Filming inside London Underground stations

[BostonGeorge]

The context is as follows...

My brother has Down's syndrome and will be tackling the Tube ALONE for the very first time next week. He's a little nervous about it, but somebody is going to see him off at the origin station gate line and meet him at the destination station gate line. I decided it would be useful if I filmed the route he should take when he arrives at the destination station (King's Cross in this instance). No sooner than twenty seconds after had I gotten off the Northern line train and turned on my Insta360 to film the route, an approaching member of staff informed me I am not allowed to film on the station. Naturally I asked why not, and he cited "security reasons", which blew my mind somewhat, seeing as tens of millions of people use King's Cross every single year. It's surely one of the most filmed/photographed stations in the world - it's not as if I had wandered into Area 51 with my handheld camera. Anyway, even following an explanation why I was there and what I was doing, he still said I would need to write to Transport for London to get their permission to film. I called him a jobsworth - I don't regret it one bit, by the way. I also made the point he wouldn't have even stopped me if I was using my phone camera to film, which he conceded was likely true, and then went on to explain it's my "specialist type of camera" that is the problem (it's an Insta360, for goodness sake).

Anyway, is there any point in my arguing the toss with this guy? Is he technically correct? Is he being overzealous? Or is he just being a pain in the backside for no good reason? I just want to help my brother, you know, and I don't really need this nonsense.

 

[DavyCrocket]

It’ll all be on google maps soon anyway

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Is he technically correct? Is he being overzealous? Or is he just being a pain in the backside for no good reason?

I would say so, albeit possibly for the wrong reason.

"At the station's discretion" seems to be the relevant key phrase, and so covers a multitude of circumstances.

Guide to filming or taking photos on the TfL network

Find the costs and rules for filming on TfL's network

tfl.gov.uk

Extract...

Private photographers/filming travelling through the station
We get many requests from individuals like train enthusiasts, photographers and customers 'passing through' a station who may want to take photographs or film for their own personal use. We agree that this is acceptable, at the station's discretion, as long as additional camera equipment (including flash and tripods) is not used.

 

[bramling]

The context is as follows...

My brother has Down's syndrome and will be tackling the Tube ALONE for the very first time next week. He's a little nervous about it, but somebody is going to see him off at the origin station gate line and meet him at the destination station gate line. I decided it would be useful if I filmed the route he should take when he arrives at the destination station (King's Cross in this instance). No sooner than twenty seconds after had I gotten off the Northern line train and turned on my Insta360 to film the route, an approaching member of staff informed me I am not allowed to film on the station. Naturally I asked why not, and he cited "security reasons", which blew my mind somewhat, seeing as tens of millions of people use King's Cross every single year. It's surely one of the most filmed/photographed stations in the world - it's not as if I had wandered into Area 51 with my handheld camera. Anyway, even following an explanation why I was there and what I was doing, he still said I would need to write to Transport for London to get their permission to film. I called him a jobsworth - I don't regret it one bit, by the way. I also made the point he wouldn't have even stopped me if I was using my phone camera to film, which he conceded was likely true, and then went on to explain it's my "specialist type of camera" that is the problem (it's an Insta360, for goodness sake).

Anyway, is there any point in my arguing the toss with this guy? Is he technically correct? Is he being overzealous? Or is he just being a pain in the backside for no good reason? I just want to help my brother, you know, and I don't really need this nonsense.

He wasn’t correct, providing you weren’t using flash or a tripod then you were perfectly entitled to be filming, and there certainly isn’t a “security reasons” ban so that was rubbish.

However calling him a jobsworth wasn’t the best thing to do. You might instead of suggested he checks with his supervisor, who should know what the score is.

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

It would have been better to quote the whole section about private photography:

Private photographers/filming travelling through the station​

We get many requests from individuals like train enthusiasts, photographers and customers 'passing through' a station who may want to take photographs or film for their own personal use. We agree that this is acceptable, at the station's discretion, as long as additional camera equipment (including flash and tripods) is not used.

However, images clearly promoting the London Underground brand/logos must not be published or broadcast without our permission ahead of time. Also, people filming or taking photographs for their own purposes on TfL's network are responsible for ensuring they comply with the requirements of privacy and data protection legislation.

Note the comment about LU brand/logos. This suggests that filming without advance permission of some sort is problematic as LU will clearly wish to confirm that any such images are genuinely for private use only and not for YouTube, etc. That says to me that ad-hoc permission granted on the day by a suitable member of station staff can certainly be obtained but relies on that person's discretion. Unfortunately that is not something that can be relied on. So images of the "holiday snap" type may well be acceptable but anything more involved may not be. In this particular case contacting LU in advance would have been the better way to go.

In more general terms LU should certainly be aware that travelling underground can be an unnerving experience for many people even without any sort of mentally limiting condition and they ought to be doing more to deal with the concerns such people have. It's not enough to be moving towards level boarding at all platforms and to thus consider the disability access box to be fully ticked.

 

[dosxuk]

"Additional camera equipment" is not limited to flash or tripods, and could also include selfie sticks, such as is commonly used with 360° cameras. I don't know if the OP was using one, but I would expect the use of one at a busy zone one station to generate the sort of response described.

 

[jumble]

The context is as follows...

My brother has Down's syndrome and will be tackling the Tube ALONE for the very first time next week. He's a little nervous about it, but somebody is going to see him off at the origin station gate line and meet him at the destination station gate line. I decided it would be useful if I filmed the route he should take when he arrives at the destination station (King's Cross in this instance). No sooner than twenty seconds after had I gotten off the Northern line train and turned on my Insta360 to film the route, an approaching member of staff informed me I am not allowed to film on the station. Naturally I asked why not, and he cited "security reasons", which blew my mind somewhat, seeing as tens of millions of people use King's Cross every single year. It's surely one of the most filmed/photographed stations in the world - it's not as if I had wandered into Area 51 with my handheld camera. Anyway, even following an explanation why I was there and what I was doing, he still said I would need to write to Transport for London to get their permission to film. I called him a jobsworth - I don't regret it one bit, by the way. I also made the point he wouldn't have even stopped me if I was using my phone camera to film, which he conceded was likely true, and then went on to explain it's my "specialist type of camera" that is the problem (it's an Insta360, for goodness sake).

Anyway, is there any point in my arguing the toss with this guy? Is he technically correct? Is he being overzealous? Or is he just being a pain in the backside for no good reason? I just want to help my brother, you know, and I don't really need this nonsense.

It always amuses me how hard of thinking people are who make up "security reasons" and nonsense about "specialist camera"
They have obviously never heard of hidden cameras in spectacles that are easily available on Amazon and they don't stop to ponder which a real terrorist would be likely to use.

 

[dosxuk]

nonsense about "specialist camera"

This is nothing to do with terrorism. It's about stopping people setting tripods, ladders, lighting rigs and such like up at the edges of platforms and in busy areas of stations without having demonstrated that they can do it safely. None of the specialist camera equipment is banned completely, you just can't turn up and use it without having discussed your plans with TfL first.

 

[jumble]

This is nothing to do with terrorism. It's about stopping people setting tripods, ladders, lighting rigs and such like up at the edges of platforms and in busy areas of stations without having demonstrated that they can do it safely. None of the specialist camera equipment is banned completely, you just can't turn up and use it without having discussed your plans with TfL first.

I see
Perhaps I am misinterpreting the meaning of
"you are not allowed to film for security reasons"
which sounds to me like a definitive statement that filming is forbidden full stop because of security concerns.

I think that Bramling in post 4 is rather better informed than you are regarding the OPs situation
Of course if you are going off topic and are describing the situation regarding commercial filming this is obviously a different kettle of fish

 

[Gloster]

Not defending the errors of the member of staff, but as someone who remembers when the boyos were at play, could TfL be currently being slightly more nervous about any behaviour that could be seen as possibly reconnoitring for a terrorist attack. We have already seen a certain amount of argy-bargy in London that has spun off from the bloodshed in the Middle East and could there be concern that somebody (on either side) might be wanting to cause trouble in London. Remember, it is Judea and there are all sorts of individuals, some home-grown and some not, who are now capable of single-handedly causing mayhem for..well some reason or another. And Iran are probably in the mix, which never helps anything.

 

[SunSeeker]

Yes the staff member was wrong, but next time ask to speak to their supervisor instead of name calling.

On a side note to help your brother staff on the gate line can always assist him to navigate the station and make sure he gets on the train, and arrange someone to meet him at the platform at his destination.