Not paying for your train fare by ignoring the ticket inspector.

I have noticed this whenever I travel by train. Someone boards at an unmanned station - and will depart at another unmanned station. The ticket inspector asks everyone for their tickets on the train - if you don't have one they will take payment and print you one out.

But people are getting blatant free rides by ignoring the ticket inspector by shutting their eyes and ignoring their ever louder 'tickets please' and bangs on the seat. When the inspector moves away, they slyly check and move up the train ready to leave. As an alternative, if they are sitting among people who shove them 'awake' they will do a very slow check of all pockets in a sleepy manner until the inspector gives up and moves on.

As the people paying for their tickets are subsiding these people I do find it irritating, but what can you do? It seems like those who push their luck get away with what they like...

Do you have fare dodgers where you are? Do they get away with it?

When I rode the train to work for 8 years I saw numerous attempts by individuals to sneak aboard without tickets. At first many were successful - but Metrolink tightened up the ticket check process and more perpetrators were caught by the conductor and received a $250 ticket/fine.

In Switzerland, they don't check tickets on every train, bus or tram. But when they do check, you get a 100 CHF fine if you don't have your ticket. They also make it very easy to buy a ticket - iPhone app is great.

Here in my neck of the woods, there's no way to pay for fare/ticket when an inspector requests to see one from passenger(s) riding the ST (Sound Transit/Sounder Train). When the Fare Inspector requests from passengers but cannot provide fare payment, the fine is about $124USD. The fare is anywhere from $2.75USD to $5.25USD. By the way, the Inspector(s) will not go away if one's taking their lazy time feigning to search for their ORCA Card or Ticket Fare.

When I used to commute to London, I had a season ticket and genuinley used to forget to renew it for a couple of days. I travelled very early and very late (moneymarkets) all the ticket staff knew me and never looked at my ticket.
25 years later I'm still having nightmares that I've been travelling without a ticket for all that time. Far too stressful part of my life. Having said that, Cue: Rant, I never got a seat on the way home. I sat on my newspaper in the Guard's Van on the floor for 2 hours every night, over 13 years - I think they owed me the odd free ride. Rant over.
P