Most ticket officers are keeping an eye out for rogue passengers trying their luck at bumping barriers.
So, one attendant must have been surprised when he caught a cat that travelled 17.7 miles by train from Surrey to London Waterloo – solo.
Michael Hardy, from Weybridge, said his two-year-old cat Tilly is well-known for her adventures.
He and his girlfriend adopted her after she was found as a stray and said she had previously been caught on buses, in a local school and behind the bar of a pub.
Mr Hardy, who was working in London at the time, received a call from a ticket office about Tilly’s solo travels and drove to the station to collect her.
The voyage would have taken daring Tilly up to 90 minutes.
He said: ‘What the hell is my cat doing in Waterloo getting on trains and going for a ride?’
He added: We didn’t know where she was. We looked on the Apple AirTag [a mobile tracking device] and realised she’d gone to Waterloo.
Pictured: Tilly the two-year-old cat, who has earned a reputation for her adventures, sitting on a ticket gate
The train voyage would have taken daring Tilly up to 90 minutes before owner Michael Hardy received a call and went to collect her
‘The only way she can get there is on the train. You look at the tag and you see it going from one stop to another.’
Perhaps learning from history, Tilly’s owners have ensured that she is constantly tagged by a GPS gadget in the event of her likely disappearance.
As well as the tracker, a jingly silver bell and a bright pink information tag adorn Tilly’s collar for maximum security.
Mr Hardy and his girlfriend took Tilly in after two young girls knocked on their door with the cat, believing she belonged to the couple.
The pair warily accepted her and did their best to find Tilly’s owners by knocking on neighbouring doors and taking her to the local vet to be checked for a microchip.
But, in the end, they happily gave in to the vet’s suggestion that they adopt Tilly themselves.
