Halts, Stops & Stations.

As part of the overall transport infrastructure the Stops and Stations are the systems' FRONT DOOR and as such need to convey a smart, enticing image that will make them pleasant places to visit - otherwise potential passengers will be deterred from using the transport before even before they see a vehicle.

Equally important however is that the transport comes at the expected times as passengers do not (usually) want to take up residence!!!

Navigating through this website is easier with the navigator frame which should be to the left of this window. If it is not there then click here to turn it on! Alternatively there is a system map at the foot of this page.

More information about this website & why it was created can be found by visiting this website's "front" pages (link opens in a new window).

Page Index.

Information
Stop & Station Location - Finding the Bus Stop!
Ticket Sales.
Shopping and Refreshment Facilities.
Litter.
Station Platform Doors.
When waiting in the street for buses or trams is a criminal offence.

Direct links to other pages within the theme...


Illustrated "index page" image information (starting from the top left and working clockwise):-
`Click image - or here - to see a larger version in a new window.`	Corporate style station building (London); food outlet on railway station platform (London); passengers warily negotiate the gap between a sharply curved platform and the train (London); bus stop on a Bus Rapid Transit kerb guided busway (Edinburgh); shared tram and trolleybus stop (Zürich), railway station with "real time" information (London); light rail platform shelter (Portland); high-floor street-based light rail stop (Calgary); low-floor street-based tram stop (Nottingham); well preserved Victorian - era station with full length platform shelters (London); [centre image:-] bus stop shelter with "real time" information (London).

I n f o r m a t i o n.

Public transport is not just for transport staff, regular passengers or "anorak clad transport spotters (sic)" - it is for everyone. But if transport information is about as easy to obtain as highly-classified military intelligence then many potential passengers simply won't use it.

To be effective transport information must :-

 Be provided at every stop and station,
 Be accurate,
 Be updated as soon as timetables and / or routes change,
 Be relevant to the location,
 Be easy to read,
 Be understandable.

Good information is also especially appreciated by visitors who will otherwise shun the transports out of a fear of catching the wrong service and ending up somewhere they do not want to be; and, worse still, not knowing how to either retrace their steps or use alternative services to reach their intended destination. (In other words, becoming lost and stranded).

Bus stop shelter (above) and railway station platform (below) information posters. The clickable images are large enough for some of the posters to be read - especially the poster about bus route 201. It is questionable whether politicians and civil servants will understand just how much the information on that poster represents what is known as a 'dis-integrated' transport policy of the type that is directly attributable to increased traffic congestion as people switch from public transport to private cars.

Local information display at Bank Underground station in the heart of London's financial district showing a street map and local bus services. This station platform seat and posters were seen at Epping station on the London Underground. Bus route 201 was the replacement for the Epping-Ongar railway service which was closed in 1984, and for many people suggested that the ghost of Dr Beeching was still haunting Britain's transport system in the 1980's.

In areas where different roads are served by buses for many different destinations (but no single bus stop serves all these buses) then a bus stop identification system backed up at all the stops with maps and indexes can help passengers to find the correct bus stop(s) for their intended journey. This explains why some of the London bus stop flags seen on this page show letters (eg: "D" or "L") above them.

Subterranean railway stations often feature a labyrinth-like network of (hopefully not secret) passageways between the platforms, ticket halls and street entrances. Therefore to help prevent passengers from becoming lost in the tunnels good signage is essential!

Left: Although this type of information can often be located in the bus stop shelters another option is for the poles to which the bus stop flags are attached to include information panels displaying local maps which identify the location of other bus stops in the area (ie: bus stops for services which serve different destinations) and possibly even where there are local shops from where off-vehicle tickets can be purchased. Centre: Often these information panels will also display timetables and other service information. The example seen here benefits from night-time illumination, which is powered by solar energy and uses soft blue LED lights. Right: A wall-mounted enamel information display designed to help passengers find their way around what is a large and very busy subterranean station which has a veritable warren of passageways plus many street entry / exit points. Provided passengers have an idea where they wish to go (ie: know the road names) then displays such as this can be sufficient, although sometimes floor-plan style maps showing businesses near to the various street exits can be of benefit as well. This specific information panel also features illuminated arrows for different (opposite) directions. This is because the optimal walking routes vary between weekdays and weekends, when there are fewer people passing through and one of the ticket halls plus bank of lifts down to the platforms are not used. Exit number 7 is not listed here because it is behind me - which also explains the blue (daylight) reflection. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Because of the dynamic fluidity with which web pages adjust depending on the viewer's computer's screen size these images may be aligned slightly differently than the others on this page.

Perhaps the most significant deterrent to enticing more people to use buses is the often interminable wait for one to turn up. OK, so buses get stuck in traffic, the 'pay on entry' system often causes extended delays to the journey or our fellow passengers leave a little to be desired (as once suggested by Steven Norris - former Government Transport Minister); however NOTHING bar NOTHING is worse than the period of time spent between one's arrival at the bus / tram stop (rail station, etc;) and the arrival of the transport.

Railways often equip their station platforms with electronic displays detailing the destination and anticipated minutes before the next trains are due to arrive; it is about time this feature became standard at bus stops too. Experience has shown that most people see paper timetables as nothing more than wishful thinking, whereas where electronic real time displays have been installed not only do passengers have confidence that a bus will be coming (even if there is going to be a 15 minute wait, at least there is confidence that it will eventually arrive) but that as a result patronage on the routes served has increased. Indeed, such is the importance of making a similar investment for buses that it should become a legal requirement, which - if necessary - is funded out of windfall oil revenues.

In some areas telephone information services and / or internet pages also provide passenger information, this may be fine for people setting off from home but how many people want to keep phoning information lines or internet service providers just to go out? Its far easier to take the car! Plus, apart from North America local calls are often chargeable!

A dot-matrix display offering real-time passenger information on the London Underground. The lower line (with the green coloured writing) is often used to provide scrolling messages with other useful information. In some cities some bus stops also offer similar information. However its high time this became universal nationwide. Here too the lowest line sometimes shows scrolling message with service information, etc.

A few bus stops also offer push-button audio information for the blind. Click the image or speaker icon to hear the announcement - this will download a 155kb file named "bus_stop.mp3". Touch-screen passenger information system at a leisure-orientated event in Glasgow in 1988. Given that this technology has been available for so long why is it not more widely used?

Where trains do not stop at all stations (or serve many destinations from the same platform) then passengers also need to know the approaching train's destination and stopping pattern.

Two contrasts for multiple destination / stopping pattern trains. The version on the left shows the stations NOT served by the train (but due to lamp failure two station names are not illuminated) whilst the other display shows ONLY the stations that ARE served by the train. As the images below suggest, whilst television-type screens can show a much wider range of information they are only viewable by passengers standing directly below them.

Despite being older technology this display was far better than its hi-tech replacement. Why? this was filmed at Stratford station in East London where passengers enjoy cross-platform interchange between Underground and mainline trains - which serve a wide variety of destinations, with differing stopping patterns too. Often the interchanges are made hurriedly (ie: as the underground train is arriving so the mainline train is already in the station) and passengers need to know immediately whether the other train will be serving the station to which they are travelling. Traipsing up to the TV display is not as option - as by then the train will have left the station. The information display seen in the image on the left has now been replaced, as part of an 'improvement' scheme. The new 'hi-tech' display can be seen under the 'customer information' sign. No, from where I was standing I could not read it either! In this instance I asked the people on the train where it was going, and it is only through their replies that I learnt that the train would be serving a route which would not include my destination station.

Keeping Railway Stations 'Lout'-free.

Very occasionally there are problems with people (usually teen-agers / twentysomethings) who like to gather - on station platforms, concourses, ticket halls etc., - in large groups, talking loudly, and sometimes behaving in a "loutish" way which can seem intimidating to many passengers. It is to be regretted that what effectively is a small minority have so little sense of social responsibility that they cause distress to the majority in this way.

Experience on the Tyne & Wear Metro and London Underground has found that a very effective solution which drives teenagers (and twentysomethings) away is to play classical music over the station's loudspeaker system. It seems that these youngsters (who frequently are just meeting with their friends and not actually using the transports) do not like this type of music; as a contrast many mature adults very much do like this type of music.

Stop & Station Location.

Finding the Bus Stop.

Many of these comments will also apply to trams / streetcars when they are operating within the street environment.

Perhaps this will seem a trite strange, but before potential passengers even start trying to use buses they must first find that the transport exists - and usually the way to do this is by locating a bus stop! This especially applies to buses which do not use any fixed infrastructure power system (ie: fossil fuel and battery electric buses) as trolleybuses (and usually trams as well) have overhead power wires which at least inform / remind the passengers that the transport exists.
Admittedly this does provide a headache for hail & ride services which will stop "anywhere where it is safe to do so" so good local publicity is also important - in some areas the transport operators also locate timetables & publicity information on street lamp posts.

See text and caption for picture information.

In London every bus stop is clearly identified (plus at night some are even illuminated using solar energy) and although there are several variants of the bus stop flag depending of the type of the bus stop ("request" or "compulsory") they are all instantly recognisable as bus stop signs. For a bus to call at a "request" bus stop a waiting passenger must wave their arm to literally flag it down or a passenger travelling on the bus pushes one of the "next stop" buttons. For many years bus stop flags outside of London used to contain a pictograph of a single deck bus, although in some places this is no longer the situation. Note how these bus stop flags also advise passengers where the stop is (white writing on grey background - in this instance Gants Hill Station) then below that advises of the major destination(s) of the buses which serve that stop and below that the numbers of the bus routes which call here. The letter "L" (above left) is part of a system to help people find bus stops within a locality - this is further explained in the i-n-f-o-r-m-a-t-i-o-n section above. Click here to see it.

By way of a contrast to London this bus stop flag from Rome, Italy shows another option, which is to both list services which call here and some of the localities served along the other bus (and tram) routes. Whereas most British bus stops (outside of London) use flags with pictograms of buses the Blackpool tramstops feature pictograms of a tram. So far none of the newer British tram systems have adopted these stop flags.

Well then, this is novel - since when did "The Red Lion" mean "bus stop"?? OK, so there IS a timetable display half way up the sign post but until the bus was seen actually calling here only well informed local people would have known that there was a bus stop here.

Seen in the globally renown village of Avebury, where there are ancient standing stones. As with London visitors come here - and the nearby Silbury Hill, where I saw my first flying saucer & Stonehenge, which is too far away to reach by walking - from every corner of the globe... and beyond!

A pub sign which also doubles up as a bus stop sign - but only local people who are 'in the know' will know this!

Usually bus stops are located next to the inside (kerbside) lane of the road, as on wider roads or where the bus has an off-road pull-in this allows other traffic to continue flowing whilst the bus is stationary. Where the roads are equipped with bus-only traffic lanes these too are usually located on the inside (kerbside) lane as this too is convenient for calling at kerbside bus stops. Unfortunately these bus lanes are often blocked by parked vehicles, forcing buses to divert to the next lane, a process which usually causes delays to buses and other road users alike.

As a contrast trams frequently use the road centre and at stops passengers must either step out into the traffic flow or, if there is space and they are fortunate there will be a small kerbed area (like a low level railway platform) on which they can await the arrival of the transport, board / alight etc., in safety.

Because they run on rails trams cannot just switch lanes to call at kerbside tram stops. On narrower roads there may not be space for both road traffic and safe waiting & boarding areas so the solution most frequently adopted is to require the passengers to walk out into the road. In situations such as this the road traffic is supposed to stop until the tram pulls away again. Where possible it is obviously better to provide safe boarding areas, which is easy here as the trams (operating in light rail mode) are using a fully segregated median located between the two roadways of a dual carriageway. No-one appears to want this Düsseldorf, Germany service because route U77 is an express (limited stop) service and it does not call here!

However, there is no reason why bus lanes cannot be located down the middle of the road like trams - although this will require the installation of island loading platforms and is therefore only a solution for wider roads. The first island platform illustrated here comes from the Swiss city of Geneva and is at the end of a bus lane that is located in the road centre because the stalls from a street market use the kerb lane.

Bus stop island platform in Geneva. Market Street, San Francisco.

The next picture comes from Market Street, San Francisco. Here trolleybuses have their wiring arranged so that they can use either the centre or kerbside lanes. As is visible in the picture there is a speed restriction of 10mph for vehicles passing the island platform on its kerbside while a vehicle is stopped with passengers boarding / alighting. This road is also used by streetcars (trams), serving the island platform only.

Bus stops are always easy to find when the buses share stop facilities with trams. Experience has also shown that passenger safety is enhanced when bus passengers use island platforms such as shown here. These images come from Zürich, Switzerland (left) and Krakow, Poland (right). Krakow image courtesy of Jacek Makuch.

Road Centre - or Kerbside?

To some people the thought of always having to cross half the road to board a bus sounds might seem somewhat strange, even though no-one thinks twice of crossing all of the road if the direction of the traffic flow means the bus stop they wish to use is on the other side of the road. There is some evidence that far more passengers have accidents when they jump off a bus at a kerbside bus stop and immediately pass behind / in front of it and start crossing both traffic streams (without even thinking to look and see if it is safe) than ever happened in the days when many British cities had tram systems where the tramstops required passengers to walk out into the middle of the road.

There is more on bus lanes and illegal parking on a dedicated Parking page whilst the light rail and compatibility with street traffic page looks at more solutions for light rail stops within the street domain and how light rail and parked vehicles can happily co-exist.

Finding Railway Stations.

Because railways (usually) operate away from the street environment their stops & stations can sometimes be more discreetly located, making finding them more of an art.

In the past many railway companies have sought to make their stations easier to locate by making them (large), opulent looking buildings as per the fashions of the day, often built to a distinctive "corporate" architectural style which would be applied to multiple stations. The ideas being to make them stand out / more easily recognised for what they are and be noticed. Other options to make them easier to find would (and sometimes still do) include the fixing of signposts pointing to the station on lamp-posts, and, especially in the modern era, on road direction signs. The latter is frequently done for park+ride services, whether operated by bus or rail.

Designed by the architect Henry Green, London's Covent Garden station is typical of the over 40 stations built in the first decade of the 20th century by the Underground Electric Railways Group (UERG) for what nowadays are known as the Northern, Piccadily and Bakerloo Lines. The UERG corporate style included distinctive ruby red glazed bricks and - to maximise financial income from the valuable land space - a structure which permits several floors of offices to be built over it. A partially completed new entrance to the passageway under the busy road at Kings Cross St Pancras station in London. The distinctive design both offers weather protection for passengers and maximum visibility to help with "finding it!"

City Centre station on the Sydney (Australia) monorail (left) and Heron Quays station on the (duorail) London's Docklands Light Railway (right) are both located within buildings. Of course this is easier when the buildings are new too and therefore designed from the outset to allow for the transports. In both these locations the physical presence of the tracks helps advertise the presence of the transport.

Sometimes in cities where the railway travels below ground the stations will not have any significant surface buildings - instead the entrances (usually but not always to the ticket selling area) will be via the public subways (ie: subterranean walkway / passageway systems - NOT the American meaning of "subway") which can also be used by pedestrians solely to cross the roads. Similar can apply to elevated railway systems, although of course by being elevated it is usually possible to see that the transport "is there".

Gants Hill Station on the London Underground's Central Line is located under a very busy roundabout where 3 dual carriageways, 2 major roads and a local road meet. The station does not have any street level buildings (apart from the roof of the ticket hall on the roundabout's central island) and instead the station entrance is included as part of the public subway which pedestrians can also use to safely cross the (often) very busy roads. Entrances to the subway are located on most street corners around the area and the only street level "advertisements" for the presence of the railway are these distinctive signs (which at night are brightly illuminated like beacons) that are located next to the subway entrances. Both these images show the same sign, albeit from opposite sides. Clicking them will open larger versions in new windows - in the daylight image it will also be possible to see the CCTV camera spying on everyone in the area plus the sign advising that cycling is forbidden on the subway access ramps.

When The Station Is A Ferry Boat!

On the railways it is usual that passengers only board / alight trains at 'stations', which are pre-designated stopping points. Stations can of course be almost anywhere, but perhaps the single most common feature is that they are always on dry land. However every rule needs an exception - and in this instance the station is on a ferry boat!

The story is that some Hamburg (Germany) - Copenhagen (Denmark) trains include through carriages that use the car / lorry / passenger ferry between the ports of Puttgarden and Rødby. And if passengers want to join or leave the train at Rødby then they must do so via the boat.

During the crossing the rail passengers have the choice of either staying on the train or walking around the ferry, perhaps visiting one of the restaurants or if the weather is pleasant sitting on an outside deck.

A Danish railway carriage and a juggernaut sharing one of a ferry's heavy-vehicle decks.

A Danish railway carriage and a juggernaut sharing a heavy-vehicle deck on a ferry boat.

Ticket Sales.

Many transport systems expect passengers to buy their tickets in advance of travelling. Roving ticket inspectors will be looking for people who have not paid in advance - and these people are usually required to pay a "standard" or "penalty" fare that is much higher than they would have been charged had they paid at the correct time.

Generally with buses it is usual to pay the driver when boarding (although on some urban systems bus passengers must be in possession of a valid ticket before boarding) whilst for railways the arrangements can include buying them from a staffed ticket window or a station ticket machine.

For longer distance travel and season (period) tickets the purchase options can also include telesales or via the internet.

Ticketing systems are fully explored on the Fares & Ticketing Systems page.

In many European conurbations newsagents / confectionary stores (kiosks) also sell local transport tickets (even for single trips) and frequently the tickets bought from machines located at street-based tram & bus stops will be valid on local trains as well.

There should be no reason why similar could not happen in Britain too - except that outside of the biggest cities the government's 'Office of Fair Trading' (sic) uses its anti-cartel regulations to prohibit the private transport (especially bus) companies from introducing proper integrated ticketing systems. The fact that such may be in the passengers' best interest does not seem to concern them.

Look, no queue! AND there is more than one window open! This amazing scene comes from Birmingham International Railway station.

Shopping and Refreshment Facilities.

Refreshment facilities provide a welcoming way for hungry and thirsty passengers to pass their time whilst waiting for their train. At some stations these will comprise of a 'tea room' or kiosk located on the platform (or on several platforms), perhaps next to the general waiting room, whilst at other stations they will be located in or near the booking hall / ticket sales area / on the main concourse (lobby area) so that they can be used by people who are not travelling too. In North America some local transport systems have by-laws prohibiting the consumption of food or drink on their trains or station platforms and intending passengers must be careful to make sure that before even entering the platform / waiting area they have fully consumed any food or drink (even ice cream!) bought at shops nearby.

Bookstalls are also frequently found at stations, these also selling magazines, newspapers, confectionary and soft drinks.

Large, busy stations where there is a continuous flow of passengers often feature a wider range of shops as might be found in a neighbourhood shopping centre. In rural areas some stations feature 24/7 type convenience stores which attract non-travellers too, thereby helping to keep the station 'alive'. In some instances the sales staff will also sell train tickets. The locating of shops at stations in this way is usually seen as being a considerably more attractive alternative to 'unstaffed' stations.

Although relatively rare on urban transit type systems many mainline railway stations also feature public conveniences (toilets \ washrooms), which might be free at point of use or might charge a small fee to cover the cost of their upkeep. Providing these facilities is important and despite the cost of upkeep these should be seen as part of the public service ethos under which public transport operates. The need for these is in addition to similar facilities which are often to be found on longer-distance trains.

Automated vending machines can provide a basic level of refreshments at locations where staffed facilities are not provided. Public telephones are also often to be found at stations although the advent of the mobile (cell) phone has seen significant reductions in the numbers of people using public telephones. Sometimes these telephones will only accept pre-paid cards and credit cards. With respect to the soft drinks I only ever drink the version sweetened with real sugar, as I understand that some chemical-based artificial sweeteners are very dangerous to human health.

Platform newsagent / confectionery / soft drinks shop (left) and hot food / drinks (right) on the platform at Blackfriars station on the London Underground. Almost anywhere where there is sufficient space and footfall there could be an outlet selling coffees, etc., - at some locations this could be in addition to other food outlets.

Part of the food court at London's Euston station, which is one of the busiest mainline termini stations from where trains heading to Glasgow / Manchester / Liverpool etc,. via the "West Coast Main Line" depart. Passageway shop at Freidrichstraße station in Berlin, Germany. This image shows an unusual form of station shopping as it comes from when the city was divided with this station being in East Berlin but also served by West Berlin S-Bahn & U-Bahn trains, with 'western' passengers changing trains being able to indulge in tax-free shopping!

Another way for railway passengers to spend their money - and for the railway industry to help encourage / nurture a love of trains in the next generation too (!) - in Germany most major stations have one of these coin-slot operated model railways, with children (of all ages!!!) being able to 'drive' a train themselves. There are usually a choice of four trains which can be driven, each from (any) one of the four driving position around the glass showcase.

Litter.

Litter is a problem for transport operators - the travelling public often discard used food wrappings, newspapers, etc and whilst at one time British railway stations were equipped with rubbish bins these have had to be removed (or sealed closed) to prevent explosive devices from being left in them. So now clear plastic bags are used, as here (above left). The image (above right) is a bus stop poster - unfortunately even though some bus stops still have litter bins passengers still leave empty food packaging, etc., on the floor. Click images to see larger versions (will open in new windows).

The German Railways (Deutsche Bahn - DB) uses multi-waste litter (trash) bins at all of its stations as this more easily facilitates recycling of certain types of waste. The example shown here accepts (from left to right) waste, packaging, glass and paper. Note that there is no facility for plastic bottles (mineral water, etc) as these attract a 25 cent deposit on purchase, which is refunded when returned to the place of purchase for them to recycle. Although the example shown here has options for four types of waste there are variations; many only offer three options.

Station Platform Doors.

Some stations feature platforms with doors along the platform edge. These are supposed to increase safety by preventing people from falling (or being pushed / jumping) in front of trains entering the station.

Platform edge doors are easiest to install as part of a new transit system - although there could be many safety advantages in installing them on pre-existing systems too. However the installation process could be disruptive, both during the works and with the inevitable teething issues once the doors have been brought into service. For safety reasons it is very unlikely that trains could continue to travel through the station during the installation process - perhaps one solution would to be to close a group of platforms for just a week during which a very large number of workmen (and women) would be involved in the project. Maybe the same time frame could be used for extra heavy duty track maintenance, bridge replacement, resignalling works (etc., ) so as to minimize overall delays to the travelling public. Note that platform doors would only be suitable for platforms which are used by trains with the same door configurations as otherwise the train and platform doors might not be opposite each other!

Platform edge doors on the fully unmanned / driverless métro in Lille, France. Not all driverless systems use doors like this - for instance Lyon (France) and Vancouver (Canada) both feature driverless métros but neither system uses platform doors. In Singapore the doors are only fitted at stations which are underground - and their presence is not just safety-related: the subterranean stations are air-conditioned and the doors help prevent the cool air escaping into the tunnels.

In Hong Kong it has become policy for all stations on the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) to be equipped with platform doors. Towards this end older stations are being retrofitted and this station (Sunny Bay) became the first surface to be fitted with reduced height automatic platform gates. The rather unusual side window shapes in the view on the left is because these trains were specially constructed to serve the new Hong Kong Disneyland. Easier to see in the larger versions of this image are the orange lights of the "person detection system" which monitor the doorways for obstructions when the gates are open (at top of frame). Clicking the images will open larger versions whilst more images and information can be found on the free online "Wikipedia" encyclopædia (links to an external site which open in new windows) http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Disneyland_Resort_Line_%28MTR%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disneyland_Resort_Line.

In London platform doors were first introduced with the 1999 extension of the Jubilee line, where they initially proved to be somewhat troublesome as seen here (above left) from inside a train when only the trains' doors opened. The view (above right) shows the doors in use at Southwark station shortly after opening and with building works almost completed.

Don't become trapped between the doors!

The big 'fear' with platform doors is of becoming trapped between the two sets of closing doors as a train prepares to leave a station. This almost happened here - fortunately they re-opened and the somewhat alarmed man was able to scramble to safety.

For many years most of the subterranean stations on London's Underground which are served by the smaller profile "tube" trains have featured these "suicide pits" between the tracks, which provide a safe refuge under the train. Platform doors provide a better way to improve station safety. As with all other photographs taken at stations on this website this image was taken on a hand held camera without the use of a flashgun, as for safety reasons these are strictly prohibited. (This is to protect train driver's eyes which will be accustomed to the darkness of the tunnels - flashguns can cause short term blindness).

Platform doors help protect against
Human Stupidity.

Incredible though this may seem there is a person sitting on the platform edge with their legs dangling over the tracks. Human stupidity is sadly a serious problem; too frequently people doing this lose their legs (or even their life) when trains travelling at high speed approach and they fail to get out of the way in time. Sometimes train drivers are also so traumatised that they are unable to continue driving trains. This example comes from Amsterdam, Holland but it happens here in Britain too.

When waiting in the street for buses or trams is a criminal offence.

On Croydon's tramlink the footpath at the West Croydon stop is so narrow that it is wholly incorporated into the tram stop's platform / waiting area. So even innocent pedestrians who just happen to be walking by could conceivably become innocent victims of this awful legislation. Think it cannot happen in Britain? - it already has - for instance on 1st May 2001 in London's Oxford Circus when (to prevent a May-day protest) the police ruthlessly held 3,000 people (including innocent passers-by who just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time) prisoner for as long as 8 hours! No food, no drink - even visits to the toilet were denied. Innocent until proven otherwise? R.I.P Habeas Corpus? R.I.P. the Bill of Rights (of 1689)? R.I.P. Dictatorial rule by unelected, unaccountable petty officials? The new order! ...and then there is the EU's Amsterdam Treaty which requires that the legal system known as Corpus Juris be introduced - setting up a European Public Prosecutor with over-riding criminal law jurisdiction throughout Europe, and explicitly abolishing Habeas Corpus and Trial by Jury - which date from Magna Carta, of 1215.

Traitors Gate and the Tower of London as seen from across the River Thames. In medieval times enemies of the state were sometimes kept here - the Civil Contingency Legislation which passed through Parliament in autumn 2004 will let politicians (on the merest whim) tear up 1000 years of human rights, Magna Carta etc., - so it is possible that it will soon revert back to that use. Politicians do not waste time & money on introducing laws they do not intend to use. In your naïvety you probably thought that our political leaders work for the betterment of the British people? The reality is that this is NOT so - indeed against the British people would be more accurate. The real threat to British people comes from the "New World Order" to which all our political leaders bear their primary allegiance - both Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin would have been proud to put their names to this Civil Contingency Legislation.

Strange as it may seem, in Britain a healthy crowd waiting at a street-based bus or tram stop is actually an illegal gathering for which all the participants could face arrest and imprisonment!

This is because under the Criminal Justice legislation introduced under Mrs Thatcher's premiership any gathering of more than six people requires a pre-arranged licence which has to be obtained from the police.

This awful legislation was introduced at a time when it was common for large groups of people to descend en masse upon warehouses (which did not have fire safety certification) for all-night - or longer - 'acid house / rave' parties where extremely loud 'music' (sic), drunkenness and the use of illegal drugs were commonplace.
Around the same time there were also problems with various anarchist and other anti-everything Luddite organisations using anti-poll tax (a type of local government funding) demonstrations as excuses for causing riots where they would revel in using weapons such as baseball bats embedded with razor blades and 6 inch nails to commit as many acts of wanton violence against the police & members of the general public as possible. They also rejoiced in much destruction to property - with a specific target of a certain globally known US based fast er, um, 'food' (sic) chain.

(Surely a far better way to show their disapproval of global trading systems would have been to follow Gandhi's example of peaceful non-violent protest)?

Although the poll tax is no more and this legislation totally failed to stop either the riots or the warehouse parties we have been left with an unfortunate legacy of draconian 'catch-all' regulations that in their own way do far more to undermine everyone's civil liberties than the rioters ever did.

Incidentally, amongst the other groups of 'victims' of this legislation are disaffected passengers who refuse to alight from a bus / train / tram etc., that is running late and has had its journey shortened and parents waiting outside a school to collect their children after classes have finished for the day.

As if that legislation is not bad enough Mr Blair's government has (now) introduced a new law designed to throw the clock back 1000 years by scrapping ALL human rights and effectively reducing us back to the slavery of serfdom.

The following information comes from a weblog at this webpage (external link opens in a new window) (http://www.spy.org.uk/spyblog/archives/2004/11/civil_contingen_3.html), and is dated 8th November 2004.
Anyone who feels concerned may like to join Liberty, whose website is at http://www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk/ - click here to go there directly. (As usual this external link opens in a new window).
As the primary aim of "citytransport.info" is to look at transport related issues there will be no further comments on this topic. Anyway, I wish to live to see what happens in 2012, and beyond!

November 08, 2004
Civil Contingencies Bill - Report stage in the House of Lords on Tuesday and Wednesday
The tabled for the Report Stage of the Civil Contingencies Bill will be debated by the House of Lords on Tuesday and Wednesday.

This looks is probably the last chance to limit the astonishing Emergency Powers which the Government is planning to grant itself, before the legislation gets rubber-stamped by the House of Commons, which seemingly continues to fail to protect our fundamental liberties and freedoms.

We are not convinced that the Government will actually accept the amendments which try to ring fence certain Acts of Parliament and constitutional documents e.g. Magna Carta or the Human Rights Act or, most importantly, the Civil Contingencies Act itself from being amended by Ministers, by regulation or order, without the need for full debate in Parliament, but with the full force of Primary Legislation and the Royal Prerogative.

The Government rejected a similar recommendation in the Report by the Joint Committee of both Houses on the Draft Civil Contingencies Bill and claimed that since "Ministers are deemed to always act reasonably" the highly complicated and obscure "triple lock" mechanism, which again, they refused to clarify by writing it into a single clause , would somehow protect the public from the potential abuse of the extraordinary "Henry VIII" powers which might be invoked by a future dictatorship.

Do you trust the current Government with so much power? How about a future Government which could declare Emergency Powers on the basis of the "opinion" of a Minister who has been briefed with a "dodgy intelligence dossier"?

None of the tabled amendments seek to resolve the questions of criminal sanctions against petty officials or bureaucrats who exceed their Emergency Powers, the need for Digital Signatures to authenticate Orders and Regulations rapidly in an emergency (would you seriously start the evacuation of a City, simply on the basis of an email or phone call or a fax, which can be so easily forged?), the lack of anti-hoax provisions, the need for audit trails for future mandatory Public Inquiries, etc. which we raised as concerns about the original Draft Civil Contingencies Bill, and which still remain at the Report Stage of the full Bill.