• 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!

Beggar aboard at Birmingham New Street!

Status
Not open for further replies.

30mog

Member
Joined
25 Apr 2013
Messages
189
Earlier this evening I was making my way from Coventry to Chesterfield. Whilst the train was paused for 10 minutes or so at Birmingham New Street an individual boarded the train and in a very polite manner: "Can I have your attention please folks, I desperately need to catch this train to Newcastle when it leaves in a few minutes, I'm about £7 short of the fare, can anyone spare some change even if it's only 50p."

Like most I was suspicious and ignored him. And wondered:

Birmingham New Street (BHM) being a security conscious station, how did he get to the platform without a ticket? As walk on fares go, £7 towards Birmingham to Newcastle is a bit of a negligible contribution, thus if he was only £7 short he already had a lot more ready. (I checked on my phone which revealed that 5 minutes before departure an Advance single was available for £57).

Be honest. Who thinks he was merely an imaginative beggar? Anyone seen similar incidents?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

the sniper

Established Member
Joined
4 Sep 2007
Messages
3,500
Since the new station opened New Street has developed all sorts of problems with beggars, people selling stuff like tissues and loitering homeless people. It seems to have calmed down a little bit lately, but people trying to elicit money on the suburban network has also been a problem.

If you walk around Birmingham city centre and see how many homeless people and druggies there are hanging around nowadays, it becomes less of a surprise to see them in the station and on trains...
 

takno

Established Member
Joined
9 Jul 2016
Messages
5,036
It's not really imaginative. I'd describe it as straight out of begging 101.

On the other hand, in the unlikely event that he was collecting for a Newcastle fare, why would you look up an online fare which can't be bought for cash?
 

trash80

Established Member
Joined
18 Aug 2015
Messages
1,204
Location
Birches Green
The barriers are often open at BHM, plus its fairly easy to get into the station by train without anyone checking your ticket
 

district

Member
Joined
4 Aug 2011
Messages
1,098
Location
SE16
You can always text the BTP on 61016 if something like this happens. If the train is likely to be in the platform at somewhere like BHM for a couple of minutes the BTP will probably attend and remove the person.
 

deltic

Established Member
Joined
8 Feb 2010
Messages
3,201
Earlier this evening I was making my way from Coventry to Chesterfield. Whilst the train was paused for 10 minutes or so at Birmingham New Street an individual boarded the train and in a very polite manner: "Can I have your attention please folks, I desperately need to catch this train to Newcastle when it leaves in a few minutes, I'm about £7 short of the fare, can anyone spare some change even if it's only 50p."

Like most I was suspicious and ignored him. And wondered:

Birmingham New Street (BHM) being a security conscious station, how did he get to the platform without a ticket? As walk on fares go, £7 towards Birmingham to Newcastle is a bit of a negligible contribution, thus if he was only £7 short he already had a lot more ready. (I checked on my phone which revealed that 5 minutes before departure an Advance single was available for £57).

Be honest. Who thinks he was merely an imaginative beggar? Anyone seen similar incidents?

Yes I was approached at New St recently by someone claiming they need a certain amount of money to get to Chester by coach - looking online the amount being sought was more than the turn up and pay fare!
 

Bletchleyite

Veteran Member
Joined
20 Oct 2014
Messages
97,521
Location
"Marston Vale mafia"
Birmingham New Street (BHM) being a security conscious station

Walked through the no-doubt-open barriers.

New St is nothing of the sort.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
If you walk around Birmingham city centre and see how many homeless people and druggies there are hanging around nowadays, it becomes less of a surprise to see them in the station and on trains...

If anything you see far fewer in the UK than Germany where there are loads of them, from druggies (I once saw someone run out of a train with a needle hanging out of their arm at Hamburg Hbf) to gypsies selling things like tissues with a scowl and curse if you don't buy, to buskers, to simple beggars.
 

dk1

Veteran Member
Joined
2 Oct 2009
Messages
15,821
Location
East Anglia
Report it as its not nice. Always serial offenders. We kick them out of our stations ASAP. I personally cannot stand being asked for money & many of them stink. Lowers the tone & can be quite threatening for some people.
 

TH172341

Member
Joined
22 Aug 2010
Messages
392
Most likely come in on a local and just wandered round; or managed to get through an open barrier. Being fair to New Street though I'm finding the barriers closed the majority of the time I use it now which is good to see.
 

jon0844

Veteran Member
Joined
1 Feb 2009
Messages
28,013
Location
UK
Some are quite imaginative with their stories and some will shout to whole carriage that they're simply after money! Seems their 'honesty' sometimes pays off, so they'd keep doing it.

I even see the odd person buying tissues and those people really bug me as that's a very well organised racket.
 

boxy321

Member
Joined
20 Jun 2016
Messages
449
I offer them a free ride using the Friends and Family scheme with my season ticket (£1 for a return). They soon clear off. Better still, take a leaflet from the Witnesses outside and offer them that. Salvation.
 

E&W Lucas

Established Member
Joined
21 Jan 2010
Messages
1,358
Better still, take a leaflet from the Witnesses outside and offer them that. Salvation.
Brilliant!!:D:D:D
Agree with the other posts above. It's common in all major urban areas. Always the same faces. Professional begging. Please report to BTP or railway staff, and whatever you do, please do not give them money.
 

pemma

Veteran Member
Joined
23 Jan 2009
Messages
31,474
Location
Knutsford
Asking for (a specific amount of) money for a train or bus fare is the oldest trick in the book.

Indeed. One I encountered claimed his girlfriend had just thrown him out, he didn't have any money and needed to get the train to the next town. A couple of months later the same person used the same story to claim he needed to money to catch the bus to a different town but it was Saturday evening and the last bus of the day for that town had already left, so the next bus wasn't until Monday morning.
 

johntea

Established Member
Joined
29 Dec 2010
Messages
2,585
I once gave a beggar my loose change (60p or so) and the cheeky bugger asked if I had a couple of quid more!

Since then I refuse to give a penny to them no matter what their 'story'
 

racyrich

Member
Joined
25 Jan 2014
Messages
206
Some are quite imaginative with their stories and some will shout to whole carriage that they're simply after money! Seems their 'honesty' sometimes pays off, so they'd keep doing it.

I even see the odd person buying tissues and those people really bug me as that's a very well organised racket.

My commute is full of people who I wish would buy and use some tissues!
 

LowLevel

Established Member
Joined
26 Oct 2013
Messages
7,542
Don't give them anything and text BTP on 61016 with the details, tell the station staff or train crew. I hate the scum and they get launched with extreme prejudice.

One of the happiest moments of my career to date was hearing a report of one of our regular aggressive beggars, a chap by the name of Grandad, causing trouble upstairs. Grandad used crutches as a visual aid to start with followed by a more general threat of violence with said crutches for non compliance.

By the time we made it upstairs Grandad was on the deck with one of his crutches broken in half with blood pouring out of a gash in his head having tried to menace the wrong person.

The local police turned up shortly afterwards and seeing who it was, they made him mop up his own blood off the floor before throwing him in the back of a van.

He wasn't homeless either.
 

Iskra

Established Member
Joined
11 Jun 2014
Messages
7,785
Location
West Riding
I've just had 'have you got 50p' for a phone call on the Norwich-Great Yarmouth LHCS from a bloke wearing an electronic tag lol. Not just the big cities that have this problem. Opportunists are everywhere.
 

pemma

Veteran Member
Joined
23 Jan 2009
Messages
31,474
Location
Knutsford
On our DOO services we have issues with Big Issue sellers ('cuse the pun).

If they are official vendors report them to the Big Issue as they are only allowed to sell them in their designated spot, otherwise inform the police as they aren't an official vendor.
 

anti-pacer

Established Member
Joined
5 Jun 2013
Messages
2,312
Location
Narnia
I had it on a train from London Bridge to Orpington last May. He was a right pushy scrote, so I told him to do one. He got off at Hither Green thankfully.
 

trash80

Established Member
Joined
18 Aug 2015
Messages
1,204
Location
Birches Green
Best one i had was a beggar who first played some (dreadful) accordion then put his hand out to the passengers for coin.
 

NorthernSpirit

Established Member
Joined
21 Jun 2013
Messages
2,184
This lunatic pops into Huddersfield every now and then, he's been using the same story for the past decade that he can't get home. Funny that, considering that he lives in Aspley (down near the university) which is an easy 20 minute walk from the station.

Two of his mates have also tried it, caught both of them out over a period of time with one getting rumbled when I asked that he place his shiny gold coins into the ticket machine at Huddersfield to get a ticket to where he wants to go. He reluctantly refused and walked off.

On one occation two Romainians boarded at Huddersfield and started to play their accordion with his mate going through and asking for cash - rumbled them as well when I told the guard that I 've seen begging onboard - they got chucked off at Leeds.
 

Altrincham

Member
Joined
22 Aug 2011
Messages
262
I just experienced a beggar on the 0651 XC Stoke-Piccadilly.

A fella entered the packed carriage just after Macclesfield and loudly announced that he needed 21 quid to get somewhere. Clutching a fistful of pound coins, he told the carriage that if we didn't believe him then he would hand over his passport and IPhone. A number of people did hand money over.

Full credit to the train manager as BTP were waiting for the train on the arrival platform at Piccadilly.
 

colchesterken

Member
Joined
12 Oct 2010
Messages
764
I was stopped by a beggar in France I said I am English " N pale France Pa "
He then asked me for money in English I told him in English to s... off
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top