Peter Smyth wrote:
If I have a zone 2-6 travelcard and travel from Highbury & Islington to
Richmond via the North London Line I am staying within my zones so no money
is deducted - no problem.

However if I decide to take the Victoria line then the District (going via
Zone 1) the Oystercard has no way of knowing how I got to Richmond so
presumably it cannot deduct any money in this case either.

Question: If I were to travel from Highbury to Richmond via Zone 1 on a
daily basis, knowing full well I was not being charged the correct fare, is
this fare evasion?

In that case you would appear to have both evaded your fare and
overtravelled.

Fare evasion, under Regulation of Railways Act 1889 s.5(3)(a), is
defined: "travels or attempts to travel on a railway without having
previously paid his fare and with intent to avoid payment thereof". If
you travel into zone 1 without paying for it then you have not paid the
fare for your journey.

Overtravelling, under Regulation of Railways Act 1889 s.5(3)(c), is
defined: "having paid his fare for a certain distance knowingly and
wilfully proceeds by train beyond that distance without previously
paying the additional fare for the additional distance, and with intent
to avoid payment thereof". In this case you have a ticket for zone 2-6
so when you travel into zone 1 you commit this offence because you know
that the validity of your ticket stops at the zone 1-2 boundary.

However, proving either of these offences would be difficult.
Fortunately for people who do pay their fare and don't want fares to go
up because fare evasion cuts revenues, most of the London Underground
Revenue Control Inspectors are switched on.

Your fare is not something to be paid only if you cannot avoid it - you
are using a service that costs money to provide and so you should pay
for it. If you don't want to pay your tube fare then get the bus!


Pete