THIRTY-FOUR fare-dodgers on trains have been fined this month as a part of Connexs latest clamp-down.

Connexs new campaign on fare evasion, It will happen, has involved teams of plain-clothed inspectors following passengers to their destinations.

The fare-dodgers caught have been fined £3,410 in magistrates courts across west Kent and south east London in the last month.

The highly-publicised campaign focuses on the idea it is not a question of if fare cheats will be caught, but when.

Inspectors dressed as builders, office workers and city gents have been following passengers buying tickets to the next station to their actual destination and reporting them if they have deliberately bought the wrong ticket.

Fare evasion and fraudulent travel costs Connex £30 million a year the cost of 1,000 additional members of staff or 30 new train coaches or the refurbishment of 30 small stations.

Connex Commercial Director Glen Charles said: When people evade payment of the correct fare for their journeys, everyone else pays for them.

Connex has budgeted to improve significantly the travelling experience of our customers and fare evaders slow down this process.