The other day, I got off at Redfern Station and realised my weekly was invalid. Talked to one of the station attendants who directed me to the gate where I was ambushed by 2 transit officers and fined $200. My local station doesn't have a gate - I was in a hurry and forgot to buy a ticket. In the past, station attendants have been understanding and friendly enough to let me out. I took the legit approach and got fined, yet gate jumpers get away easily. This has got me thinking - City Rail and their Transit Officers are dirty - all about revenue raising. 1. Transit Officers are a drain on tax payer and commuter money. They earn 50-80K for walking around, fining people, and doing bugger all. 2. I never see them walking around trains at night - they're useless for security. 3. Because of their unjustifiably high salaries, Sydney train tickets cost more than they should. 4. Half of Sydney's stations have no ticket gates, some seriously lack ticket machines and counters during peak time. Why not spend the transit officer salary budget on more gates and machines? 5. In the past, I've almost been fined for travelling back one station too far on a return ticket. Train was an express that skipped my station, a ticket with a bit of extra range would have cost the same, stupid machines don't allow return tickets to go back past the purchasing station. I lost my respect for transit officers a long time ago, but this fine incident has pissed me off. If I ever see a disorderly person assaulting a transit officer, I'd probably high five him and not call the cops.