Leaving a platform through a staff-only exit

[ChewChewTrain]

At Paddington, there is a large gate between P1 and P2/3 which swings open under power when one of those buggy things needs to get through, then closes again afterwards. Actually, it’s a pair of gates.

Yesterday, unusually, it had been left open, and passengers were casually walking through without anyone seeming to care. I presume these people weren’t committing any offence as long as they held valid tickets, since with the gate being open there was no obvious indication that they shouldn’t go that way. Quite handy for the Elizabeth Line, actually.

However, I have also seen the occasional person push their way through the gap in the middle when the gate is “closed”. Are they committing any offence on top of their presumed lack of ticket? I suppose it would at least demonstrate pretty cast iron intent to evade the fare.

Would the answer be the same for the little staff walkways where the buffers are, or would that count as trespassing on the railway?

 

[SCDR_WMR]

Are they signs saying "Do not Enter" or "Staff Authorised Walking Route" or similar?

If there are signs like these then I'd imagine a bylaw would cover such situations. I know Euston staff will stop anyone attempting to walk pass the buffer stops, the gates are clearly marked as staff only.

 

[mikeb42]

It's not unusual for them to be left open for a while, though thinking about it it's probably mostly at night when the gatelines are routinely open anyway.

I've walked through them dozens possibly hundreds of times. On occasion it's been when the gatelines are closed. On occasion the gatelines on the footbridge are open when the ones at the platform ends are closed so what's the practical difference?

Perhaps yesterday someone had wisely decided that herding passengers like cattle as usual would be adding insult to injury after inflicting yet another farcical shambles on tens of thousands of us for hours after yet another collapse of Notwork Rail's self-dismantling infrastructure between Reading and Paddington.

 

[Horizon22]

What sort of time was this? Were the regular gatelines open? Was there significant disruption?

 

[fandroid]

There are narrow walkways behind the buffers at several Waterloo platforms. I've not noticed any "no entry" notices, and they're quite useful for escaping the crowds when a full train of inexperienced passengers is trying to exit the few ticket gates that are actually displaying the green arrow.

 

[bobdoe]

It is impossible to trespass at a train station.

 

[SCDR_WMR]

It is impossible to trespass at a train station.

Really? There are many non-public areas that if found in would constitute trespass, surely.

What about on the tracks?

 

[PG]

It is impossible to trespass at a train station.

In your opinion or do you have a quotable source for this statement?

 

[Elecman]

Go into staff only areas at any Network Rail managed station without displaying a valid staff id badge and be prepared to have a no tea and no biscuit interview with the BTP

 

[skyhigh]

It is impossible to trespass at a train station.

Daft post. You try going on the tracks at a station and telling the BTP it's not trespass.

 

[Merseysider]

It is impossible to trespass at a train station.

Please avoid making factually incorrect statements.

Trespass:
Will apply in situations where someone is making a nuisance of themselves on railway premises (e.g. drunk, begging) and refusing to leave.

It will also apply if somebody trespasses on an area of the railway where the public is not allowed (e.g. tracks or embankment) but only if they are asked to leave by an employee and refuse.

Link.

 

[glasgowniteowl]

Tresspass on the tracks is one of the few places where its is a criminal offence, other places include nuclear sites, mod sites and palaces etc

Tresspass just on a station would only be a civil matter as far as I understand unless it was classed as aggravated tresspass depending on what the person was doing as far as I understand

 

[skyhigh]

Tresspass just on a station would only be a civil matter as far as I understand

No. See the post above yours.

 

[glasgowniteowl]

No. See the post above yours.

That post doesn't detail whether it's a civil or criminal trespass

Edit didn't notice the link

 

[MasterSpenny]

It is impossible to trespass at a train station.

That is 100% not true, there has been people in the past that have managed to execute trespassing successfully, based of the above posts

 

[thenorthern]

Passengers leaving through unauthorised exits although is "wrong" from personal experience it's largely up to the discretion of individual staff if it's allowed or not. For example on Class 390s at terminal stations other than Euston it's not uncommon for passengers in Coach A to leave via the cycle door at the front of the coach which technically is against the rules but I seldom see staff tell passengers off for it.

 

[bobdoe]

Daft post. You try going on the tracks at a station and telling the BTP it's not trespass.

I don't count tracks as part of a train station.

 

[Townsend Hook]

I don't count tracks as part of a train station.

As has been demonstrated in this thread an act of trespass can be committed on any part of a railway station.

 

[jon0844]

I don't count tracks as part of a train station.

Without them, can it even be a train (railway) station?

 

[zwk500]

I don't count tracks as part of a train station.

That's rather by the by. You can commit trespass on the concourse or a platform, as outlined above.

 

[BlueLeanie]

Wouldn't it be the Procurator Fiscal in Scotland or are Scottish stations covered by BTP technically in England and fall under the CPS?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Nov 2023 ==

Are they signs saying "Do not Enter" or "Staff Authorised Walking Route" or similar?

If there are signs like these then I'd imagine a bylaw would cover such situations. I know Euston staff will stop anyone attempting to walk pass the buffer stops, the gates are clearly marked as staff only.

There are many doors that say "Do not enter" or similar. Many more have a "Push" or "Pull" notice.

Unfortunately, more often than not, the notice is placed at crotch level, and eyes can be 3ft+ above that.

So if you've ever pushed a door when you should have pulled or vice versa, then you'll know that poorly positioned sign can be readily missed.

 

[al78]

Without them, can it even be a train (railway) station?

Maybe with former railway stations e.g. West Grinstead which I have seen referred to as a railway station even though the tracks were taken up decades ago.

 

[Oxfordblues]

I did this recently at Stansted Airport station. There were diabolical queues to exit the platform, so I followed a cleaner through an unofficial gap in the fence.

 

[cool110]

Without them, can it even be a train (railway) station?

Yes, Dartmouth and Hull Victoria Pier were both proper railway stations despite only having ferry services.

 

[ChewChewTrain]

What sort of time was this? Were the regular gatelines open? Was there significant disruption?

Sorry for the delay replying. It was maybe 6pm, the gatelines were closed, and there was no significant disruption that I noticed.

 

[mikeb42]

Sorry for the delay replying. It was maybe 6pm, the gatelines were closed, and there was no significant disruption that I noticed.

If we're talking about Friday 3rd Nov, there was major disruption due to a points/signal failure somewhere around West Drayton/Hayes. Just for a change - or not.

This had been ongoing for some time by 18:00 with the western part of the Elizabeth line being chaotic, all the Didcot/Newbury/Bedwyn type trains being started from Reading and major delays, cancellations and disruption to all long distance services.

When I arrived nearly an hour late at 19:00 on an IET with several trainloads of displaced passengers jammed into it the concourse was, as is usual in these circumstances, like the central circulation zone for the damned. It seemed to still be ongoing over 4 hours later on the way back out with huge gaps still in the westbound Elizabeth line service. Maybe it's like the old joke "Slough destroyed in massive explosion, no damage reported". "Paddington in chaos - no significant disruption".