People playing loud music on buses could face £100 fine
Antisocial behaviour on buses in England could lead to fines while a new campaign is also being launched for trains. A national campaign asking rail passengers "share the carriage, not the noise" is being launched.
People who blast loud music on buses could be hit with a £100 fine
Passengers in England who play loud music on buses could face penalties of up to £100 as part of a government effort to clamp down on antisocial behaviour.
The measures also aim to address littering, vaping and threatening behaviour, with the goal of improving journeys across all forms of public transport.
Under new powers for local authorities, offenders on buses could be given fines.
A national campaign urging rail passengers to "share the carriage, not the noise" is also being launched. Campaigners have welcomed the proposed crackdown, though some have raised doubts about how it will be enforced.
"We've all been on the train when someone starts blasting music or videos from their phone. It gets on your nerves and can quickly spoil the journey," said Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
Under current powers, anyone asked to stop and who refuses can be removed from a train or fined up to £1,000.
The behaviour has been described in various ways, including loudcasting or sodcasting, and in recent years Ofcom, YouGov and Transport for London (TfL) have all released polls showing that the overwhelming majority of people dislike it.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said small changes in behaviour "can make a massive difference to people's experience on public transport".
The government said it had issued fresh guidance to local authorities on powers introduced earlier this year to help them crack down on loud music and other antisocial behaviour on buses in England.
These new powers let them introduce new rules on buses, but they still require approval from the Transport Secretary.
People who break the rules could receive fixed penalties of up to £100.
The government says bus drivers will not be tasked with enforcing the new rules. Instead, authorised officers, including Transport Safety Officers and the Police, will handle incidents.
At the same time, a new national campaign will remind rail passengers to "share the carriage, not the noise", in order to improve journeys for everyone.
The campaign will run on operator websites, social media and in carriages. The government said it would replace the current "patchwork" of approaches across different rail operators and help create "a clear, consistent message across the network".
Maryam Eslamdoust, general secretary of the TSSA transport union, said tackling antisocial behaviour on public transport was "a step in the right direction".
But she added that the government must also "urgently confront the violence, threats and abuse faced by passengers and transport workers".
"Increasing the budget for British Transport Police is vital to protect people, respond to incidents and bring violent offenders to justice," she said.
Michael Solomon Williams of the Campaign for Better Transport told the BBC that antisocial behaviour could be a "real deterrent" to people using public transport, particularly those with different accessibility needs.
He also questioned how the new measures will be enforced. "When local authorities are required to do the enforcement there are perhaps some question marks about how a local police force might be called upon on bus services, for example, where we don't tend to see British Transport Police."
Richard Holden MP, Shadow Transport Secretary, said: "After we led the charge against antisocial behaviour on public transport last summer, Ministers have worked out that nobody wants to endure pounding techno or blaring hip hop on a packed train or bus.
"But passengers and railway staff face far more serious problems. Assaults against rail staff have risen by 68%, while prosecutions have slumped under Labour. It's time for Andy Burnham to get serious about enforcement, tackling violence and protecting those who work on our railways."
Liberal Democrat Transport spokesperson Olly Glover MP said: "Tough talk means nothing without enforcement.
"Unless the Government funds transport safety officers on the ground, these new rules won't be worth the paper they're printed on."
Independent watchdog Transport Focus said research it published in June showed that personal safety and security are now fundamental to passengers' confidence in the railway.
"Four in 10 passengers say that anti-social behaviour has made them feel vulnerable when travelling," said Alex Campbell, Transport Focus's director of policy and insight.
"Measures that reduce nuisance behaviour, such as playing loud music and vaping, can help improve people's experience and encourage more people to choose public transport."