Complaint against ‘Big Man’ rail passenger who intervened in ticket row

Another passenger on the service, Ian Hems, filmed the incident on Friday and uploaded the video to YouTube, where it has now been watched over one million times.

British Transport Police would not confirm who had made the complaint.

In the footage, a youth is seen to remonstrate with the conductor, who accuses him of having an invalid ticket.

The video starts with the conductor asking the youth to leave, telling him: “I can sit here all night. I’m getting paid for this but these folk will start moaning: not at me, at you. Why should they pay and you no?” The student swears and says he has paid but is told he only has a single ticket for the other direction.

When the passenger refuses to exit the train, another man - who has since been dubbed “Big Man” - intervenes and removes him from the carriage.

But the student at the centre of the row has claimed that he had mistakenly bought the wrong ticket and was hoping to explain this to the conductor.

Falkirk student Sam Main, 19, told BBC Radio Scotland: “I was given no time to explain myself. It wasn’t even an argument.

“There was a discussion with trying to explain myself for about a minute and then the conductor started shouting at me.

“Then the guy just grabbed me and chucked me off the train.”

The youth is then seen to try to get back on the train, but is repeatedly pushed back on to the platform at Linlithgow station by the man.

Yesterday, the youth’s father Lenny Main, 43, told the Daily Record newspaper: “This big guy has basically thrown him head-first on to the platform. Sam’s landed on his face and has a big graze. He had no right to do what he did.”

A spokesman for British Transport Police said: “A complaint has been received and inquiries are ongoing into the incident.”