Nat. Rail TOC bans smoking

They are banning it, apparently, as a run in from 1st May, anyone caught flouting the regulations, is given a warning, from 1st July, anyone caught will be asked to leave the station.

As a non-smoker also, I also welcome the ban, but feel enforcement won't be possible at quiet stations, say Bromley North.

Over this side of Offa's Dyke, where the ban came in on 2nd April; there are 2 defined areas - enclosed and the (somewhat disingenuous) significantly enclosed

Smoking is banned in all enclosed areas and areas that are more than 50% enclosed - hence significantly.

Trenau Arriva Cymru have banned smoking on all stations - even the totally open ones. Serco Metrolink (Manc Trams) have had a ban in place for years - even at Market St. where there has never been any form of shelter.

Parts of the ban are faintly ludricrous - we've had to put up standard size bilingual signs on the listed station buildings at work. In Wales, like Canada, everything appears twice.

Incidentally, I've thoroughly enjoyed smoking a cigarette whilst typing this in the privacy of my own home. ;D

Unless they have those new Talking CCTV Cameras... "Passenger #21086, please extingiush that item"

Alternatively

Won't make a difference in the real world, illegal or not. Transport staff are NOT the police and do NOT have the powers of arrest. Without that they just open themselves to ridicule if they intervene against a defiant passenger. The reasonable will comply with the new laws, the unreasonable will object, illegal or not.

However if the law is as it stands now, any member of transport staff "knowingly permitting smoking" will be liable for action against them. They can ask people to stop smoking - if they don't, call for the BTP.

Not trying to quibble here: you have the AUTHORITY to stop them........but for an awkward customer do you actually have the POWER? In other words what happens if one refuses? If it had been on my bus I would simply have parked up and waited for compliance, but I suspect that isn't a realistic option on the DR. And phoning for BTP: do you really have the AUTHORITY, let alone the power to detain them while BTP arrive?

Hence my statement to Tomcakes' reply. You can have all the authority (power) you like but whatever the law it will still be far easier to stand back: if the SA gets a refusal, then so does the SS ( and so on up the chain) which of them gets prosecuted?

Don't get me wrong. I'm all in favour of the ban AND its enforcement but unlike pubs where the landlord has PERSONAL authority to sling out anyone (not just smokers), LU staff are in a lot more invidious position........

On a station, you can call for help from the BTP or local police, on a train you can hold the doors shut. At the end of the day smoking can pose a serious hazard on the tube, which is why it's banned - it isn't just because it's a disgusting habit. On a bus that isn't possible, as you don't have radio contact with a controller, and it is possible to escape easier through fire doors.

I don't know how many if any people have been prosecuted for having let people continue smoking. It is something I've seen staff taken seriously - in Edinburgh, pointing out "excuse me, there's a gentleman smoking over there" receives an "ok, cheers" rather than a "not my problem mate" you would, no doubt, get from a Doncastarian SA.

I'm not happy with this at all. What's wrong with just banning it from roofed stations, or roofed sections of stations? Smoking really doesn't cause much damage in the open air. In Dutch stations they have special smoking areas, which seems like a nice compromise as well.

At the moment you can smoke in any pub or club unless that particular venue has a no-smoking policy (which very few do). When the new law comes in on 1st July, smoking will be banned inside all pubs and clubs.

Ahh, well done TC for bringing it to the Drivers attention, and congrats to the Driver who confronted said citizen who was flouting a regulation.

Problem is, it's only since the death of Roy Castle a few years ago that the REAL dangers of passive smoking became known. When I were a lad twas just thought a laugh. But then, most of the over 40s had been in the war and HM gov't had issued smokes to all military men.

We are a long way on from that: the latest ads are great in bringing it to our attention.

And since 84% of smokers 'wish there was an easy way to give up', the ban is a good encouragement to make it happen.

Since the late 70s I have been making predictions about restrictions on smoking, mainly for the benefit of addicted 6th formers, and have been proved right every time. My current prediction is that within 5 years of the ban so many will have given up that smoking itself will have become socially unacceptable. Probably age increased to 21, and even then only the REAL rebels will be smoking - as a mark of defiance. Quote me on it in 5 years time