'I'll crack down on fare dodgers and barrier jumpers', says Lib Dem London mayor prospect

A politician vying to take Lord Sadiq Khan on at the next mayoral election has pledged to crackdown on fare dodgers and barrier jumpers on London’s transport network.Sarah Olney, in the running to be the Liberal Democrat candidate for the 2028 election, said she would carry out a review to “reveal the true scale of fare evasion” in the capital if elected.The MP for Richmond Park said she would also install “more secure gates” in a bid to make it harder for travel cheats to break through the barrier and use London’s public transport without paying.She accused Lord Khan, the Labour Mayor of London, of being “asleep at the wheel on fare dodging”.“Leaving gates open and unstaffed is a kick in the teeth for the vast majority of Londoners who are forced to pay the bill for those cheating the system,” said Mrs Olney.“As mayor, I would commission an independent review to reveal the true scale of fare evasion and pilot new, more secure gates to get a grip on the issue.”Barrier jumpers costs Transport for London between £190m-£210m annuallyChannel 5Mrs Olney has demanded an independent audit of how the network estimates fare evasion as part of a six-point plan to reduce fare dodging.She claimed the problem is particularly bad on the tram network, across the neighbourhoods of Croydon, Sutton and Wimbledon.Transport for London (TfL) has insisted it is working towards meeting its target of an evasion rate of no more than 1.5%. Currently, people bumping the barriers cost the network between £190m-£210m per year.During the stunt, during which Mr Jenrick said he was threatened with a knife by one of the alleged offenders, the former Cabinet minister stated that he saw eight police officers ignoring the problem and that the ticket barriers were left open.One TfL employee was seen in the footage sitting in a booth with his feet up, appearing to scroll through a phone.Mrs Olney has called on officials to pilot taller gates at the 20 stations on London’s network with the highest evasion rates, using funding from the Department for Transport’s £33m gate line programme announced in the summer.Lord Sadiq Khan has yet to declare whether he will seek a fourth term as Mayor of LondonPAIn July, Lord Khan confirmed that TfL would monitor the performance of new-style ticket barriers at High Wycombe to “better understand their effectiveness in deterring fare evasion and improving revenue protection outcomes”.Read MoreThe Libs Dems came third – 70 votes ahead of the Green Party – in the last mayoral election in 2024, with 5.8% share of the vote. Lord Khan won decisively with 43.8% of the vote, leaving Tory candidate Susan Hall lagging behind in second with just under a third of all votes cast.Mrs Olney is one of two politicians so far in competition for the 2028 Lib Dem candidacy, after confirming her intention to run in September.Robie Blackie, who represented the party in 2024, announced last month that he would be seeking the party’s backing.“At the last election, as mayoral candidate, I beat the Greens, the first time we had done this in a Mayoral election since 2008,” said Mr Blackie on Instagram.“We can do better in 2028 – but it will need a bold campaign, focused on fixing London’s police and on cheaper housing.”It comes as Sir James Cleverly, who is bidding to be the Tory candidate for mayor, said he can beat Labour at the next contest.Conservative members in London have been given a final shortlist of three candidates from which to choose.They are Sir James, Westminster councillor Festus Akinbusoye and former Richmond Park and North Kingston parliamentary candidate Sara Gezdari.Voting opened on Monday, with the ballot running until November 18.