Beggars!

[theageofthetra]

If passengers are being intimidated then they should ring or text BTP-I wonder how many passengers have this saved on their phones.

 

[jon0844]

If they feel intimidated, they probably don't have a clue about how to discreetly text BTP and would probably feel too scared of any repercussions.

 

[reb0118]

On the Roma...Railway.

Roma on the Roma Railway? Well I never!.........

 

[northwichcat]

Roma on the Roma Railway? Well I never!.........

Roma-Lido railway. Given Lido is Italian for a swimming pool or beach I think their trains need to have Lido if they have the Roma.

 

[NickBucks]

Have seen this on Chiltern in the Princes Risborough /High Wycombe area as well. PR has no barriers so they can just walk on. Probably travel back without leaving HW station.

 

[JaJaWa]

If passengers are being intimidated then they should ring or text BTP-I wonder how many passengers have this saved on their phones.

If they are being intimidated and need to call BTP, they don't need anything saved on their phones, they can just call 999.

 

[jon0844]

If they are being intimidated and need to call BTP, they don't need anything saved on their phones, they can just call 999.

Sure, but the point is a lot of people get worried and won't call 999. They'll just keep their heads down.

 

[Tim R-T-C]

There are a lot of posters appearing about the 'text BTP' service. I suspect if regular passengers have seen an event like this but not known who to call, then seen the poster, they will save it in their phone.

 

[Master29]

Once on the Worcester-Birmingham train a Roma (one assumes) started playing his accordion and then walked down the carriage asking for money. Rather surreal.

It`s like any other invasion of privacy, not to mention emotional blackmail. Having to put up with people who act stupid on trains is a pain in the arsenal any time.

 

[Stan63]

I was approached by a beggar in Glasgow Central station while I was waiting by the departure screens. I ignored him hoping he would go away but he raised his hand. Before he put a finger on me 2 guys grabbed him and dragged him off. I presume they were plain clothes officers. It's the first time i've seen a beggar in the station.
A funnier incident happened a week ago. I was approached in Paisley by a woman looking for the bus fare to Glasgow. I saw there was a bus arriving so I called her bluff and offered to pay for her ticket on the bus. This offer was refused with more than a few choice words. At that point I made a hasty exit.

Stan

 

[EbbwJunction1]

I've only seen this once, on a journey from Stratford to Chelmsford about a year or so ago.

It was, as far as I can remember, the "leave tissues on the seat" ruse, which I ignored completely. I was quite surprised they managed to get away with it on a train; how do they get through the barriers?

I never give anything to beggars of any kind.

 

[jon0844]

I am quite sure that at least one of them can easily afford a ticket (perhaps doubling up as you can see happens quite often if you're ever bored enough to watch a gateline), and once they're through a gate they can go back and forth all day. They then leave at their home station when finishing work.

This is a job to them, and possibly a pretty well paid one (for some people at least, depending on how the money is divided up) so I doubt they want to get problems with revenue staff.

 

[Robertj21a]

Quite common abroad but the only serious 'aggro' I've ever experienced is around Dublin and throughout Rome (neither seem to ever do anything to resolve it).

 

[bb21]

I find that these beggars on trains tend to leave you in peace. What annoys me more is the way some fundraisers "box people in" on trains trying to emotionally blackmail them for money. A while ago I was boxed in with two others in the First Class section of a Networker Turbo by a group of university students fundraising for some causes and it made for quite an uncomfortable encounter when I realised I had all but 8p in coins on me. The other two felt compelled to offer them a fiver each but spoke of their disgust when they left.

I have always found it intimidating being approached at Doncaster station at night for money. They just have that look of aggression on their faces which I rarely find elsewhere. One would not leave me alone even after being told that I had no change and said he would give me change if I gave him a fiver. Yeah, right.

 

[Mojo]

The only thing that will stop them is zero tolerance to begging, instant arrest and worthwhile punishment.

Unfortunately there are people now (particularly younger generations) who think that there is nothing wrong with people playing musical instruments or selling tissues on trains. The number of videos I have seen on the London Snapchat feed of buskers (typically one playing a trumpet and one playing an accordion) with some kind of positive comment is unbelievable. A colleague of mine even criticised another colleague for escorting a tissue seller to the BTP the other week!

 

[NorthernSpirit]

At one time there was a bloke at Huddersfield who kept asking for 8p and also a woman saying that she was lost and had no money to get home.

I said to her once that she shoudl really go to the police station if she was really lost, she got up and walked off - that's another scammer gone.

 

[Bletchleyite]

There was one in MK who asked for a specific sum for a bus fare. Sadly for her (and she was not at all polite when I called her out on it) the sum was not a current fare. I am not averse to supporting the homeless in the right circumstances, but I will not be lied to.

 

[Antman]

At one time there was a bloke at Huddersfield who kept asking for 8p and also a woman saying that she was lost and had no money to get home.

I said to her once that she shoudl really go to the police station if she was really lost, she got up and walked off - that's another scammer gone.

There was a woman who hung around Victoria coach station regularly putting on the tears and telling anybody who would listen how she was stranded and had no money to get home to her seriously ill mother etc etc, I believe she was eventually arrested and prosecuted and served with a restraining order

 

[90sWereBetter]

I witnessed tissue begging for the first time last month, on the Northern line between Clapham Common and Tooting Broadway. I got on the first carriage at Clapham Common, which was fairly lightly loaded (it was about 10:20 on a Saturday morning), and a male wearing a blue hoodie placed tissues and a note alongside everyone. An elderly woman of Korean descent sitting opposite me bought the tissues, but from what I saw, she was the only one in my carriage who did. Said man then collected the tissues and notes, and moved into the next carriage at Clapham South, and he was still moving from carriage to carriage when I got off at Tooting Broadway. Before that, I honestly believed it was an urban myth.

 

[sheff1]

There was a woman who hung around Victoria coach station regularly putting on the tears and telling anybody who would listen how she was stranded and had no money to get home to her seriously ill mother etc etc,

There was a similar woman at Digbeth coach station in Birmingham who claimed she had lost her coach ticket. When I pointed out to her that this was the third Friday running she had lost her ticket and she should really take more care of it, she went rather quiet ... and strangely I did not see her there on subsequent Fridays.

On the other hand, I was once approached in Sheffield by a man with a very broad Nottingham accent who explained that he had been discharged from Wakefield Prison and had then travelled to Sheffield to go to the home of someone he had shared a cell with and showed me the name and adresss on a scrap of paper. He said that when he went to the house the person no longer lived there and so he was now trying to get to Nottingham where he knew a number of people who might put him up. He sounded genuine so I gave him some money for which he was most grateful and asked for my address so that he could pay me back when he started work. Naturally, I said that was not necessary. Now, of course, that may be how he had got the address he showed me but, as I say, he sounded convincing and even if it was a scam he deserved some credit for making up such a believeable story in the first place !

 

[furnessvale]

There was a similar woman at Digbeth coach station in Birmingham who claimed she had lost her coach ticket. When I pointed out to her that this was the third Friday running she had lost her ticket and she should really take more care of it, she went rather quiet ... and strangely I did not see her there on subsequent Fridays.

On the other hand, I was once approached in Sheffield by a man with a very broad Nottingham accent who explained that he had been discharged from Wakefield Prison and had then travelled to Sheffield to go to the home of someone he had shared a cell with and showed me the name and adresss on a scrap of paper. He said that when he went to the house the person no longer lived there and so he was now trying to get to Nottingham where he knew a number of people who might put him up. He sounded genuine so I gave him some money for which he was most grateful and asked for my address so that he could pay me back when he started work. Naturally, I said that was not necessary. Now, of course, that may be how he had got the address he showed me but, as I say, he sounded convincing and even if it was a scam he deserved some credit for making up such a believeable story in the first place !

Good job you didn't give him your address. You would probably have gone home to find you had been burgled, after all he knew you were out!

 

[sheff1]

Good job you didn't give him your address. You would probably have gone home to find you had been burgled, after all he knew you were out!

Indeed .

 

[NorthernSpirit]

There was a woman who hung around Victoria coach station regularly putting on the tears and telling anybody who would listen how she was stranded and had no money to get home to her seriously ill mother etc etc, I believe she was eventually arrested and prosecuted and served with a restraining order

I wonder if its the same woman?

 

[iainbhx]

Once on the Worcester-Birmingham train a Roma (one assumes) started playing his accordion and then walked down the carriage asking for money. Rather surreal.

Happens all the time on the Berlin U-Bahn, particularly on U2. There's a particularly poor accordion player camped outside my local Lidl most dry days as well.

 

[jon0844]

He's in Malmö today it seems, outside the shop my wife is shopping in.

You'd be amazed how many beggars there are here now. Every street corner has them and loads are trying to sell weird badges for 20Kr. Very organised - they're all the same.

Since we arrived, we've passed maybe 20 or 30!

One of the public subways

And when you arrive by train from Denmark

 

[theblackwatch]

In Leeds, one of the homeless charities has a voucher scheme, where people can exchange a voucher for a hot meal/drink - see http://www.stgeorgescrypt.org.uk/ch...-partnership-with-leeds-building-society.html
This is a far better way to help genuine people, buy a few vouchers beforehand, and give someone who is begging one or two of these. If they aren't genuine, they'll soon clear off...

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Tend to offer a coffee / sandwich to the ones I think are deserving. Better than money.

Amused to see beggars on the U-Bahn in Berlin , asking for empty beer bottles (to get the return cash on) , - one bloke nearly got thumped as the drinker was not yet finished. He was an old boy - the collector , so I broke my rule and gave him a couple of euros.

 

[WestCoast]

Tend to offer a coffee / sandwich to the ones I think are deserving. Better than money.

Amused to see beggars on the U-Bahn in Berlin , asking for empty beer bottles (to get the return cash on) , - one bloke nearly got thumped as the drinker was not yet finished. He was an old boy - the collector , so I broke my rule and gave him a couple of euros.

The Pfand (deposit) scheme on bottles is excellent for those on the streets as four or five bottles can buy food for the day.

 

[Robertj21a]

The Pfand (deposit) scheme on bottles is excellent for those on the streets as four or five bottles can buy food for the day.

Yes, but unfortunately it usually goes on another bottle.

 

[Late Trains uk]

The speed and efficiency that they work through busy trains an RPI job would be perfect for some..