Moment rail fare dodger tells pack of lies to avoid £100 fine before storming through station barriers

By MARK DUELL, DEPUTY CHIEF REPORTER (DIGITAL) Published: 00:01, 17 August 2026 | Updated: 00:03, 17 August 2026 This is the moment a brazen fare dodger told a pack of lies to ticket inspectors in an attempt to avoid a fine - before pushing through the barriers and running off. Two revenue protection officers confronted the passenger at Vauxhall station in south London after he was unable to exit because his Oyster card had no money on it. The man then came up with a series of claims in an attempt to stop them giving him a penalty fare, including one relating to a mystery 'ticket master' at Waterloo station. He also claimed he was allowed through a gate at Waterloo because the Victoria line was suspended - before inspector Jane pointed out it does not run through there. The man also tried to explain with great difficulty where ticket staff were located on a platform at Waterloo, but Jane disputed his description of the station layout. Eventually the duo from South Western Railway (SWR) ran out of patience with the man and took his details – before he fled, pushing through a wide access gate. The Daily Mail can exclusively reveal the exchange, featuring in the latest episode of 'Fare Dodgers: At War With The Law'.  The video was filmed at about 9.15am at Vauxhall, a major hub operated by SWR which has eight platforms and a direct connection to the Tube and bus network. Two revenue protection officers confront the passenger at Vauxhall station in south London The man is unable to exit Vauxhall station because his Oyster card has no money on it The man comes up with a series of claims in an attempt to stop them giving him a penalty fare Some 15million journeys start or end at the station each year, but on the day there were lots of confused passengers because the Victoria line was suspended. A man approaches Jane because he cannot exit, saying: 'They told me that because I had to tap out at... because I had to come out at Victoria…' She replies: 'At Victoria?' He continues: 'I had to tap out at Waterloo from the thing and then come out to the other side of the station to South Western Railway. 'So they said you don't need to tap in, because it's the train line that's not working. I got in at Waterloo but I didn't tap in, they let me through.' Jane and her colleague Lucy then check the Oyster card and confirm there is no money on it, which means it cannot be used to enter a ticket gate. The man says: 'Wait, there's no money on it? So when I went to top it up... they told me... I don't have money on me though... so I explained to them... 'My point is I explained to them and they said that it doesn't matter anyways because your line was supposed to be Victoria, we have to let you… is there anyway you can radio them please?' Jane replies: 'No, unfortunately not. Because you haven't got enough money on this, you can't get out here at London Victoria. Why have you not got enough money on the card to make the journey?' She is initially willing to give the man the benefit of the doubt, saying: 'So what we're going to do is I'm going to take you and put some money on it now.' But the man says: 'I don't have money on me - I didn't know there wasn't any money on it.' Jane then tells him that Lucky will take some details from him - with the man now liable for a £100 penalty fare, which is halved if paid within 21 days. But the passenger says: 'I'm not going to lie, I'm not trying to be disrespectful, but I'm late for work and they told me to come here... they let me through... I'm trying to be calm.' He eventually pushes through the barriers after being questioned by the ticket inspectors The man rushes out of Vauxhall station after giving a series of excuses to the inspectors He accuses Jane of refusing to radio through to Waterloo, but she says this is not possible because there are up to 15 staff at the station and she does not know who the man spoke to - adding that the worker in question might be on a break. Jane adds: 'You explained you had no money - that's different for him letting you through. You said he let you through?' The man then accuses her of not listening to him, but she denies this. He adds: 'It was supposed to work straight here from the Victoria line but that's not working.' Jane says: 'We don't have a Victoria line at Waterloo.' The man replies: 'Did I say Waterloo? I said I'm supposed to come here with the Victoria line.' But Jane tells him: 'Yes, but you had to get from here to here - and you have to pay for that journey.' The man then claims he was 'driven to Waterloo' and 'spoke to the ticket master'.  Jane says: 'The ticket master? Where was the ticket master?' He then unsuccessfully tries to explain the station layout and the location of the 'ticket box', insisting that he is being truthful because he was 'just there', but Jane tells him: 'I worked at Waterloo for 13 years.' She says: 'Okay, so I'm going to stop you there.' But before she can issue the penalty fare, the passenger runs off through the wide access barrier. Jane confirms with Lucky that he has already obtained the man's details, before telling the camera: 'Several things weren't adding up there. 'He doesn't have enough money on his card, he said he could get through, then he was going to the ticket office. So instead of going downstairs to the Underground and trying to make his journey to Victoria there, he wanted to use our line here to get here.' It comes after SWR launched a crackdown on fare dodgers who deliberately buy a ticket for only part of their journey. SWR found that up to 95 per cent of barcode tickets – which can be bought and displayed on a phone – purchased for the four-minute journey between Vauxhall and Waterloo were being used fraudulently, putting £1million of revenue at risk. These tickets open the barriers at Waterloo, and are considerably cheaper than for long-distance journeys on SWR's network, which stretches to Devon and Dorset. SWR's crackdown has involved deploying more revenue protection staff at Vauxhall to ensure everyone who enters the station with an electronic ticket has it scanned. When a fare dodger arrives at Waterloo with an electronic ticket from Vauxhall that was not scanned at the start of the journey, it is apparent they have travelled from further away.  'Fare Dodgers: At War With The Law' continues on Channel 5.