Biggs - along with most of the other gang members - was subsequently captured; he received a 30 year jail sentence. But within 15 months he had made his escape from Wandsworth Prison, and since then, has been living in exile in a very different form of prison.

In 'Odd Man Out', Ronald Biggs speaks openly about the robbery and his years in exile. He reveals for the first time how he has eluded justice for so long. This is an outstanding man with an exceptional story, living on the run for over thirty years.

We interviewed the British folk hero at his home in Rio de Jeneiro

Q: You were on 60 minutes in Australia recently
R: Yeah. I happened to have this couple in for lunch when the camera crew came in and the producer wanted to keep on running whilst the couple were still here.
The interviewer asked them if they had a choice between visiting the Pope, the Queen of England, Bill Clinton or Biggs, who would they visit. The husband said well I'M a devout Catholic so I would have to say the Pope first, but then definitely I'd see Ronnie and you can forget about the other two.

Q: Is it true that people can pay to join you for lunch?
R: Well, on a very small scale yes. An Australian friend of mine runs tours in STH America and every now and then he arranges with me to have a barbecue for certain groups

Q: Were you surprised by the amount of support you received from back home despite what you did?
R: Yeah the English and so do the Aussies too for that matter. And you know this book that I just wrote is going to be coming out very soon to Australia.

Q: Lets have a look then
R : (as he finishes topping up our beers) I'll just go and get it

Q: What did you think of Buster
R: Well we were half way through and no one really liked it so the choice was to continue and see the rest of it or to turn on the Forty Towers video. So we turned on Forty Towers and I never did see the end of it

R: I was talking to Bruce Reynolds recently. His book is coming out in April. Its called the "Autobiography of a Thief" and he's a bloody good bloke, he really was a really good friend. When he left me in England with my two big bags of money I never saw him again until a year and a half ago. When he walked in thedoor to see me the first thing I said was "Got any more good ideas Bruce?"

Q: What did he say to that?
R: Well the idea was to make a movie ourselves with everyone playing a cameo role. Y'know like one would be an ice cream salesman or whatever. Preferablybefore we all go, you know what I mean, cos poor old Charlie Wilson went, he was murdered and of course Buster has gone.

Q What do you think the public in Australia and around the world want to hear about your story?
Ronald the man, the lover, the criminal, the hero?
R: Well I am no longer a criminal. I gave up that practice years ago. The last thing I stole was a box of Coca Cola from a parked truck in Adelaide. I was nice and drunk , it was New Years Eve. And that was about 28 years ago.
A hero? No I've never been a hero. I suppose I am a hero in some peoples eyes, but that was due to all the false newspaper reports. It has been rumoured that I was the brains of the robbery, but that was totally incorrect.
I've been described as the tea boy which is also incorrect.
I was involved in the robbery for a purpose and that was because I knew somebody who could drive a diesel train. I was responsible to take along this old guywho could drive the train. I don't think the public want to hear any more. I think they have had a gut full.

Q What would you like the public to think about you?
R: Well that's one of the reasons I wrote this book "Odd Man Out". There has been so much rubbish written up in the papers over the years. One report said that since my time on the run I've 'ad 2,500 girlfriends. I mean you got to realize, I've been on the run for more than 30 years, I have got to have had more than that!!
No, those reports just ain't true.

Q So how did you get involved in the great train robbery?
Bruce Reynolds was my mate and I'd phoned 'im up to ask if I could borrow some money. He said normally I would but my money is involved in a business, something I'M not allowed to talk to you about. Can I come and see you? If you can imagine the monetary value back in 1963, he offered me 40,000 pounds to participate. That was an awful lot of money. I asked for 48 hours to think about it, but I think I only needed 48 seconds.

Q What kind of childhood did you have?
R: Working class parents, dad worked on a railway as a steward on the dinning cars. He'd been a soldier, he'd been a sailor and he was a chef in his later years.
I won a scholarship with the Brixton School of Building. I screwed around, not putting in a proper attendance.
Throughout my life I never seemed to make good with all the opportunities I've had. Through building I should have come out like my pals did as an architect or a draghtsman or surveyors or something, but I hopped the wag too often. I was already into lifting stuff by that stage. We were war time kids and a lot of us were used to scrambling round the bomb sites and nicking stuff.
used to have a list of things from my school buddies of what kind of art material they wanted. Id go up to the West End of London and spend the whole dayknocking stuff off. That's how I kicked off and things went on from there...down and down.