From this shock news piece that Central Trains are still naming and shaming fare dodgers on posters in stations comes this great quote:

Russell Price from Central Trains said: "These people may have thought they'd save some extra cash for the January sales, but instead fare dodging has cost them dearly."

It costs £1.80 for a return into town from Bournville, £3.10 at peak times. I wonder what you could buy in the January sales for that? Half a CD? Some socks from Primark? Maybe they were after a widescreen TV but were just a few quid short?

In all seriousness, this gives out a pretty stupid message - that traveling on Central Trains is so expensive that if you don't do it you can buy lots of other things. And as someone who used to not pay in the 90s and does now, the main motivation is the fact that the system is crawling with inspectors these days, not some posters that nobody reads.