A fuming councillor has shamed “criminal” London underground after videoing six unchallenged fare dodgers in just two minutes.
David Taylor recorded multiple passengers simply bypassing turnstile gates without paying.
He is now calling on authorities to tackle the problem.
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The Havering Borough councillor filmed the shocking scenes at Romford station.
He referred to himself as a cheap version of Reform MP Robert Jenrick, who did something similar last year as reported by Need To Know.
Cllr Taylor said: “Like a pound-shop Bobby Jenrick, I filmed ticket gate jumpers whilst waiting at Romford Station for a friend.
“Six people in just two minutes.
“Every one obvious as anything and not bothering to hide their faces.
“OK, so some people don’t want staff confronting these folk.
“But, in the age of facial recognition, surely we can have cameras that auto detect this stuff and alert transport police as to someone’s location?
“Tackling gate jumping isn’t just about enforcing rules, it’s also about collecting revenue to keep price increases low.
“Romford cannot and should not be allowed to be a safe space for criminals.
“If they know our station is a soft touch then they will congregate here, target here, and our residents will suffer for it.”
The clip, taken on 29 April between 8.58pm to 9pm, has seen nearly one million views and over 2,000 likes since it was shared.
Transport for London says 96% of customers pay their fares correctly.
A spokesperson said: “It has an especially serious impact on our front-line teams, particularly when linked with incidents of aggression and violence.
“It also affects fare-paying customers.
“We penalise and prosecute thousands of fare evaders every year, and we push for the toughest penalties for anyone caught fare evading on our services.
“Our strategic approach aims to reduce the level of evasion across our services to 1.5% or less by 2030.
“Our focus is on passengers who deliberately evade paying fares and those whose behaviour can have an adverse impact on our frontline teams and on other customers.
“More than 400 revenue inspectors operate across our network day and night.
“They use new technology and intelligence to identify anyone travelling without the correct ticket or payment for their journey.
“We vary our tactics – we check payment at gatelines, on board services and inside stations, especially at transport hubs.”
Responding to the video, commuters don’t seem convinced that enough is being done.
One person said: “It'[s worse during rush hours when they walk up behind you and barge through as you tap and pay.
“There is no bias, I’ve seen teenagers, 20-somethings, 30-somethings, school kids, builders, all walks of life do it.”
Another person said: “I always walk through really slow so they can’t tailgate me. Love it when they try it and get stuck in the barrier.”
Someone else added: “This happens to me all the time.
“I now pretend to stop and do something as the barrier closes.
“Some girls tried to do it to me in Knightsbridge.”
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