Fare dodgers get stuck in toilet hiding from inspectors on French TGV
They locked themselves in the toilet and broke off the handle to stop anyone from getting in. Small problem: this trapped them inside
The TGV train was on its way to Marseille when the ‘ingenious’ 20-year-olds found their fare-dodging plan had fallen through
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Two fare dodgers who hid in a toilet on a French TGV train to avoid ticket inspectors attracted rather more attention than they intended when they became stuck in the toilet.
It happened on a service from Bordeaux to Marseille on July 3, reports La Depeche (in French).
The friends, both 20, reportedly boarded the train in Bordeaux without a ticket. When inspectors came to do their routine checks, the two fled to the toilets.
Once inside, they broke off the toilet’s door handle to stop anyone from getting in. Small problem: this also locked them inside with no way of getting out.
Upon the train’s arrival at the Toulouse Matabiau station, SNCF staff tried to get the pair to come out. In vain. The team was forced to call transport police officers from the service départemental de sécurisation des transports en commun (SDSTC), who broke a window to ‘save’ the duo.
The two were then arrested in Toulouse. At a hearing, they admitted their actions and left with a summons for a ‘pleading guilty’ procedure.
Yet, their problems may not be over; SNCF has now lodged a formal complaint over the cost and inconvenience of their actions, which caused delays due to the train being stopped in Toulouse for longer than planned.
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