10 signatures reached
To: Joe Anderson (Mayor of Liverpool)
Refine the Merseyrail 'Feet on Seats' by-law
Please ask Merseyrail to revise their 'Feet on Seats' by-law, so that they no longer attempt to prosecute people who rest their feet on the frame of chairs.
Why is this important?
Although we acknowledge that the policy was designed to prevent antisocial behaviour, it is hard to ignore that many people (of many ages) are 'caught out' by the guards who choose to prosecute them for resting a foot/feet on the wide metal frames of the chairs.
Often this will be a person who is against the wall of the train and thereby creating no obstruction to people wishing to sit, or in any way damaging the condition of the chair itself...they merely rest their leg on what is, to most, a convenient footstool-height piece of metal.
This by-law currently appears to be a revenue-driver for Merseyrail that does little to protect or benefit the public, other than to make the 'victims' of prosecution feel unfairly like criminals and make onlookers emotionally uncomfortable at seeing a fellow traveller so harassed.
I observed a 19 year old boy, travelling home to London after visiting his girlfriend, given a potential fine of £140 for having his left leg resting lightly on a chair-frame whilst he was on his phone...he was quiet, unobtrusive and the train was none the worse for this 'criminal act'...and yet for the sake of a weekend at his partner's home city we were going to risk charging him £140.
We're asking that the company revise this by-law so that only those people with feet actually on the cushion/upholstery be at risk of prosecution. This will continue to act as a deterrent to anti-social behaviour, whilst allowing visitors to our city (and residents) to have some measure of leeway when being advised by railway security to remove their feet from the vicinity of chairs.
Often this will be a person who is against the wall of the train and thereby creating no obstruction to people wishing to sit, or in any way damaging the condition of the chair itself...they merely rest their leg on what is, to most, a convenient footstool-height piece of metal.
This by-law currently appears to be a revenue-driver for Merseyrail that does little to protect or benefit the public, other than to make the 'victims' of prosecution feel unfairly like criminals and make onlookers emotionally uncomfortable at seeing a fellow traveller so harassed.
I observed a 19 year old boy, travelling home to London after visiting his girlfriend, given a potential fine of £140 for having his left leg resting lightly on a chair-frame whilst he was on his phone...he was quiet, unobtrusive and the train was none the worse for this 'criminal act'...and yet for the sake of a weekend at his partner's home city we were going to risk charging him £140.
We're asking that the company revise this by-law so that only those people with feet actually on the cushion/upholstery be at risk of prosecution. This will continue to act as a deterrent to anti-social behaviour, whilst allowing visitors to our city (and residents) to have some measure of leeway when being advised by railway security to remove their feet from the vicinity of chairs.
