Ticket GatesThe figures come as train companies publish a list of some of the more memorable excuses used by passengers caught travelling without a ticket.

Examples of excuses given by fare dodgers for not buying a ticket include:

  • “I’m related to the queen so I don’t need a ticket.”
  • “I’m in the Zimbabwean SAS, on covert ops.”
  • “Don’t you know who I am?”
  • “What’s a ticket?”
  • “Do I need a ticket? I thought the railway was free.”
  • “If the ticket doesn’t see me then I don’t need one.”
  • “I’m a freeman of the land, I don’t recognise the law and the law does not apply to me.”
  • An adult travelling with a ticket said: “I thought I was a child until I was 21.”
  • A passenger claimed he did not buy a ticket because “I didn’t think you would accept my fare.”
  • “I thought by hiding in the luggage rack you wouldn’t see me.”