Southeastern trains has come under fire for agreeing to not name or prosecute a rail fare cheat who had avoided paying more than £40,000 over five years in return for the man simply paying back the sum.
An unidentified high-flying city hedge fund manager managed to dodge £42,550 of train fares by not paying for a ticket from Stonegate, East Sussex to London Bridge every weekday as there are no barriers at that station. He then simply “tap-out” with his Oyster and be charged £7.20 for his entire journey.
An annual season ticket for his journey costs £4,548, or £22,740 over the five years, but the man has been charged the full rate for a daily return fare of £39.60 per day, which came to £42,550. he will also pay legal costs.
Manuel Cortes, leader of the TSSA, told the Guardian:
“There seems to be one law for the rich and one law for the poor when it comes to criminal prosecution.
The rich seem to be able to walk away and claim secrecy while the poor get hauled up in front of the local magistrates court and publicly ridiculed.”
Southeastern have defended their decision to accept the out-of-court settlement of full payment of past fares for anonymity as the quickest way to recover the money, saying in a statement:
“In this case, this option has allowed us to recover the sum owed to us very quickly without incurring the additional costs or uncertainty associated with pursuing the matter through the courts.”
