england-and-wales police transportation public-transport
Unreasonably refused carriage by TfL
<p>Suppose Bob takes his bike every day on the London Overground which he is entitled to do under the rules if it is not peak time. One day he goes to ride the train and his chain has broken and it is raining heavily out and he happens to be quite far from home. He is told by the tfl tube attendant that because his bike is not folding model it isn't allowed and because it is electrically assisted it must have a combustible battery so it wouldn't be allowed anyway.</p>
<p>Bob retrieves the official rules on his phone to show the station supervisor but the supervisor is not interested instead exhibiting a big sadistic grin while taking delight in the fact that he has the power to waste the time of another human being. He isn't interested in how he's mistaken about the official rules but calls the police.</p>
<p>Bob having been in this situation once before at another station eagerly awaited the police arrival as on that occasion the btp were reasonable and explained to the station manager how he had been mistaken on the rules so that Bob was allowed to ride.</p>
<p>On this occasion they were much more unreasonable and awful, and Bob was forced to wait for an hour after he had already touched in to the station but was being obstructed from entering with the big disabled turnstile being switched off to prevent his entry. The entire time this bully station manager stood smugly grinning. The London Overground employee came up from downstairs at one point and actually looked up the rules because he gathered that Bob had actually known what he was talking about and reasoned to the station supervisor that as Bob's bicycle was neither a scooter nor a unicycle, it should therefore be allowed on the train but the supervisor wouldn't hear any of it.</p>
<p>Further when asked for his name the man began putting his hands over his name badge before eventually deliberately turning it to face himself so that it could not be read.</p>
<p>When BTP arrive they explain that because TfL is a private entity they can change the rules arbitrarily and refuse to allow you on at their own discretion.</p>
<p>Yet this is hard to believe given the public funding and surely attached mandate which it receives from the government to provide a public service for all.</p>
<p>What is the actual legality here, and what requirement do TfL have to apply the rules evenly and uniformly?</p>
<p>What remedies does Bob have available for his wasted time, his refusal of carriage, the supervisor's concealment of his identity, general rude treatment, and the BTP's shockingly insulting accusation of his &quot;wasting police time&quot; by simply trying to explain the situation to reason with them upon their arrival, either against TfL, or against BTP?</p>

<p>If we cut through all the entertaining colour commentary around Bob's experience then all that happened is TfL refused him permission to carry a specific item and according to the TfL <a href="https://content.tfl.gov.uk/tfl-conditions-of-carriage.pdf" rel="noreferrer">Conditions of Carriage</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>9.2</strong>  Staff can refuse permission for you to take any item onto our services. For example, you may be prevented from taking a bicycle on DLR services during the London Marathon.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So the rules around the times when non-folding bikes are permitted on the Overground  not withstanding there's a catch-all rule which allows them to refuse specific items on specific occasions for whatever reason they want.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>What remedies does Bob have available for his wasted time, his refusal of carriage, the supervisor's concealment of his identity, general rude treatment,</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Realistically - none. The refusal may be harsh - but there's plenty of room in the conditions of carriage to allow it. A supervisor concealing his identity may be annoying but it's not <em>illegal</em>, nor is being rude.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>the BTP's shockingly insulting accusation of his &quot;wasting police time&quot; by simply trying to explain the situation to reason with them upon their arrival, either against TfL, or against BTP?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Probably nothing doing here either - the BTP aren't for what Bob's trying to use them for. I doubt they'd actually pursue Bob for wasting police time unless he makes a habit of doing it, but they've got a point. They're not the complaints department for TfL! It's like calling the police because McDonalds won't serve you at the drive through.</p>
