• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

On "Dry" trains....

Status
Not open for further replies.

Howardh

Established Member
Joined
17 May 2011
Messages
8,120
...what constitutes "alcohol"?

Would someone with a refreshing shandy @ 1% be breaking the rules, and what about low-alcohol beer at 2%? Is there a regulation where the drink has to be 0% or you risk (at worst) prosecution - although in reality a telling off??
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

Trackman

Established Member
Joined
28 Feb 2013
Messages
2,923
Location
Lewisham
what I read is that anything over is 0.5% is classed as an alcoholic drink, so you'd be fine with Shandy Bass!
 

bearhugger

Member
Joined
17 Mar 2015
Messages
575
Location
Middlesbrough
I’m sure I have seen police pouring alcohol down the drain. Can’t remember if it was at York or Whitby but the people they had confiscated it from were well intoxicated anyway.
 

Howardh

Established Member
Joined
17 May 2011
Messages
8,120
what I read is that anything over is 0.5% is classed as an alcoholic drink, so you'd be fine with Shandy Bass!
That seems sensible. If anyone gets drunk on 0.5% shandy they're going some! I actually like an ice-cold shandy lager on hot days.
 

fowler9

Established Member
Joined
29 Oct 2013
Messages
8,367
Location
Liverpool
I find dry trains an interesting concept. I went to catch a London Midland (As they were at the time) service out of Lime Street on a Saturday evening. I was stopped at the barrier and asked what was in my rucksack. 8 cans of lager I had bought after just finishing work. I was sent away to get the bus home to South Liverpool. Everyone else who was absolutely steaming drunk already was allowed on the train for the hour long journey to Crewe. Maybe they thought I was going to sell my cans on the train, no chance. Ha ha. The benefits of dry trains are dubious if you let hundreds of people on who are already smashed. Apologies if anyone feels this is off topic. There are already rules in place to stop people who are out of the game from getting on the train, they just aren't enforced.
 

sw1ller

Established Member
Joined
4 Jan 2013
Messages
1,567
I find dry trains an interesting concept. I went to catch a London Midland (As they were at the time) service out of Lime Street on a Saturday evening. I was stopped at the barrier and asked what was in my rucksack. 8 cans of lager I had bought after just finishing work. I was sent away to get the bus home to South Liverpool. Everyone else who was absolutely steaming drunk already was allowed on the train for the hour long journey to Crewe. Maybe they thought I was going to sell my cans on the train, no chance. Ha ha. The benefits of dry trains are dubious if you let hundreds of people on who are already smashed. Apologies if anyone feels this is off topic. There are already rules in place to stop people who are out of the game from getting on the train, they just aren't enforced.

This just shows the double standards. 8 beers in a rucksack is punishable by death but 2 bottles of plunk and a mojito in a can are fine.

I appreciate that it’s best to keep some trains dry, but taking someone’s shopping off them because they dare to use public transport is an absolute joke.

It’s why I never use merseyrail.
 

kristiang85

Established Member
Joined
23 Jan 2018
Messages
2,651
I got ID'd in the supermarket the other day for the first time in years - I was buying non-alcoholic beer, and as I had no ID they took it off me. I'm 34! So in the eyes of the law, it seems 0.5% ABV is not 'dry'.

I'm glad I don't encounter dry trains on any of my regular routes; I'm pretty sure they don't work (as mentioned, someone coming on steaming drunk from a bar but not drinking on the train is far more of a nuisance than someone having a small can of beer or glass of wine after work) and policing them just adds another job to stretched staff, and will also lead to unnecessary confrontation situations.
 

Howardh

Established Member
Joined
17 May 2011
Messages
8,120
I got ID'd in the supermarket the other day for the first time in years - I was buying non-alcoholic beer, and as I had no ID they took it off me. I'm 34! So in the eyes of the law, it seems 0.5% ABV is not 'dry'.
Pah. I'm devastated no-ones asked to see my senior railcard, I obviously look old enough. :'(
 

Bletchleyite

Veteran Member
Joined
20 Oct 2014
Messages
97,546
Location
"Marston Vale mafia"
I got ID'd in the supermarket the other day for the first time in years - I was buying non-alcoholic beer, and as I had no ID they took it off me. I'm 34! So in the eyes of the law, it seems 0.5% ABV is not 'dry'.

It's usually a policy thing by supermarkets that anything that comes under the UNSPSC code for adult beverages requires ID, even 0.0% i.e. completely alcohol free beer. The exact same thing branded as a malt drink wouldn't.
 

Stigy

Established Member
Joined
6 Nov 2009
Messages
4,881
Common sense should be exercised in my opinion. Someone with some cans in a backpack which are unopened, and who is travelling along, should be allowed to board as long as they’ve no intention of drinking the alcohol on their journey. If it’s opened and being drunk at the time then fair enough, expect to have it confiscated and/or denied travel.
 

Spurs

Member
Joined
26 Jan 2015
Messages
86
There are already rules in place to stop people who are out of the game from getting on the train, they just aren't enforced.

And rightly so. People are not, realistically, going to spend three figures on a taxi to get home if they're a distance away. If you take away the option of public transport, at least a portion of them are going to drive.
 

Esker-pades

Established Member
Joined
23 Jul 2015
Messages
3,766
Location
Beds, Bucks, or somewhere else
Seriously!!!!!

Who’s getting pissed off of rum and raisin ice cream???
Absolutely no idea. I've been asked for ID for everything from an actual bottle of wine to a tiny box of slightly alcoholic chocolates. It's to cover their legal corner, in the same way boxes of eggs have "Allergy Advice: Contains egg" on them.
 

sheff1

Established Member
Joined
24 Dec 2009
Messages
5,461
Location
Sheffield
It's usually a policy thing by supermarkets that anything that comes under the UNSPSC code for adult beverages requires ID, even 0.0% i.e. completely alcohol free beer. The exact same thing branded as a malt drink wouldn't.

I have no idea what UNSPSC is, but I have never been asked for ID when purchasing alcohol*, at home or abroad ... and I have been doing so for far more decades than I care to remember !

* I have never purchased alcohol free beer.
 

Bletchleyite

Veteran Member
Joined
20 Oct 2014
Messages
97,546
Location
"Marston Vale mafia"
I have no idea what UNSPSC is, but I have never been asked for ID when purchasing alcohol*, at home or abroad ... and I have been doing so for far more decades than I care to remember !

* I have never purchased alcohol free beer.

United Nations Standard Product and Service Code, it's a categorisation system used in barcodes.

Being very tall and having been since about 14 I have never been IDed either, but my point was that whether a product comes into potentially needing it isn't to do with content but with the code.
 

Meerkat

Established Member
Joined
14 Jul 2018
Messages
7,424
Long time ago a friend got stopped from taking a four pack of Stella onto a dry train at Euston
However they let him through after watching him drink all four in a row right in front of them.
Perfectly logical....
 

Stigy

Established Member
Joined
6 Nov 2009
Messages
4,881
Long time ago a friend got stopped from taking a four pack of Stella onto a dry train at Euston
However they let him through after watching him drink all four in a row right in front of them.
Perfectly logical....
And Stella too....did he assault anybody afterwards? :E
 

sw1ller

Established Member
Joined
4 Jan 2013
Messages
1,567
And Stella too....did he assault anybody afterwards? :E

Hate this. No offence. Stella makes me really mellow and I always have a great night on it. I’m drinking it now. Carling on the other hand makes me absolutely mental. The “wife beater” tag is uncalled for.

Sorry, well off thread now.
 

Stigy

Established Member
Joined
6 Nov 2009
Messages
4,881
Hate this. No offence. Stella makes me really mellow and I always have a great night on it. I’m drinking it now. Carlsberg on the other hand makes me absolutely mental. With “wife beater” tag is uncalled for.

Sorry, well off thread now.
They’ve changed Stella in fairness, from how it used to be. But we will have to disagree in general. Maybe it’s just the calibre of people I see drinking it that’s a red herring? But yes, off topic. My comment was of course made in jest.
 

sw1ller

Established Member
Joined
4 Jan 2013
Messages
1,567
They’ve changed Stella in fairness, from how it used to be. But we will have to disagree in general. Maybe it’s just the calibre of people I see drinking it that’s a red herring? But yes, off topic. My comment was of course made in jest.

To be fair. I make no improvement to the general caliber of said Stella drinker. I’m a rite tit.
 

jtuk

Member
Joined
4 Jun 2018
Messages
423
I have no idea what UNSPSC is, but I have never been asked for ID when purchasing alcohol*, at home or abroad ... and I have been doing so for far more decades than I care to remember !

* I have never purchased alcohol free beer.

You've never been to the States then?
 

pt_mad

Established Member
Joined
26 Sep 2011
Messages
2,960
I find dry trains an interesting concept. I went to catch a London Midland (As they were at the time) service out of Lime Street on a Saturday evening. I was stopped at the barrier and asked what was in my rucksack. 8 cans of lager I had bought after just finishing work. I was sent away to get the bus home to South Liverpool. Everyone else who was absolutely steaming drunk already was allowed on the train for the hour long journey to Crewe. Maybe they thought I was going to sell my cans on the train, no chance. Ha ha. The benefits of dry trains are dubious if you let hundreds of people on who are already smashed. Apologies if anyone feels this is off topic. There are already rules in place to stop people who are out of the game from getting on the train, they just aren't enforced.

This just shows the double standards. 8 beers in a rucksack is punishable by death but 2 bottles of plunk and a mojito in a can are fine.

I appreciate that it’s best to keep some trains dry, but taking someone’s shopping off them because they dare to use public transport is an absolute joke.

It’s why I never use merseyrail.
Afaik they have a different system at Edinburgh Waverley where unopened conceiled alcohol is permitted afaik, with opened alcohol carried loosely banned after 9pm if anyone can clarify? Something like that anyway.
 
Last edited:

Bletchleyite

Veteran Member
Joined
20 Oct 2014
Messages
97,546
Location
"Marston Vale mafia"
You've never been to the States then?

Only some states ID everyone for alcohol (other than the minimum 21 thing which sort-of isn't[1], most alcohol related stuff in the US is a state matter). I've purchased and consumed it in the US but never been IDed.

The only exception (which I suppose is similar) is that I have had to have my ID scanned at nightclubs where they scan everyone's, which is more about knowing who is there and having a photo of them to compare with CCTV in the event of an incident than it is about whether you are over 18 (as I really obviously am anyway).

[1] Actually, it is, but they forced it through by removing certain sources of national funding from states if they didn't implement it.
 

bionic

Member
Joined
8 Nov 2013
Messages
883
If you've ever been on the North Kent line you would find far more passengers in possession of dosser-strength alcohol and hard drugs than in possession of a valid ticket.
 

hluraven

Member
Joined
4 Apr 2012
Messages
131
You've never been to the States then?

I've been to the States many times, drunk in about half of the states in the States, and never once been asked for ID.

I've been ID'd once in the last 20 or so years. It was for a lottery ticket.
 

DarloRich

Veteran Member
Joined
12 Oct 2010
Messages
29,182
Location
Fenny Stratford
Common sense should be exercised in my opinion. Someone with some cans in a backpack which are unopened, and who is travelling along, should be allowed to board as long as they’ve no intention of drinking the alcohol on their journey. If it’s opened and being drunk at the time then fair enough, expect to have it confiscated and/or denied travel.

Good evening sir, I cant help noticing you have a couple of cans about your person. You aren't going to drink them on the train are you?

Me? NOoooooooooooooooooooooo. not at all. nope.

Great on you go then! Have a nice evening.

how is that going to work? Dry train as long as you don't look like a wrong un?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top