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On long distance trains (IC and ICE) you can buy a ticket from the conductor (the fare being 10% higher), which can make blackriding difficult. If you cannot pay on the spot (or at least say so), the conductor will print a fine if you present ID. Many conductors will issue a fine that serves as a valid ticket to your declared destination, and provided you're not a German citizen or resident, you can disregard this penalty. This is not a foolproof method, however, as certain conductors will only issue a fine valid as a ticket to the next station, and force you to get off the train there.
For example, I myself went on an ICE from Siegburg/Bonn to Basel ticket-less, getting caught before Frankfurt airport. Showed the conductor my ID , provided a fake German address (I live elsewhere) and was given a fine valid as a ticket all the way to Basel.
Another time I boarded a Hamburg-bound ICE in Freiburg wanting to go to Hamburg. Made the mistake of sitting in a compartment, where I was successfully identified as a new passenger. Despite insisting I could pay a fine all the way to Hamburg, the conductor only gave me a fine to the next stop, Baden-Baden, where I was then kicked off.
* For persons neither citizens nor residents of Germany, the penalty cannot and will not be enforced. As mentioned above, if given your ID, many conductors will print a fine valid as a ticket to your intended destination, making this a useful method for visitors to blackride. Beware, however, that not all conductors will agree to this, and they may insist that you get off at the next stop.
== Action blackriding ==
In Germany if you blackride you make basicaly 2 thefts. One is that you don´t have a ticket for which you can get the 60 euros fine and if you don´ t pay couple of fines at some point debt collectors can knock on your door so in case you have no or nearly no propetty it doesn´ t need to worry you. Second theft you make is basicaly cheating. You pretend to have ticket but you don´ t have one. For this if you repeatedly don´ t pay the fine you might get to court and get day penalties which means that you need to pay certain amount of money ( depends on your income) and if you don´t pay it you go for certain amount of days to prison and German prisons are full with people who just blackride trains.
To not go to prison there is a trick. When you go blackriding you enter the train with a visible sign saying that you have no ticket and you have to hold this sign visibly especialy when the controler come. IF you have a sign you are not cheating because you are openly saying that you have no ticket. In that case usually controler will write you a fine which works as valid ticket for your destination. If you do this more times at some point a debt collector will knock on your door so if you wanna do this you need to be sure to not have property which could be confiscated and be cool with having debt for next decades. As well they can put you to court and try to force you to pay the money or otherwise put you to jail but in that case you can defend at the court that you had the sign so you haven´ t been cheating. People did and do this courts with succes. It is very annoying to go to your courts and argue with judges but it can offer you free mean of transport all over Germany and if more people would do it we can break down the system of fines and tickets as the process of geting money from you and puting you to court is quite expensive for them.
Blackriding with sign works but if you use it often you might need to go often to the court as well. You can be creative and write on your sign more then just I have no ticket. Sign can forexample say Ich habe kein ticket, Nulltarif fur alle, verkehrswende jetzt! ( I have no ticket, Free publick transport for all, Change of traffic concept now!). By having nice sign you can as well start conversation with other passengers and make them aware of how unfair the ticket system is. It´ s good if the controler remembers that you had the sign so that they can´ t deny it at the court then so you can explain them that your blackriding is a politicil action and you can disscus with them that trains should be free for everyone.
In Germany you can defend yourself or you can be defended by your friend at court so you don´ t need to pay lawyers i you just learn how to do it by your own.
It is unknown how the sign blackriding works for people with german citizenship/residency.
{{IsIn|Germany}}
[[Category:Germany]]
[[Category:Public transport]]
[[Category:Trains]]
