First they came for the trainspotters...

BBC NEWS | UK | Terrorism fear derails train-spotters

First they came for the fox hunters.
But because I didn't hunt foxes, I did nothing.

Then they came for the trainspotters

Who will be next?

Train-spotters are being told to leave stations as rail bosses tighten anti-terror security, BBC News Online can reveal.

To many people, train-spotters are a joke.

To Network Rail, the company which now runs the UK's train network, they are potential terrorists.

One suspects this is an excuse. I suspect overzealous private security guards (and the dreaded British Transport Police) would rather harass a harmless and innocent group rather than, say, deal with drunken football supporters who might actually fight back.

Perhaps they think trainspotters are a "bad image", having listened to too many third rate comedians that pick on train enthusiasts because they're not allowed pick on racial minorities any more.

Or, as in the last paragraph, it's the latest paranoia coming over from America.

But a meeting of US security officials in Washington in March reportedly classified "people sitting on train platforms who appear to be monitoring the timing of arrivals and departures" as suspicious behaviour.

Perhaps it's time for rail enthusiasts to fight back? I'm thinking along the lines of the Kinder Scout mass trespass by ramblers a few decades back. What about a mass trainspot at one of the "Forbidden" stations?

Not that I'm advocating trespass on the actual tracks, of course. Just a large number of people descending onto the publically accessible parts of a big station, all holding the valid train tickets they used to get there. Perhaps some Network Rail accountant might like to add up the value of all those tickets?

There's been some discussion of this on the DEModellers mailing list. One poster noted that regular Railfans could be a significant resource in combating terrorism and vandalism. Since almost all of us have cameras and most of us have mobile phones, we can report those trespassing on the tracks, vandalising stations, or acting suspiciously.

Update: I Like Adam Warr's take on the issue.