A TRAIN firm has issued over 100 penalty fines between Leeds and York in a clampdown on fare evaders.

Over the course of its ‘period of action’ last month, Northern issued more than 100 penalty notices, completed 70 ‘travel incident reports’ and spoke to more than 10,000 rail users between the cities.

Mark Powles, customer and commercial director at Northern, said: “Everyone has a duty to buy a ticket before they travel – and I hope this spotlight on the Leeds to York route will act as a deterrent to those who feel the rules don’t apply to them.

“Northern is making it easier than ever to buy a ticket for travel by investing in the largest network of digital ticket infrastructure of any train operator in the country.

"Customers can buy tickets from our app, the website, ticket offices or one of more than 600 ticket machines across the network. There really is no excuse.”

The journey between the West and North Yorkshire cities varies from between 30 and 75 minutes depending on the number of calling points.

The ‘period of action’ was carried out on Northern services between Leeds and York that call at Cross Gates, Garforth, East Garforth, Micklefield, Church Fenton and UllesKelf.