Thousands of people across the district boarding trains without tickets could face £10 fines under plans to crack down on fare dodgers.

West Yorkshire's first penalty fares scheme will begin on the Airedale and Wharfedale services between Skipton, Forster Square, Bradford and Leeds in September, if approved by the Office of the Rail Regulator.

Targeting fare dodgers, who are estimated to cost Northern Spirit £3 million a year in West Yorkshire alone, would see the train firm target stations, including Frizinghall, Shipley, Keighley, Ilkley, Baildon, Ben Rhydding, Bingley, Saltaire, Crossflatts and Silsden.

Northern Spirit says it is becoming increasingly difficult for conductors to collect fares on journeys as passenger numbers grow. It says many people are getting on trains at both manned and unmanned stations without tickets - many expecting they will end their journey before a conductor can reach them.

But the plan has sparked fury among rail watchdogs who say the train operators should get their own act in order before penalising passengers.

Members of West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority Passenger Consultative Group say people want to pay their fares - but nine times out of ten no conductor comes around to collect them.

And they claim the new system would lead to angry confrontations - with fewer tickets checked because of the rows.

Chairman Cllr John Prestage (Lab, Keighley South), who travels from Crossflatts Station, said trains went from station to station without conductors arriving.

"A lot of conductors don't even seem bothered about collecting them.

"I have seen passengers even trying to force the fares on them. But they have gone past to the other end of the carriage before they get a chance."

Tim Calow, chairman of the Aire Valley Rail Users Group, said: "I'm not wildly enthusiastic about it because I don't think fining passengers is the best way to encourage people to travel by train, although there is a problem with fare evasion which needs tackling.

"We hope they'll consult with us and would like to find out exactly how it would work and then weigh things up before arriving at a view.

"If something like this is going to happen they'll have to make it much easier for people to get tickets before boarding trains.

"At the moment there are a fair number of unmanned stations, such as Steeton, Crossflatts, Saltaire, Frizinghall and Ben Rhydding, where there's nowhere to buy tickets. To date they haven't wanted to put in ticket machines on those platforms for security reasons, so that's something that needs sorting out.

"They need to be able to distinguish between genuine travellers who want to pay but haven't been able to buy a ticket and those who are trying to evade the fares.''

The Office of the Rail Regulator will hold a public consultation exercise on the application by Northern Spirit for the scheme.

All passengers would have to buy tickets before boarding trains or buy travel permits in advance if they used unmanned stations. Passengers without tickets or permits would get a reminder, warning notice and be charged the full fare and where necessary served with a penalty fare notice.

Northern Spirit customer operation manager Graham Houtby said that the number of ticket machines would be increased.

"There are going to be more ticket machines, even at unmanned stations, to enable travellers to buy the tickets before the journey. People who use the train irregularly would not be penalised," said Mr Houtby.

Northern Spirit says schemes in the rest of Britain have worked successfully and that staff will be fully trained.