Can't take photos of trains?

No-One

No-One

No-One

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My sister has just returned from a college trip to Manchester. They were taking photos for their art course. The theme was transport. A small group of them decided to go to a railway station to take some photos of some trains. They were then approached by a community support officer who told them that they couldn't take photos of any of the trains without prior written permission from the station manager. Not wanting to get into an argument they just went elsewhere. Is there any legal reason for this, or was the CSO just being awkward?
 
Absolutely false.

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/passenger_services/guidelines_for_rail_enthusiasts.htm said:
Taking photographs on stations is permitted providing it is for personal use. For any commercial photography, prior permission must be sought from the appropriate train operator or, from Network Rail at their 17 major stations. On busy stations the use of a tripod may cause a dangerous obstruction to passengers and you may be asked not to use one. In addition, tripod legs must also be kept away from platform edges and behind the yellow lines. Flash photography on platforms is not allowed as it may distract the attention of train drivers and train despatch staff and is therefore a potential safety hazard. You are also not allowed to take photographs of security related equipment such as CCTV cameras.
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if they're using SLRs, the CSO probably thought they were shooting commercially which, as rob points out, needs permission
 
Not sure about taking pictures at train stations but to take photos on the underground you need a licence as you are on private property.
 
I was asked by a security guard to stop taking photos without permission. I explained that they were for personal use only and he backed off sheepishly. I think he was just trying to be authorative, and when I challenged that he left because he didn't know who was right. Nobody knows the entirety of the law, including police officers, try and buff up on photographic rights so that next time you've some counter-arguments.
 
Sic said:
if they're using SLRs, the CSO probably thought they were shooting commercially which, as rob points out, needs permission
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Nope. Just point and shoots. They got enough material for their course before they got moved on anyway.
 
a similar thing happened to my brother, he was taking pictures (he has an slr) of a metro station and he got moved on.. wasn't even taking pictures of trains themselves just the graffiti on the walls
 
There has been quite a lot of this in the railway press. Essentially it is a combination of vagueness of understanding of the law and a big slice of "Little Hitlers" exherting their authority.
The crazy thing is, many airports, which have moch more serious security issues, actually WELCOME plane enthusiasts, even to the point of issuing them with I.D. tags as they are a very useful extra set of eyes at the airport and are pretty knowledgable and can spot something or someone amiss a mile off.
Compare this to the power crazed jobsworths at many stations who just say automatically, "You can't do that here, sod off!"
As has been said, all you need to do is take two minutes to make yourself known at the station reception.

Pretty stupid attitudes really.
 
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Geffen said:
Not sure about taking pictures at train stations but to take photos on the underground you need a licence as you are on private property.
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That isn't correct either, you are allowed to take pictures on the Underground but cannot use a flash.
 
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