Fraudulent railcard users caught at London hotspot station

Several commuters suspected of fraudulently using a railcard were stopped at a London hotspot for ticketless travel.

Revenue officers had their eyes set on a specific type of fare dodging at Vauxhall station – railcard misuse.

One suspected fare dodger made a run for it after being confronted about the discrepancy with his ticket.

Enforcement teams working for South Western Railway descended on the busy station in the upcoming episode of Fare Dodgers: At War With The Law on Channel 5.

Revenue protection officer Sam approaches a man and scans his e-ticket at the station, which is notorious for short-faring and illegal use of discounted tickets.

When he asked to see his railcard, the commuter replies: ‘Railcard? I don’t have a railcard.’

Sam tells him ‘you have put the 16-17 discount on this one.’

‘Yeah, I bought it on the app,’ the man says.

‘You need to actually have the railcard to be able to use this discount,’ Sam tells him.

The man then suddenly walks off and heads for the Underground, and Sam raises the alarm.

‘Is anyone free for a runner? No, he is gone,’ Sam says while a colleague attempts to go after him.

‘If you run away from us, we’ll get in contact with you because we’ve got all the details from the ticket scan,’ he tells the camera after the incident.

An almost identical encounter happens shortly after when Sam scans a woman’s ticket after the barriers.

‘I just connect to the Wifi,’ she says before brazenly walking off.

‘Excuse me,’ Sam says and walks after her. ‘She just walked away from me,’ he says.

When caught up with outside, the commuter insists she is ‘just connecting to the Wifi.’

Sam and a police officer tell her they just need to scan her ticket, with Sam saying ‘you just had it up.’

When Sam scans it, it shows the ticket was bought with the 16-17 railcard discount instead of the 26-30 Saver.

‘I’m sorry, I always get them mixed up because they are next to each other,’ the commuter replies before saying ‘I do need to get to work’ while Sam takes down her details.

Almost £200 million was lost to fare evasion on the TfL network alone.

Ticketless travel cost the London transport authority around £188 million in 2024/2025, and £190 million the previous year.

The penalty fare on the Tube increased from £80 to £100 in February last year.

The next episode of Fare Dodgers: At War With the Law airs on Channel 5 tomorrow, Monday, September 15, at 9pm

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.