GCR Ending of Lineside Passes, ex-Bridge that Gap: Great Central Railway News

I am not a member of the 'elfansafety' Taleban, but nobody wants accidents. Even at 25 mph speed limit, a train can kill people, so you cannot sensibly have any Tom, Dick or Harry wandering around the trackside just on paying a fee. Railways which require PTS training before issuing a lineside pass are in a better place.

 

Unlike having any Tom, Dick or Harry wandering around roadsides where traffic is more frequent and much faster. If we applied railway rules to pedestrians nobody could walk anywhere.

 

How about putting your money where your mouth is and going down the legal route? After all, you'd stand to gain a lot by your action and a lot of people will thank you. That is, if you're right.

 

Good idea, and then most of the 1,800 odd pedestrians killed on the UK’s roads annually might still be alive.

How many people do you think it would be acceptable to kill on the railways each year before the rules are sufficiently relaxed ?

 

Wonderful piece of overreaction there. Would like to see your plans for a roadside PTS scheme for the entire UK population.

 

To be fair he was clearly being facetious but it is a relevant point. People use pavements, and roads when these aren't available, because they need to get around. Working members of railways access the track in order to undertake necessary tasks. There are risks in these but we accept these because the benefits outweigh the risks. Is this really the same for PTS holders, from the railways perspective?

Sent from my SM-J330FN using Tapatalk

 

Agreed, first I heard was lineside rumour at the Last Hurrah weekend and then a couple of weeks later the official statement comes out to confirm it's going come January - infact the rumours came from people trying to renew for another year and being denied. I don't know exactly when the decision was taken so I don't want to accuse them of sitting on it, but I know the GWSR made it clear much earlier this year that they wouldn't be issuing any permits for 2019. As I stated earlier in this thread I respect the decision fully, now the statement has been issued they could at least update the website to reflect: http://www.gcrailway.co.uk/the-railway/lineside-access/

 

Well said; Common Sense is not yet dead!

 

I can just imagine the lawyers with £ signs lighting up in their brains!

 

There is over £ 300k currently available in funds at GCR for any linesider with a real sense of entitlement.

 

A lineside permit is a privilege, not a right, and there is no law preventing discrimination per se, only very specific types of discrimination.

 

I really am baffled at some of the responses in this thread, yes the Gcr are removing lineside passes, it not exactly the end of the world is it now. We don't have a right to a lineside pass and it was good fun why it lasted.

I'm any case the few tests that I have taken for a lineside pass at a few railways in my honest opinion simply are not up to scratch, having a pts for work, it really does show just how poor they are. Railways can and always will be a dangerous place, just because someone has the orange vest of invincibility doesn't mean you won't get hurt and no it doesn't mean you can go where ever you like.

And anyways there's always charters that you can attend and I do so regularly, so cmon let's all stop crying over spilt milk and get back on with it, hell maybe some might consider volunteering now

Matt

 

The statement from rhe gwsr plc makes it quite clear the ORR’s views on the matter- on your head be it. Which way do you think the railways are going to go?

 

Indeed. It is not just the West Somerset Railway that receives attention from the ORR - other railways benefit from their friendly advise as well.

Peter

 

From the RailUK forum:
(Post 43) https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/lineside-photographic-permits.174196/page-2#post-3765682

Quote: "Those of us who routinely work on the track have been attempting to advise and caution permit holders for ten years or more, and have increasingly been met with indifference, mockery and occasionally outright hostility. Traincrew admonishing permit holders have been threatened with violence. Standards have been continually slipping amongst the schemes members, as the bad apples have spoilt the barrel"

Also see post 45

 

Think that sums it up.
Time to move on...

 

Is lineside photography still popular or is there a reasonable small group of hardcore photographers which want to go lineside.

Cheers

 

Yes, time to call it a day. If linesiders can't behave themselves, they are a danger not only to themselves but to other people.

 

If that kind of behaviour is commonplace then the GCR and others have done the right thing in removing lineside access.
I still stand by my previous comments on how they have dealt with the issue though.

 

Sad to read, disgusting behaviour . I can't understand the mindset of showing such disregard to those running the railway for your enjoyment. I've never witnessed anything like that at the lineside and most people I've spoken to there have been friendly enough, so I can only imagine this is a minority.