Two young women were stopped at the automatic barriers of Southampton Central station after they could not produce valid tickets and told a revenue protection officer their phones were dead, could not be charged and that they could not remember login details, according to a clip published ahead of Channel 5’s documentary Fare Dodgers: At War With The Law.
South Western Railway revenue protection officer Spencer asked whether either passenger could sign into a ticket account on the other’s phone and offered to charge their devices or to direct them to a nearby British Transport Police (BTP) station for help, the footage shows. The women repeatedly insisted they had bought tickets on their phones but refused assistance, and one became abusive when Spencer pressed the issue.
In the exchange, Spencer tells the women they must be able to show a ticket before travelling and asks, "Can you not see that it's a little bit odd that both of your phones won't charge?" One of the women replies, "Oh, shut up. How I am meant to remember my passwords?" After the pair pushed through another entrance, they boarded a train to Portsmouth Harbour but were removed by an on-train guard for failing to produce tickets and were later unlocatable when inspectors checked the station, the programme sequence shows.
Spencer is shown telling cameras that his priority was both enforcing fare rules and offering practical help, and that he had advised the passengers to speak to British Transport Police if they needed assistance getting home. The clip is among several incidents featured in the episode, which Channel 5 is airing next Monday at 9 p.m.
Other cases shown in the episode include a woman confronted at Ilford about £3,160.40 in unpaid fares; a passenger at Harold Wood who investigators say evaded about £1,650 over nearly 250 journeys; and a university law student who became distraught after being stopped at Clapham Junction. A passenger at Kingston is shown being confronted after pushing through gates and reportedly attacking officers while they attempted an arrest.
The programme also depicts a large sting operation at Vauxhall station in which about 20 revenue protection officers target suspected fraud. Officers identified a passenger using a half-price concession bought with a Jobcentre Plus discount card the person did not possess, prompting an investigation that officers say stretches back seven months. Inspectors are also shown tackling tailgating through barriers and alleged misuse of half-price child tickets during a school holiday period.
Two newly trained revenue protection officers are filmed on the Weymouth-to-London line, an area described in the programme as attracting fare evaders who hop on and off to avoid guards and revenue teams. Industry figures cited in the episode estimate that fare evasion costs the rail industry between £350 million and £400 million a year.
Fare Dodgers: At War With The Law follows revenue protection officers and enforcement teams as they attempt to deter and detect unpaid travel. The episode presents footage of frontline encounters, sting operations and the practical difficulties staff say they face when passengers refuse cooperation or leave stations before they can be questioned.