WARRINGTON Central station is one of the railway stations that has announced it will be toughening up on 'chancers.'

In a new move, railway operating service Northern has announced it is implementing the latest technology in order to clamp down on 'chancers.'

Northern operates the town's Warrington Central, Warrington West, Padgate, Glazebrook, and Birchwood railway stations.

The train operator announced that its automated ticket-checking machines are about to get 'smarter' with new technology, known as 'polygraph.'

Named after a device used to test if somebody is lying in an interview, the technology will quickly and accurately check that a ticket is valid, but also alert staff if that validity requires additional checks such as presentation of the appropriate railcard.

Staff will then confirm the ticket is being used correctly, taking the necessary action if it isn’t.

Some passengers may purchase an online ticket at the price of a railcard ticket, hoping they do not have their ticket checked - the new technology aims to combat this.

In a trial at Manchester Victoria, the technology was used during a revenue protection exercise where it helped to detect 180 people in one day alone, with almost 900 caught during the full length of the trial, Northern says.

The train operator then issued 79 fines worth more than £1,500 and launched over 100 investigations into ticket irregularities.

Warrington Guardian: Northern-managed stations like Warrington Central and Birchwood are set to feature new technology to clamp down on 'chancers'Northern-managed stations like Warrington Central and Birchwood are set to feature new technology to clamp down on 'chancers' (Image: Newsquest)

Mark Powles, customer and commercial director at Northern, said: "Unfortunately, we know that a small minority of customers try to exploit the automated nature of barrier checks to travel on tickets they know they’re not eligible to use.

“The kit is very easy to install and can be deployed to known hotspots across the whole network to help tackle this fraudulent activity."

This latest update to train services in Warrington comes after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak slated the services provided at Avanti-managed stations such as Warrington Bank Quay station.