Train ticket inspectors on steroids or something else?

[bitchstewie]

I got off the train last night at my fairly sleepy little towns station and found a bunch of British Transport Police making everyone leaving the station walk through some sort of beeping archway that was obviously checking for "something" (it seemed to beep for everyone) with ticket inspectors at the end of the line with people being asked to stand to one side if they didn't have a valid ticket.

Do people think this is likely to have been just about tickets or something random or something intelligence lead?

Only ask as it felt completely over the top if it was just a simple ticket inspection.

[J2daG1990]

The beeping archway is most likely just counting the number of passengers coming off the train.

Then once they know roughly how many people don't buy a ticket they can work out going forward when and where to place more ticket inspectors or BTP.

ie, catch the most people bunking trains.

[bitchstewie]

Oh bloody hell I never thought it might just be counting people I thought it must have been some sort of knife or drug detector with all the Police there too.

Makes sense now

[Starfighter]

It would appear to be technology overkill just to count people.

[J2daG1990]

I get it all the time at my station.

Without the BTP present, people just ignore the ticket inspectors and jump over the barriers. It's a nightmare especially in the later evening.

[anonymous-user]

It isn't counting people! BTP often run exercises using mobile metal detecting arches, it's the same as airport security, they'll be looking for knives. Running a revenue protection exercuse at the same time just makes sense, the revenue staff have police backup if they need it and the coppers have something to show for being there as well.

Your 'sleepy' local station must have a few issues (the same as everywhere!) or they're unlikely to have been there!

[rigga]

Starfighter said:

It would appear to be technology overkill just to count people.

We installed a system on some of the units we ran, gave an idea of foot fall, so could increase or decrease carriage numbers at certain times , not everyone who rides have tickets, so a more certain number is needed . Each passenger doors have two sensors in parallel,which depending on what sensor was triggered first determined ingress or egress.

[Earthdweller]

As above it’s a “knife arch” used to combat violent crime on the Network

Police and revenue inspectors are looking for different things

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/great...

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/great...

[Tommo87]

I don’t have any problem with ticket enforcement officers. They are 100% required and supported by paying customers.


But, that may be because of the simple fact that before lockdown on my commute I used to see people blatantly riding the train without a ticket.

Never mind the loud verbal abuse they used to give the conductor/inspector in an attempt to get them to stop asking for ID, they would try absolutely any trick to not pay.

They cannot remember their own name.
Don’t know where they live
Don’t have any cash or bank card on them.
Pretending to be in a coma.
Claims of racism, sexism, perversion on the part of the person asking to see a ticket.

I have seen it all. Including the repeat offenders who claim they forgot their ticket today.


I wonder how much cheaper the tickets would be for everyone if it wasn’t for those bottom feeders.

[Silvanus]

Tommo87 said:

I don’t have any problem with ticket enforcement officers. They are 100% required and supported by paying customers.


But, that may be because of the simple fact that before lockdown on my commute I used to see people blatantly riding the train without a ticket.

Never mind the loud verbal abuse they used to give the conductor/inspector in an attempt to get them to stop asking for ID, they would try absolutely any trick to not pay.

They cannot remember their own name.
Don’t know where they live
Don’t have any cash or bank card on them.
Pretending to be in a coma.
Claims of racism, sexism, perversion on the part of the person asking to see a ticket.

I have seen it all. Including the repeat offenders who claim they forgot their ticket today.


I wonder how much cheaper the tickets would be for everyone if it wasn’t for those bottom feeders.

Seen all that too when I used to commute, almost daily. Trains can be pretty disgusting places for all sorts of reasons. Once saw a pissed bloke just before Christmas lay across 3 seats, drop his trousers, st all over himself and fall asleep, that certainly cleared the carriage. Not to mention the racism misogyny, abuse and violence. Delays to services really do bring out the worse in people too, fighting and pushing, pulling people out, all to get on a train. Even say a poor bugger die of heart attack on a packed train. So glad I don't commute any more, it wasn't worth 60 quid a month let alone 600. I'd hate to work on the trains, feel sorry for the staff.

I'm quite sure it wouldn't change the ticket price if it was stopped though.

[pavarotti1980]

bhstewie said:

I got off the train last night at my fairly sleepy little towns station and found a bunch of British Transport Police making everyone leaving the station walk through some sort of beeping archway that was obviously checking for "something" (it seemed to beep for everyone) with ticket inspectors at the end of the line with people being asked to stand to one side if they didn't have a valid ticket.

Do people think this is likely to have been just about tickets or something random or something intelligence lead?

Only ask as it felt completely over the top if it was just a simple ticket inspection.

Op Sceptre running this week targeting knife crime
https://news.npcc.police.uk/releases/national-week...

[irc]

Yep. Knife crime. I got searched after beeping in an arch. Central Glasgow which has a knife problem. More than happy to be searched. Unlike some.

Cursory search right enough. Missed the Allen key set I forgot. was in my jacket pocket..

Edited by irc on Saturday 19th November 09:31

[Jordie Barretts sock]

What's the relevance of train inspectors on steroids?

[Dr Jekyll]

Surely if you're trying to keep knife crime off the network you check for knives when they enter the station not when they leave?

[GranpaB]

Jordie Barretts sock said:

What's the relevance of train inspectors on steroids?

Doesn't matter really, apart from the fact that the OP doesn't live in the 'sleepy little town' he thought he did.

[Cliftonite]

Jordie Barretts sock said:

What's the relevance of train inspectors on steroids?

Click bait, innit?

[irc]

Dr Jekyll said:

Surely if you're trying to keep knife crime off the network you check for knives when they enter the station not when they leave?

In the Glasgow example in was part of a plan to deal with city centre knife violence. Not on train violence. Neds from peripheral schemes were travelling into the city at weekends to fight with each other. Regular punters were getting caught in the crossfire.

So BTP were doing their thing at the city centre train stations while Strathclyde Police (as it was then) flooded the city centre with extra patrols.

Seemed to work. Knife crime down over the years. Education helps. But focussed police action combined with longer sentences works.

"The average sentence for carrying a knife in Scotland has tripled, from four months in 2005-06 to an average of 13 months in 2014-15."

https://www.theguardian.com/membership/2017/dec/03...

[ingenieur]

Cliftonite said:

Jordie Barretts sock said:

What's the relevance of train inspectors on steroids?

Click bait, innit?

Well I guess in this context ticket inspectors without a metal detector and the British Transport Police would be 'without' steroids.

It used to happen at my suburban station in London when I was a commuter there. It feels like quite a heavy situation with all the police all over the place. But it was frequent enough that after the first few times it stopped being any concern.

[bitchstewie]

The phrase "on steroids" is a figure of speech I didn't mean literally bloody hell

[AMC243]

Tommo87 said:

Never mind the loud verbal abuse they used to give the conductor/inspector in an attempt to get them to stop asking for ID, they would try absolutely any trick to not pay.

They cannot remember their own name.
Don’t know where they live
Don’t have any cash or bank card on them.
Pretending to be in a coma.
Claims of racism, sexism, perversion on the part of the person asking to see a ticket.

I have seen it all. Including the repeat offenders who claim they forgot their ticket today.

We get the same lot on the buses, determined to get away with not paying an extra 80p for a full fare instead of a student rate or whatever. There's also the ones who try on some sob story to guilt trip you into letting them have a free ride. It boils my blood simply because it makes me run late and I'm already fighting a losing battle against the clock. If the company cared about getting every last penny they'd have inspectors on board.