A £10 minimum fare will be imposed on passengers who purposely board without a valid ticket.
Phil Campbell, customer operations director at ScotRail, said: “The introduction of a minimum fare will target the small number of customers who don’t buy a ticket before they travel, ensuring fairness for honest, fare-paying ScotRail passengers.
“Every pound lost through fraudulent travel is money that would have been reinvested into the railway, and we will take robust action to deal with those purposely avoiding payment.
“With more staff in place across the network, increased checks at stations, and the use of enhanced data analysis, we are reducing instances of ticket fraud year on year.
“Everyone across Scotland’s Railway will continue to work hard to ensure that everyone who uses our services pays their fair share.”
The new minimum fare will apply from July 2026, following a public awareness campaign beginning on April 1, 2026.
ScotRail estimates that fare evasion costs the network more than £11m each year.
Under the policy, anyone found to have deliberately boarded without a ticket will be charged a minimum of £10 – often more than the standard fare, especially for shorter journeys.
For example, passengers travelling from Bishopbriggs to Glasgow Queen Street – a return fare of just £3 – would be charged the £10 minimum if caught without a ticket.
No additional charge will apply if the ticket for a journey costs more than £10.
However, customers must still purchase before boarding to access discounted travel.
The scheme follows an independent review, which found that 74% of ticketless passengers had access to an open booking office, while 90% had access to a working ticket machine.
ScotRail is set to introduce a new minimum fare in a bid to educate and reduce the number of passengers who choose to travel without first buying a ticket.
Fare evasion is estimated to cost Scotland’s Railway more than £11million each year and those who purposely board without a… pic.twitter.com/Sk1Xge5Qrl
— ScotRail (@ScotRail) February 20, 2026
An education programme will run from April 2026 to July 2026 to raise public awareness, after which the minimum fare will take effect.
The policy includes exemptions for passengers with a national entitlement card, if a ticket office in a station is closed, if a station doesn’t have a ticket office or ticket vending machine, and for individuals with registered disabilities that prevent them from using ticket vending machines.
Staff will retain discretion to account for individual circumstances.
ScotRail said its revenue protection team, which already recovers an estimated £2m per year, will focus on enforcing the new minimum fare.
The operator has improved enforcement since returning to public ownership in 2022, with ticketless travel dropping from 8.8% to 3.7% since then.
Measures introduced include a dedicated channel for staff to report ticketless travel and fraud, briefing sessions and increased engagement with frontline teams, and renewed on-train mobile equipment.
Staff are trained to support customers who make genuine mistakes, and only take formal action in cases of suspected deliberate evasion.
The Scottish Government has backed the move.
Fiona Hyslop , Cabinet Secretary for Transport, said: “The recent fares freeze has been implemented to help people with the cost of living while ensuring ScotRail services are sustainable in the longer term and has been supported by Scottish Government funding.
“While around 95% of passengers already travel with a valid ticket, it is only right that ScotRail can take action against those who seek to avoid doing so.
“With a number of measures already in place, this minimum fare policy will act as a further deterrent to those who try to purposely evade paying for a ticket.
“This approach seeks to protect the significant investment being made in Scotland’s Railways, while also allowing for a period of customer education regarding the new policy.”
