 years.
Revenue protection has been strengthened since ScotRail returned to public ownership in 2022, including introducing dedicated Revenue Protection Officers (RPO) and improving tools for frontline staff.
The RPO team recovers around £2million a year that would otherwise be lost, and as a result, ticketless travel has reduced from 8.8% in April 2022 to its current level of 2.63%.
In its most recent accounts, ScotRail noted that "Ticketless travel reduced to below four per cent, generating an additional 26.3million in passenger revenue. Ensuring ScotRail customers pay for their journey is key to minimising taxpayer support."
In the same accounts, the operator reported 11 per cent year-on-year growth in passenger revenue to £362.4 million. This was complemented by £17.9 million in ancillary revenue from station access, train maintenance, commission, and car park income.
In recent months, ScotRail has faced backlash to its newly developed ticketing The app, launched on July 30, was marred by issues and hundreds of customer complaints on switchover day, when the existing app stopped working at 12pm.
Beyond the official complaints, The Herald reported that thousands of customers said they couldn't reset their passwords to access the new app.
Months later, we reported that ticket purchases were failing, but pending transactions still appeared on customers' accounts.
A contract notice revealed in August shows thatScotRail Trains Limited awarded a nine-year contract valued at £83,763,400 to SilverRail Technologies to 'provide a website, app and ticket vending machines powered by a single centralised ticket issuing system as well as a new ticket issuing system for on-train mobile ticket sales and ticket office ticket sales'.
The Herald revealed last month that ScotRail has forecast more than £31 million in operating expenditure for the new systems over the next six years, as part of a wider modernisation programme targeting £26.5m in savings.