| | Train-spotting to be banned in UK
30 May 2003 by Malcolm Drury
Citing concerns about potential terrorist activity, the UK government is to ban train-spotting, one of Britain's most popular, and to some, eccentric, pastimes.
A government spokesman told DeadBrain that it has become increasingly difficult for police and railway security officers to differentiate between legitimate train spotters and members of terrorist organisations posing as spotters with the intent of disrupting train service.
"The UK enjoys a level of train service that is the envy of the world for reliability," he said. Pausing to stifle what appears to have been the beginnings of a laugh, he went on: "We have credible intelligence reports that sleeper cells of al-Qaeda have recently been activated to infiltrate station staff at major stations with the intent of making bogus arrival and departure announcements and directing passengers to the wrong platform. The effect would be a huge amount of disruption – if people notice the difference, of course."
"Train spotters have hitherto had essentially free run of stations, and this has allowed the terrorists to spy out the land. The ban on train-spotting is intended to put an end to that," he added.
From July 1st, spotters caught taking photos of trains or jotting down their numbers will face fines of up to £1000 and prison sentences of up to 6 months. In the meantime, those caught spotting will be cautioned, and if they do not cease spotting when requested, their name, photograph and fingerprints will be entered into a national database of train-spotters. The government has promised to honour data protection laws and not sell this on to the manufacturers of woolly hats and thermos flasks.
Train-spotters have reacted angrily to being treated as a security risk on stations. Dougy Ramsbottom, 12, of Bootle, told DeadBrain: "It's not fair. Me and my pals was spotting at Crewe and we was told to clear off before we got arrested. What will we be able to do on Saturdays now? Go break a few windows at the precinct, I suppose."
Go on, have a look at this...
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