A suspected fare dodger was revealed to owe South Western Railway hundreds of pounds for three years of travelling on an expired railcard.
The man was stopped by a revenue protection officer carrying out a routine check at the barriers of London Waterloo station, before being reported for suspected fraud.
He had been travelling on a South Western Railway (SWR) service and had bought his ticket with a railcard discount.
When stopped by SWR officer Jack and asked to present his railcard, the man said “I don’t have the railcard on me”, saying he had a physical card rather than a digital one.
However, officer Jack became suspicious when he found that the ticket from Vauxhall to Waterloo had been bought only 20 minutes earlier and was not scanned at Vauxhall.
The passenger provided his details to prove his identity and address, confirming he lived at Sunbury-on-Thames, which is further down the SWR line in Surrey.
Officer Jack suspected that the man may have been attempting a “short fare” where a passenger buys a ticket which covers only a part of their journey.
Vauxhall is a hotspot for so-called “short farer” commuters. “Short farers” travel into London from further afield before buying an e-ticket from a stop closer to their destination for a much cheaper fare so they can go through the barriers without paying for the full journey.
Later in the programme, SWR’s fraud team revealed the customer had been using an expired Railcard for over three years, owing £580 in fares. With investigation costs, the total rose to £834.
The incident is the latest to feature in the popular Channel 5 programme Fare Dodgers: At War With The Law, which next airs this Sunday evening at 9pm.
Officer Jack can be heard asking: “Can I look at your ticket please. We’re checking for railcards,” to which the man says: “Railcard? I don't have the railcard on me. Do I need to buy another ticket then?”
“I know that if you go on the website, it can show you that you've got a railcard – does that make sense - because it's a physical one not a digital one.”
The man tells Jack he lives around Vauxhall and was travelling into Waterloo to meet his girlfriend.
However, when Jack looks closer he discovers the ticket has been bought only 20 minutes earlier and was not scanned at Vauxhall. Jack asks the man for his details, which he provides, which suggest his address is in Sunbury.
Jack tells him: “I'm going to be very blunt and very honest with you. Your address is in Sunbury, your ticket hasn't been scanned in at Vauxhall. When I report this about the railcard, they're going to investigate the ticket as part of that.”
The passenger is then told that if it is found he travelled from elsewhere, he could be handed a more expensive penalty.
Later in the episode, a member of SWR’s fraud team discussed the case and confirms that the man had been travelling for over three years on an expired railcard.
He says: “This individual was stopped by Jack at Waterloo. The customer had a railcard applied to their ticket and upon further investigation by Jack it was found that the customer wasn’t in possession of a valid railcard. and look at previous ticket purchase history it was discovered that the customer was travelling on an expired railcard.
“Fraud investigators reviewed the ticket purchase history and calculated that the customer owed fares of £580 for journeys stretching back over three years which including investigation costs amounts to £834.
The customer paid their out of court settlement, SWR confirmed in the programme.
* Fare Dodgers: At War with the Law, is on Monday June 9, at 9pm, on Channel 5
