I am looking to move from Finance (also hold Finance qualifications) into Revenue Protection. What crossovers are there?

So I currently hold finance qualifications, and have spent a few years doing corporate work in offices, but have never personally enjoyed it. I have always found Revenue Protection exciting with the investigation side of work, and working onboard train services.

Plus opportunities in a Train Operating Company seem more appealing in comparison to corporate, especially when it comes to progression, having stability, and varied work. Additionally, the benefits are great with Union support, internal job board, and other personal perks. And the sense of belonging too, which is never something I have found during my corporate career.

How can I find crossover skills into Revenue and still make use of my finance background? During uni, my favourite module was Audit and studying how finance institutions prevent fraud and the legislation surrounding this, which is where I think my fascination with Revenue comes from.

Good afternoon,

That's great to hear you're interested in shifting your career towards the railway and particularly to Revenue Protection. There are typically two sides to this; one on board our trains physically checking tickets (a Revenue Protection Assistant/Inspector), and the other more of an office-based investigative type role (a Revenue Investigator). The key responsibilities of each are as follows:

Revenue Protection Assistant

• Ensuring passengers hold the correct ticket for their journey, fairly dealing with situations and minimising fare evasion - this will often mean selling the ticket to the customer, but also requires skill and tact to take the right decision as to when to issue a Penalty Fare Notice or take other action
• Interacting with customers at stations and on trains checking their tickets and dealing with any queries they may have about their journey
• Holding knowledge about not only the customer's journey, but also about key destinations and attractions (this will naturally grow over time)

Revenue Protection Inspector

• Uphold the railway byelaws and work by them
• Issue Penalty Fares to customers where appropriate, following the Railways (Penalty Fares) Regulations 2022
• Conduct interviews under caution where fraud or fare evasion is suspected or has been detected, in line with police and criminal evidence act 1984 (PACE) legislation
• To compile documentary evidence and, where necessary, present your evidence in court
• Write clear and accurate reports in accordance with PACE
• Detect and prevent fraudulent travel within the rail network.

Revenue Investigator

• Supporting in delivery of the Revenue Protection and Counter-Fraud Strategy
• Conducting reactive investigations to both the criminal and civil standards of proof, which will include obtaining witness statements and conducting interviews under caution as well as case file preparation
• Complying with the Police And Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) and the Criminal Procedures Investigations Act 1996
• Participating in Revenue Protection and Fraud Intelligence gathering activities
• Participating in proactive fraud prevention exercises on trains and at stations and within the wider workplace
• Being involved in initiatives and investigations which aim to prevent, mitigate, deter, and detect prolific fare evasion and fraud that impacts upon the business
• Being responsible for ensuring that evidence is lawfully and securely gathered during an investigation and champion compliance with criminal investigative legislation, so that loss can be safely recovered.

We also have Revenue Protection Management roles, which essentially cover all of the above but with added leadership responsibilities.

Both GWR and SWR recruit for these role types and all our latest vacancies can always be found on the job search page of our careers site - in fact there's a Revenue Protection Inspector role being advertised with GWR right now.

I hope this information helps you to identify the area of Revenue Protection within the railway that best fits your skills and interest.

Hi Alex, this is fantastic! Thank you for all of this detailed information. What transferable skills do you believe there could be from Finance into this role?

For Reveneue Investigator and RPI, what percentage of time is in the office, and what percentage is out on the trains?

The role of Revenue Investigator is an office-based role, whereas working as a Revenue Protection Inspector you'd be predominantly on board our trains.

Of the two, Revenue Investigator is likely to be the role with the most crossover to Finance, given both the investigative and strategic nature of the role, however holding the knowledge from a Finance background could only be a benefit to the RPI role as well, such as legislative information and the understanding of revenue protection principles.

What you could do is, if you're ever on board one of our trains, politely approach one of our RPIs and ask them for some insight into their role. Whilst of course they will be working, assuming they're not in the middle of anything they would happily take a few minutes to answer any questions you have.