NZ-resident sends London Tube $1000 for dodged fares

A guilt-ridden New Zealand resident has sent London Underground £400 ($1052) for unpaid tickets after dodging fares on the city's rail network, the BBC reports.

The man said in a letter from New Zealand that he had become a born-again Christian after emigrating from Britain, and anonymously posted the cash sum almost 12,000 miles back home.

Delighted Tube bosses have decided to donate the money to Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children, the BBC website reported.

Piccadilly Line general manager Mike Challis was amazed to receive the letter with a New Zealand postmark containing eight £50 notes.

The former fare dodger signed his letter as "A. Christian" and asked London Underground to accept the money as payment.

He said that since becoming a born-again Christian his years of persistent fare dodging on London Underground were wrong and that he had deprived London Underground of much-needed income.

The man stated: "While living in London I often travelled on the Underground. Occasionally the train would be about to leave the station and there was no time to buy a ticket from the ticket machine, so I usually paid at the other end when asked for my ticket by ticket collectors.

"In some of these cases there was no-one collecting tickets at the other end so sometimes I would buy a ticket from the machine at the other end of my journey, then rip it up and put it in the bin," he told the BBC. "Other times I did not pay for the ride at all".

"My life is radically different to what it was then. I can't stand the thought of stealing and so I enclose £400 pounds to cover my fare."

Mr Challis was quoted as saying: "I receive correspondence from the public on a frequent basis but this has to be the most unusual letter I have ever received. It is not everyday that you receive £400 pounds in the post from a former fare dodger. London Underground accepts his apology and is delighted that he has seen the error of his ways."

- NZPA