A drunk passenger tried to hitch a ride home on the ROOF of a train because he couldn’t afford the fare home, a court heard.
Andrew Merrett, 26, sprinted across two live railway lines before scaling the front of the locomotive on June 28.
He was seen moments before dancing on his own on the platform before making his dash for freedom across the tracks at around 8.20am.
Luckily, staff at Shrewsbury Railway Station managed to grab Merrett before the train set off and drag him back to the platform.
He was later arrested before being released on bail, which he failed to answer last week.
Merrett, from Coventry, West Mids., was eventually tacked down in Birmingham and arrested again before appearing before Shrewsbury Magistrates Court on Monday.
He admitted one charge of trespassing on railway lines and was fined £55 for that offence and #110 for failing to surrender to bail.
JPs also ordered him to pay a £20 victim surcharge and £85 costs.
Chair of the magistrate bench Charles Nunnerley told Merrett: “You potentially put other rail passengers in danger”.
Prosecutor Andrew Burke added: “He ran across the tracks and crossed over three sets of running lines between platform three and four.
“He and then attempted to climb on to the front of a stationary train as it was about to leave.”
Ian Durrant, defending, said: “This was a case of absolute sheer stupidity and nothing any more sinister.
“His life could well have been in severe danger as well as other people and he now realises that his actions were wrong.”
Speaking after the case shamefaced Merrett said he was drunk at the time and admitted his actions were “stupid”.
He said: “I don’t even know what happened.
“It was a really stupid thing to do.”
