Transport for Wales spends £800,000 annually on contracted ticket inspectors to gain back just £80,000 on average in fines, a Freedom of Information request has revealed.
Though Transport for Wales (TfW) states the fines do not include tickets which would not have otherwise been bought, the transport organisation does not record this information.
This comes after a concerned passenger spotted multiple uniformed revenue staff loitering on trains.
Avery Rowe, the Machynlleth resident who submitted the Freedom of Information (FoI) request, said: “Their response suggests they spend ten times what they make back which is ridiculous.
“In the last couple of months I've seen groups of staff with ‘revenue protection’ logos on their uniforms get onto trains, stand around looking important for a few stops, and then get off again.
“It is a waste of hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayer money on employees who simply babysit conductors and intimidate passengers.
“It serves no purpose except to make passengers feel persecuted.”
The FoI request revealed TfW spends £793,000 annually on revenue protection services, whilst in the 2024 financial year these services recovered £76,513, and £39,888 so far in 2025.
Despite TfW stating the figures don’t account for the tickets that otherwise would not have been bought, a Cambrian News FoI request revealed they ‘do not record’ that information.
Avery has since launched a Senedd petition to ‘stop wasting taxpayers money‘.
A TfW spokesperson explained the loitering staff may have been travelling to or from their shifts.
They added that fines are “only one part” of revenue protection services, also staffing stations at major events and “targeting stations for commuters and students to make sure people are travelling with valid tickets”.
The spokesperson added: “Revenue lost through ticketless travel is estimated to cost TfW more than £10m every year.
“We’ve put a number of measures in place to reduce this, including through the use of Transport Investigations Ltd (TIL), who use a wide range of approaches to help protect revenue.
“Revenue losses from ticketless travel are generally down across the network, with TIL's activity one of a number of contributory factors.
“Every percentage point reduction in ticketless travel across the network equates to just under £2m in additional revenue protected.