No Alcohol Sales To Under 25s?

[tbtc]

The East Coast HST I was on yesterday had an announcement that no alcohol could be sold to under 25s, even with proof of age.

Is this the case, did I mishear, or was this a "one off"?

I know shops ID people who look under 25, but will sell them booze if they can proove it. Seemed strange for trains not to sell the stuff to those with proof of age.

 

[12CSVT]

I know some of you will disagree, but I'd welcome a blanket ban on alcohol on public transport similar to the one in force on London Underground. All too often at late evenings and at weekends I have had to endure train loads of rowdy football supporters and pub / nightclub goers. Whilst I know the vast majority of us can drink sensibly the behaviour of some can be intimidating to others.

 

[jd]

I know some of you will disagree, but I'd welcome a blanket ban on alcohol on public transport similar to the one in force on London Underground. All too often at late evenings and at weekends I have had to endure train loads of rowdy football supporters and pub / nightclub goers. Whilst I know the vast majority of us can drink sensibly the behaviour of some can be intimidating to others.

Surely at least some if not most of those people got drunk before getting on the train though? In which case an alcohol ban wouldn't really have any effect?

 

[northwichcat]

What use is the under 25 sales ban on the train? I think most under 25s would be priced out of buying alcohol on board.

The last time I encountered a rowdy drunken bunch on a train they were aged between around 30 and 45.

 

[YorkshireBear]

yeah exactly, and to be honest under 25's arnt the worst, 30 year old women who think a male uni student on his own is a suitable target for sexual jokes and advances.... not a pleasent experience what so ever..... especially not in rotherham....

The ban may have an effect on match days but cannot seeing it having an effect at other times....

you can stop drunk people flying? can you do anything similar on trains?

 

[northwichcat]

The law says you can't be drunk and disorderly, so I wouldn't see why rail staff can't stop someone from boarding if they are drunk and disorderly.

 

[Sapphire Blue]

It is also against the law to sell/serve alcohol to anyone who is drunk.

 

[cuccir]

yeah exactly, and to be honest under 25's arnt the worst, 30 year old women who think a male uni student on his own is a suitable target for sexual jokes and advances.... not a pleasent experience what so ever..... especially not in rotherham....

Haha, I try to avoid the 21:50 train between Newcastle and Middlesbrough, it can be a harrowing experience for similar reasons!

Seriously, though, I've never heard of a policy like this on a train or anywhere in this country. There were some dry trains yesterday up the ECML (can't remember what time as I wasn't using them, just noticed them advertised on Saturday), maybe it was an extension of that? Alternatively I wonder if this was someone getting confused over the 'ID Under25s' rule? Whilst dry trains are a little annoying, at least it's fair for everyone; I'd have thought that if East Coast genuinely attempted to prevent the sale to under 25s on a train there would be some sort of age discrimination regulation that they'd be falling foul of.

 

[Greenback]

I doubt there are many cases of people of any age becoming a nuisance because of alcohol purchased on board a train. By far the worst cases I've seen have been as a result of cheap supermarket booze bought before travel and brought on board, or as a result of being drunk before arriving at the station in the frist place. Therefore, I can't understand this policy!

 

[trentside]

As someone who is under 25, I wouldn't normally choose to purchase alcohol while travelling - to be honest, I don't really drink full stop, but this policy seems a little out of order. If you're offering something for sale, it should be available to all of legal age to purchase it. The majority of alcohol related disorder (and other problems) I've witnessed on the railways has been caused by people who are clearly over 25, who are already drunk when they arrive at the station.

I'd support the idea of a blanket ban on alcohol on all forms of public transport. As Greenback says, by far the biggest problem seems to be those who turn up to travel drunk, or carting around loads of cheap supermarket booze. Not only does this make others feel uncomfortable, but it usually results in the train getting covered in beer, empty cans and the unmistakable stench of drunk people, and stale alcohol. This makes the journey very unpleasant for others.

 

[trainfanatic]

While I was waiting at Grantham for the 0942 Hull train service to London on Saturday, an announcement was made that the 0940 EC Grantham to Edinburgh service was a 'dry' train and no alcohol was being served on board.

 

[scotsman]

It sounds like a misinterpretation of Gov't policy (such as the type often found in Wetherspoons/Wetherspoon's daft policy).

'THINK 25' requires that all retailers ask for proof of age from customers who appear to be under the age of 25 and refuse sale of alcohol to them if they cannot provide it.

Or, EC may have decided that they don't want anyone over 25 to buy alcohol - which sounds a bit daft.

 

[Simon11]

As a student, if I wished to have a few drinks on the train, I would purchase them from a shop outside the station, never pay the high prices on the trains

As I have also had 2 drunk ladies in mid 30s come and join me while travelling on a train in Wales. Both started asking questions and being annoying. But begining a gentlemen, i kept chatting and was actually quite fun

In fact, I've never seen people under 25 drunk on a train before, only adults 30+

 

[Patrick]

I also would fully support an alchohol ban on all public transport, last thing you want on a late train home is a bunch of drunks acting like idiots, I had to put up with a bunch of chav girls who stank of alcohol back from Euston a few months ago and it wasn't a pleasant journey at all.

 

[Simon11]

Patrick, you support an alchohol ban, however it wouldn't solve the problem you described. The chav girls wouldn't have got drunk by drinking booze at the shop on the train, rather from their night out!

 

[Patrick]

Patrick, you support an alchohol ban, however it wouldn't solve the problem you described. The chav girls wouldn't have got drunk by drinking booze at the shop on the train, rather from their night out!

Well tbh if they're that drunk that they're making a scene and are clearly going to make travel an uncomfortable experience for their fellow passengers then they should be asked to leave the train before it departs.

 

[yorksrob]

Personally, I think that a lot of it is hysteria.

We already have a perfectly sensible legal drinking age of 18. We also have perfectly sensible laws against being drunk and disorderly and selling alcohol to the inebriated (not to mention bylaws about being drunk and incapable on the railway).

Why not have a go at enforcing some of these for a change, rather than the usual stock response of lets ban everything whether it makes any difference or not.

 

[rail-britain]

Challenge 25 is just that
If the seller thinks the buyer looks or is under 25 then they refuse and ask for ID to be presented

I think most people between 18 and 24 are familiar with this now

 

[142094]

Personally, I think that a lot of it is hysteria.

So do I. A lot of the problem is the culture of drinking in this country, yet challenge 25 isn't going to stop this.

As has been pointed out a blanket ban wouldn't have much effect, you'd still have people turning up drunk or having had a few before getting on the train. Plus I bet there is quite a large profit made on each can of beer sold on the train - when you think you could get it in the supermarket for around 50p per can and they sell for £3+ in a lot of cases on trains. In addition there have been many a few supposedly "dry" trains where people had no problem getting bottles and cans past BTP.

 

[Chapeltom]

As someone who has just turned 18 and travels quite a bit I do enjoy a drink to relax me on a long ride. A trip 3/4 hours home (including waiting) can be hard going at 5/6 on a Saturday evening!

Alcohol is expensive on trains, so when I can get 4 cans for £3 I'd always take the "buy before boarding" option!

 

[466.networkers]

I wish drinking on public transport would be banned as well, as I had a nasty experience on my train home earlier ...

It was formed of a single Class 466, and before I alighted at Kemsley, I saw a fellow alightee had been drinking cider, and had a pint can of Strongbow in his hand ....
I alighted at the rear of the train, where I thought I was safe from the drunk, but he made his way through the train, being irritating to the other passengers, all cos he wanted a paper for his baccy! He stumbled up to me, showed me the baccy, and asked if I had a paper, I said no, as did the other people standing near me (we were having a nice chat before he turned up!). I told him where to get a paper for his cigarette, he then starting being rude and aggressive, after assuring him (quite quickly) that no, I wasn't lying, he stumbled off.
At Queenborough, I had a quick chat with the conductor that he was on the train and being a nuisance and drunk. He was soon turfed off for 1) having no ticket and 2) being drunk. As the train pulled away, I could hear him effing and blinding at the train!

That's one reason why alcohol should be banned from public transport!

(Apologies for the essay ...)

 

[cuccir]

I wish drinking on public transport would be banned as well, as I had a nasty experience on my train home earlier ...

It was formed of a single Class 466, and before I alighted at Kemsley, I saw a fellow alightee had been drinking cider, and had a pint can of Strongbow in his hand ....
I alighted at the rear of the train, where I thought I was safe from the drunk, but he made his way through the train, being irritating to the other passengers, all cos he wanted a paper for his baccy! He stumbled up to me, showed me the baccy, and asked if I had a paper, I said no, as did the other people standing near me (we were having a nice chat before he turned up!). I told him where to get a paper for his cigarette, he then starting being rude and aggressive, after assuring him (quite quickly) that no, I wasn't lying, he stumbled off.
At Queenborough, I had a quick chat with the conductor that he was on the train and being a nuisance and drunk. He was soon turfed off for 1) having no ticket and 2) being drunk. As the train pulled away, I could hear him effing and blinding at the train!

That's one reason why alcohol should be banned from public transport!

(Apologies for the essay ...)

But if acohol was banned would this man have not used the train? He had no ticket so least wasn't too bothered by the rules. By the sound of things he'd have been drunk before getting on as well. It sounds like a busy train so a fairly safe environment - basically, he was a bit of a nuisance but no more. I agree with comments above thatwe should look to encourage changes in drinking behaviour thru minimum pricing, harsher penalties for D and D, and more support to help alcoholics recover. I don't think blanket bans are fair, or work!

 

[moonrakerz]

Personally, I think that a lot of it is hysteria.

We already have a perfectly sensible legal drinking age of 18. We also have perfectly sensible laws against being drunk and disorderly and selling alcohol to the inebriated (not to mention bylaws about being drunk and incapable on the railway).

Why not have a go at enforcing some of these for a change, rather than the usual stock response of lets ban everything whether it makes any difference or not.

Absolutely correct !!!

 

[route101]

The trains heading into Glasgow at the weekend are full of drinkers . Its a tradtion to get a some cans for the train . Darn annoyying if your lonesome tho. Got served on the train when i was 17

 

[Lee_Again]

Maybe the answer is to only allow passengers in 1st Class, or those having wine with a meal, to drink.

 

[BrummyBoy]

Alcohol is expensive on trains, so when I can get 4 cans for £3 I'd always take the "buy before boarding" option![/QUOTE]


Same here save money where you can.

On a more serious note i can't see TOC's banning the sale of drinks as they must be making quite a bit of profit from it (particually friday/saturday nights).

 

[asylumxl]

The issue is not banning them from drinking on the train, it's getting the TOC staff to enforce the rules by not allowing drunk people onboard.

 

[SWT_USER]

As a football fan who travels to away games by train I would be strongly opposed to a drinking ban! Id like to think my group at least doesn't make other peoples trips hell..

 

[Simon Poole]

Challenge 25 is just that
If the seller thinks the buyer looks or is under 25 then they refuse and ask for ID to be presented

I think most people between 18 and 24 are familiar with this now

I should know that, i work in a Supermarket

i Remenber one day that i was ttravelling to work and there were an load of football fans who were drinking or already had some beer, when myself and they got off at Stafford, they needed extra Station Staff on Platform 5

 

[cuccir]

The issue is not banning them from drinking on the train, it's getting the TOC staff to enforce the rules by not allowing drunk people onboard.

True, but this is not a straight forward issue: I wouldn't like to be the staff member trying to stop three or four large drunken men getting on to a train. The staff would need adequate support from the BTP to try and enforce these rules.