Traffic Cops (BBC1)
 

Please someone take this show off the air while the British Transport
Police still have some kind of speck of authority left. Last week show
had a police officer jump on to live train track at Cardiff station
without checking to see if a train was coming or wearing high
visbility jacket. Not to save the life of a fallen pensioner nor to
save someone trying to get their mobile phone off the track. But a
seagull with a broken wing.
Then later on you see a police officer getting rightly deserved abuse
for telling a frustrated passenger to get lost as he couldn't get a
train as there was a dead body on the track.
This week highlight is the nail in the coffin of the BTP image. A
police officer is telling off a group of kids about the dangers of
being on train track (obviously unless your resucing seagulls) at some
three trains a day station. Showing off to the cameras about how you
just need to tell kids about the dangers of train track to put them
off. And then one of the kids pushes him off the platform onto the
track

Traffic Cops (BBC1)
 

"CJG Now Thankfully Living In The North" wrote in
message om...
Please someone take this show off the air while the British Transport
Police still have some kind of speck of authority left.

1. The show is called "Rail Cops".

2. It's a repeat. The whole series was on about twelve months ago. How come
you didn't jump up and down about it then?

3. The people that come out of looking most stupid are the scum that the BTP
have to deal with. It's a shame that there aren't more BTP around to allow
them to effectively patrol our transport systems, rather than turn up very
occasionally at incidents. They have a far better understanding of what they
are doing and of what is safe than P.C. Plod from the local nick does when
he/she gets involved in railway matters!

Traffic Cops (BBC1)
 

In message , CJG Now
Thankfully Living In The North writes
Please someone take this show off the air while the British Transport
Police still have some kind of speck of authority left. Last week show
had a police officer jump on to live train track at Cardiff station

Where is there a "live train track" at Cardiff Station. Am I missing
something here?
--
Ian Jelf, MITG, Birmingham, UK
Registered "Blue Badge" Tourist Guide for
London & the Heart of England
http://www.bluebadge.demon.co.uk

Traffic Cops (BBC1)
 

"Ian Jelf" wrote in message
...
In message , CJG Now
Thankfully Living In The North writes
Please someone take this show off the air while the British Transport
Police still have some kind of speck of authority left. Last week show
had a police officer jump on to live train track at Cardiff station

Where is there a "live train track" at Cardiff Station. Am I missing
something here?

"Live" is used to indicate that the road concerned is open to traffic and
that a train could approach at any moment, as well as the electrical
connotation.

Traffic Cops (BBC1)
 

In message , Cast_Iron
writes

"Ian Jelf" wrote in message
...
In message , CJG Now
Thankfully Living In The North writes
Please someone take this show off the air while the British Transport
Police still have some kind of speck of authority left. Last week show
had a police officer jump on to live train track at Cardiff station

Where is there a "live train track" at Cardiff Station. Am I missing
something here?

"Live" is used to indicate that the road concerned is open to traffic and
that a train could approach at any moment, as well as the electrical
connotation.

Sorry, I'd never heard it used in that sense before and didn't realise.
--
Ian Jelf, MITG, Birmingham, UK
Registered "Blue Badge" Tourist Guide for
London & the Heart of England
http://www.bluebadge.demon.co.uk

Traffic Cops (BBC1)
 

3. The people that come out of looking most stupid are the scum that the BTP
have to deal with. It's a shame that there aren't more BTP around to allow
them to effectively patrol our transport systems, rather than turn up very
occasionally at incidents. They have a far better understanding of what they
are doing and of what is safe than P.C. Plod from the local nick does when
he/she gets involved in railway matters!

So if they know so much about the railways how come

a) they patrol in police cars rather than on the actual trains.
b) One of them jumped on a train track at a major UK station without
any high visiblity clothing or asking the signal box if there was a
train coming or even just looking to see if there was a train coming?

Traffic Cops (BBC1)
 

"CJG Now Thankfully Living In The North" wrote in
message om...

So if they know so much about the railways how come

a) they patrol in police cars rather than on the actual trains.

How do you suggest that they attend trackside incidents by travelling on the
train? Incidents occur on other parts of the railway than just those served
by passenger trains. Then there is a question of response time. There is an
incident (say, an attempted armed robbery at a ticket office) at a station
further down the line. Do you seriously suggest that the BTP wait, for
example, half an hour for the next service train? Barking!

b) One of them jumped on a train track at a major UK station without
any high visiblity clothing or asking the signal box if there was a
train coming or even just looking to see if there was a train coming?

How do you know that he didn't check with the box? Television programmes are
edited. He may well have done so but it was cut from the final edit. It
would have been advisable for him to have worn an HV but, on the other hand,
the railways operated safely for over a hundred years without them - it
isn't the end of the world.

If you have concerns about the way that people behave on the track then you
should see the behaviour of some of the contractors. I've seen them walking
in the four-foot, with backs to the approaching traffic, with mobile phones
clamped to their ears, on main running lines. Now that really is plain
stupid (and dangerous). That is far more deserving of your concern than the
fact that a member of the BTP jumped (briefly) onto the track in a station
area, where speeds are generally low, and on a lightly used platform road
(if it is the one that I am thinking of at Cardiff Central).

Traffic Cops (BBC1)
 

"Jack Taylor" wrote in message
. ..

"CJG Now Thankfully Living In The North" wrote
in
message om...

So if they know so much about the railways how come

a) they patrol in police cars rather than on the actual trains.

How do you suggest that they attend trackside incidents by travelling on
the
train? Incidents occur on other parts of the railway than just those
served
by passenger trains. Then there is a question of response time. There is
an
incident (say, an attempted armed robbery at a ticket office) at a station
further down the line. Do you seriously suggest that the BTP wait, for
example, half an hour for the next service train? Barking!

Not only that, it was clearly demonstrated that some officers have to deal
with stations on completely different lines. The officer shown at Ashford
International would probably have to go nearly into London to get across to
Westgate by train, but it is not too far by road.

Traffic Cops (BBC1)
 

"Henry" wrote in message
...
"Jack Taylor" wrote in message
. ..

"CJG Now Thankfully Living In The North"
wrote
in
message om...

So if they know so much about the railways how come

a) they patrol in police cars rather than on the actual trains.

How do you suggest that they attend trackside incidents by travelling on
the
train? Incidents occur on other parts of the railway than just those
served
by passenger trains. Then there is a question of response time. There is
an
incident (say, an attempted armed robbery at a ticket office) at a
station
further down the line. Do you seriously suggest that the BTP wait, for
example, half an hour for the next service train? Barking!

Not only that, it was clearly demonstrated that some officers have to deal
with stations on completely different lines. The officer shown at Ashford
International would probably have to go nearly into London to get across
to
Westgate by train, but it is not too far by road.

Or via Ramsgate and change