Go to any tube station at rush hour in London. Literally any. Then wait by the barriers and watch. Within 60 seconds it’s likely you’ll see at least half a dozen young men (it’s almost always young men) barge their way through the barriers without a care in the world. No one is shocked anymore because it happens with such depressing regularity. Paying commuters stay silent – as do the hapless high-viz clad Transport for London staff watching on. I’ve frequently seen fare-dodgers mockingly wave at TfL staff, safe in the knowledge they are powerless to stop them.
As a daily commuter on the underground, I reckon every tenth person passing through my local tube station in Oval doesn’t bother to pay. Most just shoulder-charge through the barriers.
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