In her first appearance before the Transport Select Committee, Louise Haigh said: “We have seen egregious examples of fare prosecutions and whilst fare evasion is totally unacceptable, and we continue to pursue it, we need to be clear that where people have made genuine mistakes they shouldn’t be prosecuted.”

The way firms deal with fare evasion will be examined amid concern about how passengers are treated.

Government orders review into train fare prosecutions - Transport Secretary Louise Haigh announced on Wednesday that regulator the Office of Rail and Road will analyse how suspected fare evasion is handled.