Smoking on the train.

[Mikw]

Interesting thread, i'm more concerned with excessive alchohol consumption on trains as a rule as that can lead to very dangerous behaviour.
Like some others here i probably wouldn't challenge a smoker either. But if they've also been drinking excessively they could carelessly set fire to the train.
On another tangent, what about people breaking wind? A few years ago i was on a late night train and it was full of football fans who were having a trumping competition.
I have to confess i was laughing too much to function properly but an elderly man stood up to confront them because his wife "had bad lungs and couldn't breathe properly". To my surprise they actually moved carriage.

 

[Deepgreen]

In general I would tell a smoker to stop smoking, unless I felt worried for my safety if I did. It's totally unacceptable.

Me too - I detest it. To those who say mind your own business - it IS my business when I am breathing in their smoke. Of course, as with anything else, each case needs assessing on the risks involved but I am not afraid to speak up (and I happen to be big enough not to be intimidated very easily).

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Jul 2023 ==

Interesting thread, i'm more concerned with excessive alchohol consumption on trains as a rule as that can lead to very dangerous behaviour.
Like some others here i probably wouldn't challenge a smoker either. But if they've also been drinking excessively they could carelessly set fire to the train.
On another tangent, what about people breaking wind? A few years ago i was on a late night train and it was full of football fans who were having a trumping competition.
I have to confess i was laughing too much to function properly but an elderly man stood up to confront them because his wife "had bad lungs and couldn't breathe properly". To my surprise they actually moved carriage.

Unusual vape flavour!

 

[Gerald Fiennes]

Does now seem to be a lot of vaping going on now on trains. Unfortunately, it's really obvious from the lurid smell but people seem to think that it's not very noticeable. So, for me, time to move down the train but, if it becomes widely known that the smoking/vaping ban is not being enforced by the industry, then this issue probably will only get worse.

I am only travelling for leisure, normally, so have choices: and am travelling less on TL for this reason....

 

[Master29]

Interesting thread, i'm more concerned with excessive alcohol consumption on trains as a rule as that can lead to very dangerous behaviour.
Like some others here i probably wouldn't challenge a smoker either. But if they've also been drinking excessively they could carelessly set fire to the train.
On another tangent, what about people breaking wind? A few years ago i was on a late night train and it was full of football fans who were having a trumping competition.
I have to confess i was laughing too much to function properly but an elderly man stood up to confront them because his wife "had bad lungs and couldn't breathe properly". To my surprise they actually moved carriage.

This is true as well and it is certainly more widespread. I suppose it isn't breaking the law and like you I`m not a fan of this either. The point most people miss is that you are encroaching into personal space both physically and mentally. I`m certain this has been discussed before and may be should be addressed again but perhaps on another thread.

 

[peteb]

Just completed a 3 month interrail which comprised several hundred individual journeys on both local services around big European cities as well as the usual long distance routes. I saw noone smoking on trains at all, which was perhaps just lucky, however I saw people smoking at virtually every station platform, which perhaps explained it. Maybe if you can dash off the train for a quick ciggy you are less likely to feel the urge to light up on the train itself?

 

[Joey Beauchamp]

When my train pauses for 10-15 minutes at Northampton, I usually step off just in case any freight comes through and to stretch my legs. The only other people I've ever seen do the same are smokers or vapers. I would contend that this isn't anti-social: they are thinking about their fellow passengers and causing no harm to anyone but themselves (apart from possibly chucking their fag butts on the platform).

 

[E27007]

When my train pauses for 10-15 minutes at Northampton, I usually step off just in case any freight comes through and to stretch my legs. The only other people I've ever seen do the same are smokers or vapers. I would contend that this isn't anti-social: they are thinking about their fellow passengers and causing no harm to anyone but themselves (apart from possibly chucking their fag butts on the platform).

Isn't it an offence to smoke on the platform? I believe their is a ban of smoking (and vaping) on all station premises enclosed or not

 

[1D54]

Apart from the fact it is against the law to smoke on a platform. It can be confusing on even the larger stations in Germany though as there are signs all over the place telling you it is a smoke free station but at the end of the platforms there are ashtrays in place where smokers congregate sometimes in large numbers.

 

[Joey Beauchamp]

Isn't it an offence to smoke on the platform? I believe their is a ban of smoking (and vaping) on all station premises enclosed or not

It definitely isn't allowed, but I still think the act of stepping off the train onto an empty platform to smoke or vape isn't anti-social behaviour. It's often the case that clubs, gig Venues, football grounds, etc have smoking areas outside. This is because people are cooped up for a period of time and alcohol is available. I don't see why smoking / vaping can't be permitted on clearly signed areas of the platform - that are wide enough and haven't got canopies.

 

[Neo9320]

Isn't it an offence to smoke on the platform? I believe their is a ban of smoking (and vaping) on all station premises enclosed or not

Open, unmanned stations have no restrictions, except in certain areas such as shelters.
One example is highbridge & burnham, where you will find no announcements or signage telling you smoking is prohibited.


I still leave the station boundaries if I need a smoke though. Force of habit now!

 

[Joey Beauchamp]

Open, unmanned stations have no restrictions, except in certain areas such as shelters.
One example is highbridge & burnham, where you will find no announcements or signage telling you smoking is prohibited.


I still leave the station boundaries if I need a smoke though. Force of habit now!

I don't think this is true - most (clearly not all) stations do have a "smoking is not permitted anywhere on the station premises" or similar sign at or on the gate as a bare minimum. Even tiny halts like Doleham where you're unlikely to meet anyone else!

 

[yorkie]

Open, unmanned stations have no restrictions, except in certain areas such as shelters.
One example is highbridge & burnham, where you will find no announcements or signage telling you smoking is prohibited.


I still leave the station boundaries if I need a smoke though. Force of habit now!

It's still prohibited but if it's open air and no-one is around, the reality is they will get away with it.

 

[furnessvale]

Was he smoking or vaping? If smoking I'd have thought the pollution would have caused others to complain.

Vaping is at least as bad as smoking. Users claim they only emit water vapour. For that to happen their bodies would have to absorb 100% of whatever they inhale. That is patently untrue as I can clearly smell whatever chemical is in the stuff to "sweeten" the mix. Water vapour has no smell.

 

[Tester]

I think worthy of consideration is the way it is dealt with in Victoria, Australia.

In simple terms, if there is nothing between you and the sky you can smoke - if there is something you can't.

 

[Deepgreen]

Open, unmanned stations have no restrictions, except in certain areas such as shelters.
One example is highbridge & burnham, where you will find no announcements or signage telling you smoking is prohibited.


I still leave the station boundaries if I need a smoke though. Force of habit now!

Not true. Smoking is prohibited at all stations, in all areas. How enforceable that is is another matter, of course. Betchworth is my local station and is extremely quiet and open. The platforms have ridiculously wordy GWR signs about no smoking when a simple 'No Smoking' should be sufficient.

 

[styles]

I'd text 61016. BTP might be too stretched to deal with it, but that's their call to make.

The example of somebody smoking in a shelter, I'm probably not that bothered about. If it was chucking it down and the shelter was the only dry place to stand I might ask them to stop. I'm generally not too concerned about the no smoking on platforms rule though; as long as it's an open or semi-open space. While I don't personally smoke on the regular, I'd be in favour of something like SBB's approach which is to ban it in enclosed spaces, but on an open platform or under a shelter, fair game. Last I looked at the research, while outdoor second-hand smoke is still harmful, it's just nowhere near the same scale; and smoking outdoors is generally permitted.

 

[Mike Machin]

I would be rather irritated if I found someone smoking on a train now, but back in the 1970s the cigarette smoke was so thick in peak times, it wasn't even possible to see clearly from one end of a SR 5-bay suburban semi-open second to the other!

 

[railfan99]

Life's a lot easier when you just decide some things don't bother you so much. Yes, smoking on a train is not nice at all. But so what? I'm not going to rat a smoker out to the police.

It stinks, gets in one's hair and on clothes and while we don't want to exaggerate, it's unpleasant or worse for the significant percentage of individuals who suffer from asthma.

 

[Joey Beauchamp]

Ironically, the rules around smoking at busier stations can sometimes make the second hand smoke problem worse as smokers all congregate around the entrance where it's crowded, often blocking the flow of people entering and exiting. See Birmingham New Street, London Euston and Brighton. Although in these instances there's probably no better place - would have to be the platform ends at New Street which are too thin for that purpose.

 

[Master29]

Ironically, the rules around smoking at busier stations can sometimes make the second hand smoke problem worse as smokers all congregate around the entrance where it's crowded, often blocking the flow of people entering and exiting. See Birmingham New Street, London Euston and Brighton. Although in these instances there's probably no better place - would have to be the platform ends at New Street which are too thin for that purpose.

You can add Paddington to that list but to be fair I`d rather they did it there than on the train itself.

 

[Deepgreen]

Ironically, the rules around smoking at busier stations can sometimes make the second hand smoke problem worse as smokers all congregate around the entrance where it's crowded, often blocking the flow of people entering and exiting. See Birmingham New Street, London Euston and Brighton. Although in these instances there's probably no better place - would have to be the platform ends at New Street which are too thin for that purpose.

Which would be illegal anyway.

 

[1D54]

When you think of the vile diesel fumes we all used to have to put up with at New Street a few years ago cigarette smoke would be a blessed relief.

 

[Falcon1200]

Smoking is prohibited at all stations, in all areas.

AFAIK in Scotland smoking is only prohibited in enclosed station areas, eg shelters, plus possibly throughout major stations such as Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley. However personally I am not bothered by smoking anywhere outside, as it is always possible to keep well away.

 

[Joey Beauchamp]

Which would be illegal anyway.

I feel like this is going round in circles, but I don't think it is illegal. It is prohibited by the railway companies (in this case Network Rail), but they could choose to assign any outdoor area as a smoking area, be it within the station footprint or not.

 

[Kilopylae]

I don't see why smoking / vaping can't be permitted on clearly signed areas of the platform - that are wide enough and haven't got canopies.

Have a read of this thread for a taste of the kind of exaggeratedly puritanical attitudes that stand in the way of the railway embracing such a common-sense option. (Or in other words, it's unpleasant to others, dangerous, unnecessary, sets a bad example to children, sticks in people's hair, is a fire hazard on a warm day...)

The odds of any rule change in present-day society to make the world less inhospitable to smokers are nil.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Didn't think my earlier posts were particularly controversial in light of similar posts by others, but clearly I've put some people's noses out of joint. The majority have spoken, so allow me to try and reiterate in more 'diplomatic' terms:

Personally I don't see people breaching the smoking ban on trains very often, so I was surprised it happens often enough to justify a thread. I'm well aware that others' experiences may differ though.

I'm not a particularly big or intimidating person, so if I did encounter someone smoking on board I'd consider moving to be the safer option. For those with a bit more confidence or of a more intimidating build, by all means challenge them. Just be aware that if they're not bothered about breaking the rule about smoking on trains, they might also break the rules about carrying weapons and such things.

Again I didn't think I was being particularly controversial or confrontational, but if anyone was offended I hope they're reassured that it wasn't my intention.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 13 Jul 2023 ==

It definitely isn't allowed, but I still think the act of stepping off the train onto an empty platform to smoke or vape isn't anti-social behaviour. It's often the case that clubs, gig Venues, football grounds, etc have smoking areas outside. This is because people are cooped up for a period of time and alcohol is available. I don't see why smoking / vaping can't be permitted on clearly signed areas of the platform - that are wide enough and haven't got canopies.

Up until relatively recently German stations had such areas, hence there still being ashtrays provided (which someone mentioned earlier). This included areas underneath roofs or canopies at places like Frankfurt-Main Hbf and Nuremberg Hbf.

 

[Sly Sloth]

As a member of staff that has to pass on late night trains please text the BTP number because I don’t want to have to be put in a position where you want ME to deal with it……..and I’d imagine I’m not the only 1

 

[djw]

It stinks, gets in one's hair and on clothes and while we don't want to exaggerate, it's unpleasant or worse for the significant percentage of individuals who suffer from asthma.

<puts hand up>

I am amongst those asthmatics who have allergic triggers, and the biggest trigger for me is tobacco smoke. Even being near someone who is smoking outdoors can trigger an asthma attack for me. Someone smoking in an enclosed space where I could not leave (I am also a wheelchair user) could lead to me collapsing or an even worse outcome.

 

[Western Sunset]

Where's Charles Bronson or Denzel Washington, when you want them?

 

[heathrowrail]

Had this myself on the EL last week. Three yobs got onboard at Hanwell and proceeded to start puffing vape everywhere, looking at everyone to see who was going to tell them off. Thankfully they got off at West Ealing. If it had been in Devon I would have said something but up in London you never know if they're carrying a knife, gun or whatever.