A Conservative councillor has filmed six fare dodgers pushing through ticket barriers at an Elizabeth line railway station in just two minutes. David Taylor stood by the barriers at Romford in East London on Wednesday, recording young men forcing their way through a wide gate to avoid paying.
Councillor's concerns
Mr Taylor, a Havering Council councillor, wrote in a Facebook caption that the fare evaders were 'obvious as anything and not bothering to hide their faces'. He argued that his area 'should not be allowed to be a safe space for criminals' and called for 'cameras that auto detect this stuff' to alert police to offenders' locations.
He acknowledged he had 'thought more than twice before sharing, given the ethnicities of those on the video, and the high likelihood of it attracting racists to comment'. However, he insisted it was important not to 'censor ourselves out of fear' – noting he had witnessed gate jumping from 'white, black, mixed, Asian... men and women, younger and older' as well as 'football fans on the way to West Ham games and commuters'.
Facebook post details
In his Facebook post, Mr Taylor wrote: '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.'
He added: '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.'
Political response
Mr Taylor also cited a recent report on proposals to cut fare dodging from City Hall Conservative Thomas Turrell, deputy chairman of the London Assembly's transport committee. Mr Turrell told the Daily Mail: '£190million is stolen every year from hard-working Londoners whilst Sadiq Khan does nothing about it.'
'I'm grateful to David Taylor for highlighting my report in response to the horrendous fare dodging at Romford, as well as other stations on the TfL network. Our Mayor and Transport for London leadership are not serious about tackling this issue, whilst cities like New York have been able to cut it in half by making simple changes such as to barriers, like my report suggests.'
'The existence of fare evasion is a political choice on the part of the Mayor, and I know that I and other Londoners are tired of paying for it.'
Broader context
A British Transport Police spokesperson said: 'Fare evasion is not a victimless crime - the cost is passed down to the honest fare-paying members of the travelling public. We are committed to working closely alongside the railway industry to tackle fare evasion and regularly support them with high visibility patrols at known hotspot locations.'
The incident follows a similar episode in May 2025, when Robert Jenrick, then shadow justice secretary, highlighted fare dodging at Stratford station. He posted a video confronting people who forced through barriers, asking one person 'do you think it's alright not to pay' and challenging another to 'go back through the barrier and pay'. The Transport Salaried Staffs' Association union accused Mr Jenrick, who has since defected to Reform UK, of 'trying to score points'.
Data from TfL last November revealed fare dodging in the capital has increased, with more than one in 20 Tube passengers now failing to pay. An estimated 400,000 journeys on a typical weekday are evaded across the network, costing TfL around £200million each year in lost income. The Mail has contacted TfL and the Mayor's office for comment.
