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Sadly, this kind of pathetic behaviour is evident in many other places beyond Merseyside.
I don't think it's necessarily a reflection on Formby - it's likely these human specimens have travelled on a train from elsewhere and are not necessarily locals.
No doubt, the Easter holidays will see more ASB as the kids fill their time inflicting misery on others. Let's hope those responsible for this appaling incident are identified and dealt with asap.
Not a pleasant network to travel on from my experience lately after dark. Seems to have become a free-for-all kids joy ride of a night in recent years.
Sadly, this kind of pathetic behaviour is evident in many other places beyond Merseyside.
I don't think it's necessarily a reflection on Formby - it's likely these human specimens have travelled on a train from elsewhere and are not necessarily locals.
No doubt, the Easter holidays will see more ASB as the kids fill their time inflicting misery on others. Let's hope those responsible for this appaling incident are identified and dealt with asap.
It probably isn't. There is a known problem at the moment of ASB in Town Green around the new Co-op (a converted pub probably more use to the community than the rubbish pub that was previously there; if you're in Town Green and want a nice pub the one to go for is the one by St Michael's Church) and the Police have stated it's kids from closer to Liverpool travelling up by train (without paying, obviously) rather than local kids. That doesn't go to say there isn't any ASB from local Aughton kids ever, of course there is, but it's not exactly a hive of it.
It would probably be solved if Merseyrail was to install gatelines on all the stations where it's physically possible. They are staffed for the full period of service, so the gatelines would always be closed, and would also deal with "but the ticket office bloke wasn't there" fare dodgers. A similar problem exists based on the South London DOO commuter lines, where most stations are not gated, and similarly gating them would go a long way to fixing both on-board and related ASB.
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Not a pleasant network to travel on from my experience lately after dark. Seems to have become a free-for-all kids joy ride of a night in recent years.
What's happened to the rent-a-thugs who were meant to have improved things in the evenings from the slightly rough state of things in the 90s? Are they concentrating on penalty faring and feet on seats? (Not that those things shouldn't be dealt with, but ASB that is making people avoid using the system should be higher priority).
The problem with gate lines is they are only provided to tick boxes and the potential they provide is largely overlooked thanks to lack of training, lack of enthusiasm from management who see them as an inconvenience and by only installing the Essential part of the kit needed to tick that DfT box. It’s not helped by the fact they are often stafffed by (and this is in no way detrimental to gate line staff) people who don’t have any enforcement powers or with little to no experience with ticketing.
Ticket barriers can tell operators when a ticket has been used and where, wether the discount code is correct for the holder and fare evasion and fraud can easily be detected IF the equipment to interact with the gate line staff was provided - in many locations it isn’t - and the staff are given the training, ability and authority to enforce and in my opinion so they should be. But this is a symptom of a far bigger problem across the industry that revenue protection isn’t taken anywhere near seriously enough to be as effective as it could be and it this that I think is detriment to the staff that do the best with the tools they do have to provide what I think should be an essential role. Only by taking revenue protection seriously will gate lines be able to provide the safety and security they are capable of doing. Ultimately it’s not massively different to the gate lines at airports albeit with the ability to turn up and go and without the security levels And we don’t see that as inconvenient…..
It probably isn't. There is a known problem at the moment of ASB in Town Green around the new Co-op (a converted pub probably more use to the community than the rubbish pub that was previously there; if you're in Town Green and want a nice pub the one to go for is the one by St Michael's Church) and the Police have stated it's kids from closer to Liverpool travelling up by train (without paying, obviously) rather than local kids. That doesn't go to say there isn't any ASB from local Aughton kids ever, of course there is, but it's not exactly a hive of it.
It would probably be solved if Merseyrail was to install gatelines on all the stations where it's physically possible. They are staffed for the full period of service, so the gatelines would always be closed, and would also deal with "but the ticket office bloke wasn't there" fare dodgers. A similar problem exists based on the South London DOO commuter lines, where most stations are not gated, and similarly gating them would go a long way to fixing both on-board and related ASB.
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What's happened to the rent-a-thugs who were meant to have improved things in the evenings from the slightly rough state of things in the 90s? Are they concentrating on penalty faring and feet on seats? (Not that those things shouldn't be dealt with, but ASB that is making people avoid using the system should be higher priority).
The days of all merseyrail stations being staffed are pretty much dead in the water im afraid.
As with the rest of the country the repeated lockdowns seemed to be an open invite to the more unsavoury elements in society and once they get in it becomes a lot harder to change.
Unfortunately the Carlisle security guards that they have on Merseyrail can be very provocative and sometimes cause trouble. There has been a case where some have been prosecuted recently for assaulting a passenger. They are not called rent a thug for nothing and I actually think sometimes they cause more trouble than they solve.
Their presence on the network causes intimidation and all they do is get on the train looking for an easy passenger to fine, either for not having a ticket or having their feet on the seats rather than actually solving real anti-social behaviour.
I've heard reports of a girl having her phone stolen at knifepoint in Knutsford a man being assaulted in Wilmslow. A posh reputation doesn't mean no crime or that they aren't scum living locally.
And as everyone knows, no posh person's kid has ever tried to rebel against their inherent poshness.
And nobody has ever witnessed posh people being anti-social. In fact we all rejoice if we're in a pub and a group of youngsters come in proudly announcing they're from Blah University's rugby team. They're always so, so polite and considerate of others.
I've heard reports of a girl having her phone stolen at knifepoint in Knutsford a man being assaulted in Wilmslow. A posh reputation doesn't mean no crime or that they aren't scum living locally.
Certainly in Aughton/Ormskirk much of it arrives from Skem and Kirkby. When we were burgled they were caught and had come from Kirkby, for one. Posh-town originating ASB/crime is generally either drugs-related (so self-contained - it does give you a lot of knife crime but it won't happen to you if not involved) or low level (e.g. playing awful "music" out loud on your brand new iPhone Pro or Bose speaker).
Sadly not limited to the railway, the other week a couple of PCSOs were assaulted by a gang of kids in the Harrogate (another area you might think of as 'posh') McDonalds
As a kid growing up in the late 80s / 90s sure I got up to a bit of mischief now and again but always had respect for the authorities which seems long gone, I suspect social media is to blame for a lot of it sadly
The UK is unfortunately so woke these days that anybody who doesn’t wish to pay train fares or respect law can do what they want not just on the trains but in society as a whole .
Police are so understaffed and unmotivated it’s comical due to Theresa Mays huge cuts a few years ago. The streets are replaced by poorly trained/payed private security who have absolute zero power and everyone knows it apart from detached government ministers
The railway needs a proactive police force that would help solve the problems, unfortunately the present btp are next to useless as they are invisible.
When you see them they just show their face and go back into the office to hide, it's a shame things are getting so bad but it's systematic of the society we live in unfortunately.
Just because an area is posh, doesn't mean its residents are incapable of misbehaving. One station I work thro is in so called stockbroker belt, and we get more problems there, than nearly all of the other stations I work thro, and they arent kids from other areas, they live there. I wouldnt want to wait for a train there after 7pm.
Every now and again somebody complains Godalming has ASB youths when term time comes and I always smile because it's such a leafy little outback between Guildford and the Harbour. Point is it can happen anywhere, no area is completely well off or completely poor and sometimes kids go somewhere just for something to do or for a place they won't be bothered, not because they have any business there.
The UK is unfortunately so woke these days that anybody who doesn’t wish to pay train fares or respect law can do what they want not just on the trains but in society as a whole .
This is a strange reply - are you understanding what the term woke means 'alert to injustice in society, especially racism.' or are you using it in some other manner?
Sadly i see this behaviour all too often from my clients and whilst some do get the help they need others just get churned through the system because, quite simply, many perceive they have nothing better to do
Every now and again somebody complains Godalming has ASB youths when term time comes and I always smile because it's such a leafy little outback between Guildford and the Harbour. Point is it can happen anywhere, no area is completely well off or completely poor and sometimes kids go somewhere just for something to do or for a place they won't be bothered, not because they have any business there.
This is a strange reply - are you understanding what the term woke means 'alert to injustice in society, especially racism.' or are you using it in some other manner?
Sadly i see this behaviour all too often from my clients and whilst some do get the help they need others just get churned through the system because, quite simply, many perceive they have nothing better to do
"Woke" seems to be the present day trendy insult used by those who don't like their opinions and world view challenged, and don't want to consider the person challenging their opinions might actually have a valid point, because it would set off the cognitive dissonance alarm.
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