£10 for a five-year permit?

I read with interest the feature on railway enthusiasts taking photographs at railway installations ( RAIL 830).

I have taken many photographs at various stations around northern England and have only ever been challenged once - that was in the car park of my local railway station and where my camera was actually outside railway premises (I was leaning over the wall of the car park in order to get a better view of the subject I was taking).

While there does not appear to be any legal restriction on the pursuit of our hobby, perhaps one way of overcoming the problem of train operator and Network Rail staff challenging railway enthusiasts unjustifiably would be to issue a simple pass which could be valid for a period of (say) five years.

The pass could be in the form of a mag strip ticket, as is generally available similar to a railway car parking ticket. I am sure that it would not be such a costly exercise to initiate such a change.

Another alternative would be for Network Rail to issue such permits, although perhaps that might be too costly an exercise.

Such a pass would be subject to the current national or local bylaws governing access to railway premises, and would therefore become invalid in the case of (for instance) trespass or any other infringement of such laws and bylaws.

Perhaps if such a pass was available then any dispute with untrained staff could be avoided. For my own part, and in the knowledge that I was entitled to pursue my hobby legitimately without hindrance, I would be perfectly willing to pay a small administration charge to obtain such a pass - let’s say £10 for five years. It would be worth it, and it would also deter such people who were not legitimate railway enthusiasts.

Incidentally, at one time in the ‘Good old BR’ days, I remember that there was such thing as a platform ticket which entitled the bearer to be on the platform of the railway station to which it applied. Again, it might be appropriate to recommence the issue of such tickets in order to deter any abusive or criminal behaviour. B Haigh, Barnsley