Stand lights at railway stations (Dynamo and eBikes)

[Dogtrousers]

(I just love this fantasy world where everyone is polite to cyclists when they're perceived to create an inconvenience to non-cyclists. Like a policeman asking the Chief Constable to move his Bentley off a double-yellow. ) Sorry. Got a bit ranty. Need to get outside ...

Well the last time anyone approached me about this, at Sevenoaks station a couple of years ago, they were perfectly polite. I think they said "can you turn your bike lights off" or words to that effect
Sorry. Nearly took the bait and continued this disputatious thread.

 

[matticus]

Sorry. Nearly took the bait and continued this disputatious thread.

You know you want to.

 

[Ajax Bay]

or words to that effect

Love the euphemism.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Love the euphemism.

I couldn't quite remember whether or not they said "please", and whether they addressed me as "sir"

 

[Gwylan]

No it isn't.

And is absolutely clear from context is what was meant here by te word "work".



Nobody has yet managed to find those actual regulations.



Nobody is coming "bleating here".

People are just trying to find out what the actual rules are - and I think everybody is agreed that (regardless of regulations), it is best to not be showing a red light where the train driver is likely to see it and possibly be confused with red signal lights.

Do you fight with the old git who appears in your bathroom mirror, every morning?

Let's go cycling and move on....

 

[Jenkins]

No regulations quoted, but under point 4 HERE is..

"Switch all bike lights off (including helmets) when using the railway. This is for safety reasons, as a red light represents an instruction for the train driver to stop."

And under the 'Bikes at Stations' dropdown HERE is...

Please switch off your rear red light or any flashing strobe lights on your bicycle whilst you’re in a station as this can distract train drivers.

 

[Ajax Bay]

And under the 'Bikes at Stations' dropdown HERE is...

You have found more guidance the like of which @Dogtrousers has helpfully shared upthread.
Good to see the hazard of lights on helmets (NB out of sight to the cyclist) specifically recognised
The text I found in that link was: "Please switch off your rear red light on your bicycle whilst you’re in a station as this can distract or confuse the driver of the train pulling into the station."
So if a potential passenger falls (or jumps down) onto the track, is it SOP for station staff on the platform (if any) to wave a red light to alert the driver of an approaching train?
Do TOCs have a mandatory protocol/mechanism for reporting emergency stops? Are there shared data on that? So lessons can be identified, and learned if practical?

 

[Dogtrousers]

Have you not seen The Railway Children?

All station staff wear regulation red underwear for use in an emergency.

Edit: having just learned the term "sealioning" from another thread I think that this tread might give me an excuse to use it to describe the endless requests for evidence in the form of SOPs and bylaws.

 

[Time Waster]

You're a knowledgeable expert. Please help us find the "regulation" or "law" (that you invite people to "simply observe").
A sentence buried in TOCs' 'Take your cycle by train' is a way of communicating this prohibition but regulation it is not.
Ftaod: It's clear that random red lights on a railway platform with clear potential to confuse drivers and create an unsafe situation is a hazard best eliminated.

The law is contract law. Your contract with the operating company is part of the terms and conditions of travel and also any signage about it on the station. Civil law backed up by criminal law if needed no doubt but that should be enough for you. You are allowed onto the private property that is the station to access trains for travelling. you need a valid ticket to travel and this is all part of a contract I reckon. There is a long history of contract law.

I am no expert but you are looking in the wrong place I reckon. It might well be there and no doubt hidden in a seemingly unrelated regulation but it is in plain sight on the contract documentation for your train operating company. Check terms and conditions of travel, or whatever the latest phrasing is for this.

If that is not enought then carry on ignoring the red light issue and one day you might be arrested or kicked out of the station. possibly with public order offences being used to arrest you or perhaps under the regulations relevant to this that you have not found yet.

 

[matticus]

Have you not seen The Railway Children?

All station staff wear regulation red underwear for use in an emergency.

Edit: having just learned the term "sealioning" from another thread I think that this tread might give me an excuse to use it to describe the endless requests for evidence in the form of SOPs and bylaws.

Sealioning (v) means crowbarring references to Jenny Agutter's undies into unrelated threads.

 

[Time Waster]

I think if someone jumps onto the track in front of a train there will be an investigation as it would probably ber classed as an accident or near miss. AIUI things like that get taken seriously and could end up with the train line being blocked for quite some time. Jumpers are a real issue. On my old line they held up trains for almost the whole day when it happened. One year it happened 4 times!! The same year another hold up was kids seen playing on the line. Took a long time until the whole stretch was checked and declared clear. Another time there was debris reported left on the line. That also took a long time to sort out.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Now might be a good time to report a story of my wife's. A train she was travelling on was delayed because the line ahead was closed due to police pursuing individuals. The driver announced the delay as being due to "thieves on the line".

It's such a good pun that it's probably been used many times and the driver was probably overjoyed to get a chance to use it.

I don't know if the driver was alerted by WPC Agutter.

 

[mjr]

Sealioning (v) means crowbarring references to Jenny Agutter's undies into unrelated threads.

Sealioning first arose as a corruption of "C-lining" from Internet Relay Chat servers, where admins added lines to the configuration to denote how people connected from that internet address should be handled. An "R-line" told the server to Restrict their connection, a "K-line" told it to kill the connection immediately, while a "C-line" warned everyone that an unpleasant person had connected.




🤥

 

[Ajax Bay]

If that is not enought then carry on ignoring the red light issue and one day you might be arrested or kicked out of the station. possibly with public order offences being used to arrest you or perhaps under the regulations relevant to this that you have not found yet.

I hope you don't mind me saying you come across as someone who would fit the stereotype of the always helpful members of station staff.
"I am no expert" and I commend use of the IANAL caveat when asserting how any 'law' or T&Cs might be employed for the greater good.
Who tf is "ignoring the red light issue"? And no it's not "enought".
I've already shared that I'm a battery boy with no dynamo in my arsenal and switch off at every opportunity to save power. The 100km train Rambouillet to Mortagne comes to mind (no platform involved).

 

[Drago]

I ANAL you say?