Fare dinkum? Australians fined for trying to take his fridge on the train
What’s a man to do if he doesn’t have a ute?
Two train commuters in Australia had a creative answer to that question, when they showed that without a truck, known in Australian slang as a “ute”, furniture can be transported cheaply by public transport.
In two separate incidents at Bowen Hills train station in Brisbane, men single-handedly moved a couch and a fridge on trains, as seen in CCTV footage released by Queensland Rail on Tuesday.
“Please book a removalist”, was the rail network’s advice in a tweet tagged #TrainEtiquetteTuesday, a series it has prescribing better commuter behaviour.
The man moving the fridge wheeled it on a trolley onto a train but was shortly discovered by transit officers, who fined him $250 for his oversized item. He was also fined for fare dodging, media reported.
Both incidents were filmed in April.
It is illegal to board a train on the Queensland Rail system with an item that cannot be stored below a seat, in an overhead rack, or in a designated storage area.
Today’s #TrainEtiquetteTuesday is a simple one: please book a removalist ? pic.twitter.com/Cp2YwhOfl6
— Queensland Rail (@QueenslandRail) July 11, 2017