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[TonyK]

The end of a very long era could yet be upon us, if reports in many newspapers, including the Bristol Post

Drinking on trains could be banned under new proposal from rail safety watchdog

By The Bristol Post  |  Posted: February 24, 2015


DRINKING on trains could be banned in a bid to prevent the number of passengers dying from drunkenly falling onto the lines.

Enjoying an alcoholic drink of long distance and inner-city trains could become a thing of the past if measures proposed by a rail safety watchdog after 18 people were killed and almost 250 seriously injured after falling onto the tracks over the past five years. The majority of these were intoxicated.

The proposal was one of a number of ideas put forward by the Rail Safety Standards Board, but opponents say it would be unfair to the thousands of people who drink in moderation while travelling.

The report also reveals that 48 per cent of the fatality risk on the trains occurs during boarding and alighting and that drunkenness was named as a factor in 21 of the 32 deaths in the past ten years.

It also reveals that passengers being distracted by mobile phones and tablets had caused accidents.

I am filled with dread that I may not be able to enjoy a beer or a glass of wine with my meal on a long journey. I am against drunkenness on the railway when it annoys or inconveniences sober passengers, and i am not sure that banning alcohol consumption during journeys would stop that.

[ChrisB]

Better if intoxicated pax were refused travel?......

Nanny State again. How many of those pax were already intoxicated *before* they boarded the train & how many sober & got sufficiently intoxicated while on the train? My bet all of them were the former & this would have little or no benefit.

But ban mobile phones? Oh yes please! :-)

[chrisr_75]

Posted on the thread where this originated:

I've seen both. Part of the reason why I traded my long distance train commute for the car was I was getting fed up with having my peace and quiet disturbed by idiots (mainly in First class, I would add) not being able to drink to moderation and/or maintain a decent level of behaviour when intoxicated. By not serving alcohol on (certain) trains or allowing intoxicated people to travel, the environment would be a whole lot better for everyone else, but quite how you would police that, I do not know! I think it's a pretty sad place to be if you can't manage a couple of hours on a train without getting hammered and being obnoxious!

I would add, I am certainly not against anyone enjoying a quiet G&T or glass of wine, but too many people seem to see a rail journey as a challenge to consume as much warm, overpriced Stella as possible and end up being pretty obnoxious to all others, which I personally can't abide!

[chrisr_75]

But ban mobile phones? Oh yes please! :-)

Agreed, and while you're at it, ban headphones that share music with the rest of the carriage...grrr

Maybe we should start an 'annoying things people do on trains' thread, if it's not already been done?! 

[JayMac]

Or we could just live and let live.

[ChrisB]

I really detest that attitude.....why the hell should we? We've all paid to travel on a train, so why should some have their enjoyment of their trip disturbed by unsocial morons??? Their usual suggestion of "why don't you move carriage?" also stinks, frankly.....

[grahame]

You could (of course) prevent all rail related deaths by closing all the railways ... 

[chrisr_75]

Or we could just live and let live.

Perfectly happy to as long as everyone else demonstrates a similar respect of the fact that I choose to sit in the quiet carriage because I would like a bit of peace and quiet to read, sleep, work, contemplate or whatever. Sadly that mutual respect is often lacking in todays society, or certainly severely attenuated in particular circumstances.

[ChrisB]

You could (of course) prevent all rail related deaths by closing all the railways ... 

Or just let the TM^‡(resolve) shoot those making a pain of themselves :-)

[chrisr_75]

You could (of course) prevent all rail related deaths by closing all the railways ... 

And no more problems with drunk passengers, inconsiderate folk in the quiet carriage, no more standard class passengers rammed in like sardines looking wistfully at the empty seats in first class, no more flooding or weather related delays...

I think you're on to a winner there, so many problems could be solved on one fell swoop!  

[JayMac]

I really detest that attitude.....why the hell should we? We've all paid to travel on a train, so why should some have their enjoyment of their trip disturbed by unsocial morons??? Their usual suggestion of "why don't you move carriage?" also stinks, frankly.....

And I really detest attitudes that suggest, even in jest, that we should go around shooting people who are being a little anti-social.

[chuffed]

Woe betide the rest of us, if we find ourselves esconsced in a carriage between BNM and Chris B ! I certainly won't be putting my head above the parapet !

[ChrisB]

s'ok - I'll make an exception & get rip-roaringly drunk next time I'm sat with him :-)....I'm sure he'll sit there & smile...not.

[JayMac]

I'll join in ChrisB. As long as you're buying. 

[stuving]

I had a look at what RSSB^▸ (Rail Safety and Standards Board) had published recently - quite a lot on safety, in fact - and couldn't see what this was all about. Now the Independent reports it was - well, not quite all got up by the press, but wild exaggeration anyway. RSSB have said they proposed nothing of the kind (and that's how I read it too).

In their "Platform train interface strategy", in section 13 "Passenger movement through the station and across the PTI", they say under "Immediate":

13.6.2
Good Practice Guide for managing intoxicated passengers

A Good Practice Guide Managing alcohol risks to personal security on the railway was developed by RSSB for industry as part of research project T704. Work will be undertaken by RSSB to further promote systematic application of this Good Practice Guide across the railway, so that all railway companies are implementing the
guidance as best they can. Network Rail has created a paper ^Tackling Intoxication on the Railway^; this has been shared within Network Rail and ATOC^» (Association of Train Operating Companies See - here), and outlines the most opportune ways to implement the RSSB Good Practice Guide.

The work will also consider the development of additional good practice, the requirements for additional industry support, such as staff training, and enhancement of station facilities; and how these can be best developed to advance the management of intoxicated passengers across the short-, medium-, and long-term.

and later on, under "Medium Term":

13.8.4
Intoxication
A range of resources to support the safe management of intoxicated passengers will be piloted at all staffed stations and, where successful, will be implemented, SFAIRP. Work will also be undertaken to incorporate requirements for such resources into the design standards for new stations.

The exploration of potential advancements in co-ordinated support between station staff, train staff, Network Rail, and the BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) carried out in CP5^▸ (Control Period 5 - the five year period between 2014 and 2019), will be turned into formalised agreements of roles, responsibilities, and processes for managing intoxicated passengers. This formalised agreement will be supported by investigation into additional legislation and policy that could be used to support the management of intoxicated passengers, for example banning the sale and consumption of alcohol on trains (similar to TfL^» (Transport for London - about))