Changes

'''Hiding on a toilet'''

The most obvious trick is to hide on a toilet. The conductors of course know this classical trick but it still works surprisingly well. You can decide if you lock the door or not. If the door is locked the conductor can see it and might wait until you get out. If you don't lock the door they are likely to pass you but other passengers might want to go to toilet as well. For that reason you might want to sit there with your pants down like if you'd be shitting. It might be wise to just go to toilet when they are controling and then get out of the toilet again. IF you stay for an hour on a toilet it might raise suspicion.

'''Hiding in a luggage compartment'''

It depends on a train but often fast trains have shelves for luggage. What you can do is to look for a shelve which is partly filled but still offers enough space for you to hide in there behind your backpack. It is of course not the most comfortable but it is not too bad either. It is actually quite fine. After you hear the conductor walking by and asking people for tickets you can get out again and take a seat.

'''Dancing around'''

The finest art of blackriding is to dance around the conductors. There are different dance styles and you can invent your own. You can pretend having a phone call and just pass the conductor while talking to a phone. You might also pass them with asking for a direction to a train restaurant. If the train has two floors well the conductor is in one and you dance through the other one...

'''Running around the train'''

When you see a conductor controling get out of the train and run around on the outside and enter the train again in the part which was already controled. In some trains conductors don't even look out of the train when it stops in a station. In other trains they do which can make it impossible or at least tricky to do this trick without them noticing. This trick is suitabe especially for regional trains with short distances between stops.

'''Short distance ticket'''

In some countries (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Lithuania...) conductor usually checks everyone in the begining and then just ask for new passengers. So what you can do is to buy only a cheap ticket to one of the first stations and then stay in. They will remember that they controled you but not what was your final destination on a ticket. This trick would not work everywhere since in many other countries (France, Germany...) they control everyone not in the begining of a journey but at some random point during the trip.

'''Getting caught'''

If you get caught you can try to invent a story (oh no where is my ticket? I had it right in my pocket.) or you can also just admit to them that you have none. IF they ask you for ID you can say you have none and most of the time they just kick you out on the next stop and you'll take the next train. Sometimes they might want to call the cops to get your ID. Generally some people think that when you get caught it is better to speak with conductors in English even if you speak their language. They might think that you are just a random hobo passing by and they are less likely to bother giving you a fine. If it happens that you get a fine it is likely that it will never get to your home country since it is not so easy for them to get the money from you if you live abroad. Often times it is like that but there is no guarantee. Sometimes the fines actually get to you.

Are the high speed long distance trains. TGV drives sometimes over 300km/h (I think it's 220km/h actually) which makes it to be an extremely fast mean of transport. You can be lucky and make even few hours journey without control but usually if you go far they will control. On a longer ride they might control second time. They don't do very often the kind of control when they'd ask for new passengers as in other countries. So usually they either control everyone or they don't control.

To avoid the control one can do all the typical tricks as hiding on a toilet or dancing around the conductor. It is not too dificult to cross whole France from one end to the other in one day without getting caught.

===Getting caught===

The fine for blackriding is 60 euros. If you don't pay the fine there are two options. First is that nothing happens. Second option is that they make a court trial with you and sentence you for certain amount of day penalties. That means that you either pay certain amound of money (probably lower hundreds of euros) or you go to certain amount of days in prison. Yes in Germany they regularly put people to jail for riding trains!

For Germans it is usually that the first fines don 't matter and they usually make you a trial after 3 or more unpaid fines. But thats just how it goes usually. It is no rule. It is unclear how it goes for foreign citizens. But what is important is that if it is cops giving you the fine and not just the conducter the likelyhood of getting a courtcase is much higher even if it is your first fine. So always avoid the cops if you can.

'''Geting arrested'''

If they catch you and you present ID they have no reason to call cops. If you don't give ID or if the conducter is especially asshole they might call the cops. In that case cops will be waiting for you on a platform. IT might be that after the conducter called cops they walk away from you and come back to you before the station. In that case use the chance and in the meantime go to other part of train and hide from the conducter. Change your appearence (scarve over your head, different clothes...) and get the fuck out without the cops or conducter noticing you.

Other times the conducter stays with you and you have no chance to get away. In that case the cops will take you with to a police station. If you present a fake identity they might believe you or they might not and in that case they might search your stuff, take finger prints, keep you bit longer and so on. IF you present your ID card they will write you a fine and let you go. The whole process is maybe 30 minutes. IT is not a big deal. If you are no german citizen nor residennt they might want you to sign a paper that you agree with having an adress for this case on a local court. Try to not sign this paper. If they force you to sign it (they might treaten you with keeping you longer if you dont sign) your adress is then on a local court and it is your resposibility to go there and check if there are letters for you. YOu will of course not go to a random courthouse every two weeks and then it is very possible that they make a court trial with you without you knowing about it and the next time german cops check your ID you will either need to pay certain amount of money or you go to prison(probably for about a week or two. If you got fined more times it could be even few weeks or months). So if this is the case that they caught you, cops wrote you the fine and you did not pay it is recomandable to carry always some money in cash with you (maybe 300 euros) when you go to germany so in case they control you that you can pay yourself out.

===Personal experiences:===