UK’s greatest practice fare dodger saved £20,000 with ‘doughnut tickets’ | UK | News | EUROtoday

A rail fare dodger was lastly caught after evading a staggering £20,000 in ticket prices in one of many UK’s greatest rail dodging instances of its type. The offender was caught after investigators copped on to his rip-off which noticed him pay for under a small a part of his full journey from Surrey to London Waterloo. He was capable of fraudulantly purchase an e-ticket solely from Vauxhall to Waterloo which made his ticket considerably cheaper.

To make this journey fare even cheaper, the grownup additionally used a 16-17 Saver Railcard which reductions his value an additional 50% off. His plans have been lastly foiled after a South Western Railway (SWR) income safety crew recognized the passenger on CCTV, later catching him within the act at Waterloo station.

Officers pursued a prosecution from the passenger after discovering he had evaded a complete of £20,000 since 2022 which averages to £35 a day for over three years.

Known as “doughnut tickets” the rip-off includes shopping for a brief ticket for under the primary a part of the journey after which scanning the QR code upon the entry barrier.

Passengers then get one other quick ticket for the final part of their journey and scan the QR code on the vacation spot station.

“Doughnut tickets” make for a less expensive fare in comparison with paying full value as passengers don’t pay for the lengthier center a part of their journey thus making a gap within the journey therefore the title.

Passengers are capable of be undetected by way of their journey as they nonetheless have a sound ticket upon getting into at the place to begin and the exit on the vacation spot going undetected by an inspector.

The man is certainly one of many “short farers” with Vauxhall being a famend spot for fare dodgers.

Some passengers on SWR are seen travelling into London from locations a lot additional afield nevertheless they solely purchase an e-ticket from a close-by cease close to Waterloo which is commonly Vauxhall and leads to a less expensive fare ticket.

The rising truthful dodgers was additional explored within the newest episode of a Channel 5 documentary referred to as “Fare Dodgers: At War with the Law” and depicted the work of undercover officers being deployed throughout stations within the UK.

In the documentary, officers investigated SWR information and famous how the person had bought two tickets per day and utilized a 16-17 Saver Railcard every time giving him a 50% low cost he was not entitled to.

Officers then waited for him on the platform at Waterloo and intercepted him, asking: “Can I see your ticket, the one you just had there? So where have you travelled from today?”

The passenger then replied: “Er, from **** today, well **** this morning, sorry.

Asked why he bought the wrong ticket, the passenger replied: “Just because I didn’t get one this morning. It didn’t have barriers at the end. There’s not always a service at ****.

In the video the officers then discuss how the interception followed an eight-week investigation, adding: “I’m so pleased that the team has managed to catch him. A real team effort, real sense of elation this morning.”

‘Fare Dodgers: At War with the Law’ is on Channel 5 on Monday, May 26 at 9pm