Forgot to tap out when leaving the tram? You’ve helped TfGM earn millions
We reveal just how much the public transport body receives from fining travellers who make this all-too-easy mistake
Dear readers — on Thursday evening we joined our colleagues from Birmingham and Liverpool and hopped on a train down to London for the British Journalism Awards, which is sort of like the Oscars, if Leonardo DiCaprio was starring in a film about Exempt Accommodation. At the ceremony, our multi-part investigation was highly commended by the judges who called it “forensic reporting drawing threads together from three cities to create a powerful expose of exploitation and corruption”.
But enough about us! Today’s briefing reveals just how much Transport for Greater Manchester is earning from passengers who forget to tap their cards when they step off the tram (spoiler: it’s in the low seven figures per year). Plus, an update on transport workers’ planned strike action, and which former Manchester City striker has just been elected president of Georgia?
ICYMI: Our weekend read explored the complicated legacy of Ahmed Iqbal Ullah, the 13-year-old schoolboy in Burnage who died at the hands of his schoolmate Darren Coulborn. “Ahmed’s tragedy held water for a national political narrative, but not so much for the story of an Asian boy who was known to stand up to violence and taunting, for which he paid the ultimate price,” writes Jothi Gupta.
🎁 An update for those of you who have been biting your nails and anxiously waiting for us to switch tech platforms and launch our discounted gift subscriptions. Unfortunately, we found out this morning that — due to technical complications — we won’t be making the move until January. We're really sorry if that has thrown a spanner in the works for you — we did everything we could but it just wasn't possible. We still want to offer a deal for those buying presents, so instead if you buy a gift subscription for someone, we’ll give you three months of your own Mill subscription totally free of charge (if you're a paying member, we'll extend the renewal of your current subscription by three months, and if not we'll just set up a three-month free membership for you). Hit the button below to buy a gift subscription and our tech wizards will do the hard bit behind the scenes. Questions, annoyances, complaints, just email us.
Editor’s note: In 2025, we’ll be celebrating five years since Joshi founded The Mill from a flat in Chorlton, hoping to do something different in local journalism. Since then, we’ve expanded to five other cities, hired over 20 journalists, have been highly commended in the British Journalism Awards and even fought off a legal threat from the mayor’s nighttime economy adviser, nightlife czar Sacha Lord. A huge thanks to our paying subscribers who have allowed us to grow so much, we’re forever grateful for your support. If you’d like to be part of The Mill’s growth story in the next five years, just hit the button below to join.
🌦️ This week’s weather
Tuesday ☁️ Cloudy and breezy with rain moving in towards the evening. 11°C.
Wednesday 🌦️ Windy and mild with shivery spells of rain. 13°c.
Thursday 🌦️ Colder with bright spells and showers. 7°C.
Friday 🌦️ Mostly cloudy and chilly with occasional showers. 7°C.
Weekend 🌦️ Turning milder but Remaining changeable as low pressure dominates.
We get our weekly forecast from Manchester Weather.
Your briefing
💰 Have you ever been guilty of forgetting to tap out when you leave the tram? You’ve probably been charged a £4.60 incomplete journey fare for this common mistake. But how much is TfGM earning from charging these fares? According to a Freedom of Information request submitted by The Mill, in the last three years, the local government body has issued 2,222,718 charges for incomplete journeys and received £10,224,503 in income as a result (before discretionary refunds). When it comes to penalty fares, which are issued when a customer is travelling without a valid ticket, in the last three years, TfGM has issued 852,586 and received £4,668,144 in income. Fines for riding without a valid ticket were increased from £100 to £120 in 2023, and in that year, TfGM enjoyed a big increase in income, a rise from £1,607,895 in 2022 to £2,033,429 in 2023.
🚌 TfGM strike update: The Mill understands that planned strike action has been suspended following a revised offer from TfGM that came after a long meeting on Friday afternoon between Unite, Unison, Andy Burnham, TfGM’s managing director Steve Warrener and chief executive Caroline Simpson. Around 500 transport workers started strike action on Thursday 12 December over poor pay, long hours and parental policies that fall way behind what Transport for London offers its transport workers. Unison and Unite members will meet this afternoon to discuss the offer, then ask their members to vote for or against accepting the offer in a ballot that ends this Sunday. Warrener said in a statement to The Mill: “Following further discussions, we’re pleased that unions have agreed to pause all industrial action and put the latest pay offer to a member ballot”, adding that he’s “hopeful” that the transport body and the strikers can reach an agreement. If striking transport workers vote to reject the offer, this could cause political embarrassment for Burnham, who plans to launch the third and final stage of bringing buses back into public control on 5 January, bringing us closer to having a London-style transport system (strike action is currently planned throughout the first two weeks of the new year). We’ll have an update on the outcome of the ballot next week.
Correction 17/12/2024: A previous version of this edition said that 200 transport workers were striking. We understand this number pertains to Unite members, and does not include Unison members also on strike. We apologise for the error.
Quick hits
📻 File on 4 investigates an “international student scandal”, with an anonymous Russell Group lecturer telling them: “The clear majority of seminar groups that I’ve taught to over the last four to five years do not have the requisite English language skills to be able to manage in a way that one would traditionally expect”. Go deeper with our reporting on this topic, Is the University of Manchester letting down its overseas students?
🍃 Simon Rimmer, celebrity chef and owner of The Greens restaurant franchise, which operated in Sale and Didsbury, owes nearly half a million pounds to creditors, according to a document filed on Companies House by administrator Begbies Traynor. We’ve got a story about why The Greens really closed in the works — if you know more, get in touch with Mollie.
📥 Mikheil Kavelashvili, a former Manchester City striker “known for his strongly anti-western, often conspiratorial views”, has been voted the new president of Georgia.
🧑⚖️ A coroner has ruled that Demi Agoglia, a 26-year-old from Salford who died after a “frankly barbaric” butt lift procedure in Turkey, did not give informed consent.
Home of the week
This two-bedroom Victorian terrace in Didsbury has an extended kitchen, converted loft room and is within walking distance from Didsbury Village. £475,000.
Our favourite reads
Drones, honeytraps and trespassing: the murky world of corporate espionage — The Times
Following claims of “sustained, intimidating and intrusive surveillance by private investigators” from Boohoo’s former chief executive John Lyttle, The Times took a broader look at the world of corporate espionage. Lyttle had been followed by investigators in Manchester, Boohoo’s co-founder alleged to have been assaulted by one, and a drone was flown over the company’s Manchester HQ to keep tabs on those inside. Why? Well, Boohoo’s board is currently mired in a dispute about who should be the new boss after Lyttle’s departure.
A government advisor wrote a libel against London. Why did we believe it? — The Londoner
Our sister paper in London took a critical view of This is London, a book written by Ben Judah, a journalist and more recently influential advisor to foreign secretary David Lammy. The book received top reviews from national newspapers back in 2016, which is a bit of a concern if you actually read it. Throughout, Judah dehumanises his subjects, describing “Polish meatheads”, “surly Afghans” and “frazzled Jamaican bums”. “The combined weight of the implausible quotes, invented details and ugly stereotyping in This Is London points to something far more disturbing,” write Joshi Herrmann and Andrew Kearsley, “that a young journalist set out to write a racialised, stereotyped fantasy of a dystopian London”
‘Some see religion – others porn’: Louise Giovanelli on the paintings that made Manchester hot — The Guardian
The artist Louise Giovanelli, who grew up in Monmouth, in Wales, is “at the forefront of a new movement of painters who refuse to bow to industry pressure,” to stay in the capital. She works as part of a like-minded group of artists called the “Ardwick realists”. She tells the Guardian how she got art dealers up into the north, despite bigger galleries down south warning her it would never work. “Manchester is having a moment,” she says. “There’s a zeitgeist that has been happening over the last five years...”
Our to do list
Tuesday
⛪ Manchester Cathedral is hosting an evening of Christmas carols, in support of lonely and isolated adults. The evening is in collaboration with Home Instead, a dementia charity. There will be performances from Sale Grammar School and Sing Space Choir. Book here.
🎄 Get Up and Grow, a community organisation in north Greater Manchester, is putting on a Christmas wreath-making workshop in Rochdale. It’s from 1-3pm. Book here.
Wednesday
🔊 Ramona Radio, hosted at the eponymous bar and pizza kitchen on Swan Street, is hosting “two of the reigning heavyweights of Manchester underground music”: Chimpo and Strategy. Starting 7pm, more info here.
🧀 Move fast if you want a spot at Oat and Honey’s cheese and wine tasting session, in Monton. You’ll taste six wines with accompanying cheeses. These evenings tend to sell out quick. Book here.
Thursday
🥘 We recommend a festive midweek lunch at the Refuge, especially if you can get a spot in the winter garden. The menu includes Manchester gin-cured salmon, Great North Pie Co’s keema pies and beef fat mashed potatoes. More here.
🤣 Coachload of Comedy is Wilmslow’s longest-standing comedy night, now in its twentieth year. Its Christmas special is going to be at Coach and Four, on Alderly Road. Starts 8pm, book here.
hello
thing you may find interesting
1 On Saturday 21 december 12.30-2.30 st edmunds church, rochdale is hosting a free singing and goodies round the piano with members of \Cantare ( rochdale ladies choir)the church is a grade 1 listed church built for £4million by a wealthy free mason and now kept going by volunteers ( its deconsecrated) and its superb to look at and only open two days/month
I don’t have an issue with TfGM fining people for travelling without a ticket, especially given it (largely) goes back into ensuring the service works.
I do dislike the inconsistency though, I once saw an older white couple on the tram who had clearly got confused and not tapped in. The TfGM officer informed them of their mistake and allowed them to get off and tap in at the next stop. That same officer spoke to a group of young black men on the same journey and instantly assumed that they were evading the fair on purpose and proceeded to give them all a fine.