THIRTY-FOUR train fare-dodgers were fined last month as a part of Connexs latest clamp-down.

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

The apprehended fare-dodgers were ordered to pay fines and costs totalling £5,285 in magistrates courts across west Kent and south-east London in October.

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