Freedom Pass Inspection Curiosity Question

[interesting]

I was stopped today by someone not wearing any uniform after I entered the gate. This gentleman was wearing everyday clothes, and he showed me a badge, but he didn't say who he was, just "Can I see your Oyster card please?". I was too surprised to take a detailed look, since he only wanted to see my card.

Afterwards, I started wondering if it was a police badge I saw? The last time I was checked, it was someone in a fluorescent uniform, whom I assumed was TFL staff. Do police also do the checks as well or do TFL staff also have their own badge?

There was a moment I thought maybe it was some sort of scam when I was approached by a random stranger! Then I thought it was very clever they went undercover! Do they also check for railcards as well?

 

[boiledbeans2]

There are some TfL plain clothes inspectors.
They can be spotted by the yellow card reader, body-worn cam, and are usually hanging around the gateline behaving suspiciously (61016?).

 

[BJames]

I get stopped often by them, usually at key central London stations. They are checking passes which are identified as 'high-value' (Freedom Passes, Staff Passes/Nominee Passes etc). There is a setting applied to the barriers to identify this to them hence why they appear out of nowhere!

I am not sure if a railcard is added to your Oyster card if this will also flag up? Someone else will be able to confirm.

 

[bluegoblin7]

Yes, discounted Oyster cards can also be flagged. Pretty much anything can, to be fair.

LUL Revenue Control Inspectors do have their own badges and accompanying ID which they will show on request. There isn’t any requirement for them to identify themselves, and especially if you’re on an Oyster card there’s not really any need for them to do so - it’ll only slow down the interaction.

I do understand the concern if stopped with a CPC - plain clothes RCIs do do on train inspections, and you’re well within your rights to ask for identification before tapping anything. There are processes in place to positively identify themselves as staff, although I won’t fully go into them here.

 

[akm]

Then I thought it was very clever they went undercover!

Plain-clothes inspectors have been a thing for a while now Here's a poster from 1993, for example:

Panel poster; The only way you'll recognize a plain clothes ticket inspector, 1993 | London Transport Museum

poster

www.ltmuseum.co.uk

And a buses one from 1985:

Poster; There's nothing uniform about our ticket inspectors, unknown, 1985 | London Transport Museum

poster

www.ltmuseum.co.uk

 

[interesting]

Plain-clothes inspectors have been a thing for a while now Here's a poster from 1993, for example:

Panel poster; The only way you'll recognize a plain clothes ticket inspector, 1993 | London Transport Museum

poster

www.ltmuseum.co.uk

And a buses one from 1985:

Poster; There's nothing uniform about our ticket inspectors, unknown, 1985 | London Transport Museum

poster

www.ltmuseum.co.uk

hahaha i didn't realise this! I was only inspected by uniformed officer previously.

The badge I saw definitely closer to a police badge than the tfl sign badge, it was kindda round and spikey if that make sense!

 

[pitdiver]

When I worked at the LT Museum I would often exit at Leicester Square Stn. There would regularly be plain clothes inspectors on duty in the morning. The summer uniform included shorts so when my staff pass caused a beep on the gate the inspectors would always ask for additional ID. Fortunately I could always prove I was a TfL employee.

 

[Railguy1]

The last two times I’ve had to show a valid ticket to TFL staff onboard a train, none of them requested to see the photo on my freedom pass. Separately I’ve also walked through barriers (after tapping) and RPI staff did not ask me to show the photo.

Similarly for the three times I had tickets using disabled railcard and then been checked by a conductor, the conductors never asked to see my disabled railcard.

 

[jumble]

I quite liked this one