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Surfers travelling by train to Boscombe reef not allowed to bring boards

9:00am Saturday 27th February 2010 in


SURFERS taking the train to Boscombe’s new reef are being told they can’t bring their boards with them.

Bournemouth East MP Tobias Ellwood called for “heads to be knocked together” and the blanket ban on surfboards to be lifted.

He raised the issue in Parliament after discovering that South West Trains do not allow passengers to travel with surfboards – although snow boards are permitted.

And he said he was surprised to learn that changing the rules and allowing individual train companies to determine their own policy on surfboards was no easy matter.

“There is a surprising amount of red tape and a worrying number of organisations needed to change something so simple,” he said.

“I have written a rather plain-speaking letter to the Secretary of State asking for him to knock some heads together.”

A South West Trains spokesperson said: “We work closely with Bournemouth Borough Council and have been supportive of the surf reef at Boscombe Pier, last year providing funding towards a bus link between the station and the seafront to encourage visitors to the reef.

“There are restrictions on the size of items carried on our trains and, due to their large size, surfboards are among the items not permitted.

“We know however that there any now many hire shops available for people choosing to travel by train to Bournemouth.”

A spokesperson for the Association of Train Operating Companies said they were hoping to get to a position soon where individual train companies could decide their own policies.

Comments(33)

samsmith says...
9:07am Sat 27 Feb 10

Most people know that the vast majority of train services in the UK are designed to take commuters from A to B and, at a high fee, that's about it. Gone are the days when you had luggage vans or the railways actually went out of their way to help you.

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ben111 says...
9:09am Sat 27 Feb 10

look what privatisation does , they do know how to get people out of their cars ,,, genius

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Was Charlie says...
9:33am Sat 27 Feb 10

"We know however that there are now many hire shops available for people choosing to travel by train to Bournemouth.”
..
I'm not a surfer, but would think that there are several designs of surf board (even minor changes could affect the way the board performs)and that serious surfers would insist on using their own.

But then, would serious surfers be surfing over the pile of sand bags at Boscombe?

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Perry_Winkle says...
9:52am Sat 27 Feb 10

Sounds like nonsense to me. Do surfers really want to use the train? Will they travel in their wetsuits? How do they get to Boscombe from either Pokesdown or Bournemouth stations? I can just see them now trying to take a board and the rest of their gear on a Yellow Bus. :-D

I'd guess it's a ripping wheeze thought up by Ellwood or his spin doctor to get a bit of publicity pre-election...

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Upkeep says...
9:53am Sat 27 Feb 10

Oh come on now, how many folk actually would use the train to go surfing ? Not only will they have to walk to their local station and then walk to the surf reef after alighting and all this while lugging a surf board and all the other gear ! I don`t think so. See this for what it is, a storm in a tea cup being stirred up by some self publicising small time MP.

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MJD says...
10:14am Sat 27 Feb 10

Election time? Out with the wooden spoon. We never had these problems in the good old days of steam. Well done, Dr Richard Beeching. Dam Conservatives.

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wonderway says...
10:21am Sat 27 Feb 10

also you cant get on a yellow bus with a surf board against health and safety, perhaps director of yellow buses cll beasley can change that and as they are closely working with south west trains his position as South East Dorset Strategic Planning & Transportation Joint Committees member and Dorset Planning & Transportation Committees plus South West Provincial Council he might actually help Tobias Elwood sort this out

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fartycat says...
10:33am Sat 27 Feb 10

Had to go to London at the last minute last week so couldn't book in advance. Was quoted £70 as the cheapest ticket plus £40 for my partnet who has a discount card. So £110 for a day trip to the capital.

Drove up in the end, spent £15 on petrol and £13 on all day parking. And people wonder why the trains are so crap.

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Syd Poumen says...
11:15am Sat 27 Feb 10

MJD wrote:
Election time? Out with the wooden spoon. We never had these problems in the good old days of steam. Well done, Dr Richard Beeching. Dam Conservatives.
Rather than spend your time worrying about those who stop surfers on trains, Tobuyus, your efforts would be better spent stopping your Conservative Council Leader surfing for p.orn!

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McVICAR says...
11:32am Sat 27 Feb 10

Perhaps this is just a non story being spread around by those missfits in Bournemouth council in an attempt to explain why nobody is using this pile of sunken sanbags, rather than admit that the whole thing was a waste of time and money they put the blame for non use on somebody else.
All seems a bit silly to me, i cant imagine any body wanting to carry a surf board from Bournemouth station all the way to Boscombe.

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The-Bleeding-Obvious says...
11:32am Sat 27 Feb 10

The surf bums usually drive around with them straped to roof racks on VW campers so why not have roof racks on trains!

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pete furtsada says...
12:07pm Sat 27 Feb 10

Syd Poumen wrote:
MJD wrote: Election time? Out with the wooden spoon. We never had these problems in the good old days of steam. Well done, Dr Richard Beeching. Dam Conservatives.
Rather than spend your time worrying about those who stop surfers on trains, Tobuyus, your efforts would be better spent stopping your Conservative Council Leader surfing for p.orn!
Come again I dont get it.

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Syd Poumen says...
12:43pm Sat 27 Feb 10

pete furtsada
With all your problems, I am not surprised you don't get it. Better luck with your relationships in future. Until then you will just have to find other ways to come again! :)

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traindriver3ss says...
1:29pm Sat 27 Feb 10

Ellwood you two faced *****!!! I know for a FACT that you would be the first to complain if someone got on the train in First Class tried to sit next you with a surfboard or other bulky piece of luggage WOULDN'T YOU????

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Syd Poumen says...
1:49pm Sat 27 Feb 10

As one of Ellwood's Conservative MP colleagues made clear recently, First Class is for Bankers' Boards and other such bankers; not for the likes of oiks carrying surtfboards.

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traindriver3ss says...
1:51pm Sat 27 Feb 10

Syd Poumen wrote:
As one of Ellwood's Conservative MP colleagues made clear recently, First Class is for Bankers' Boards and other such bankers; not for the likes of oiks carrying surtfboards.
well put!!!!!!

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yohodi says...
2:08pm Sat 27 Feb 10

Good to see young Master Elwood enraged about a major issue.........

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jinglebell says...
3:04pm Sat 27 Feb 10

Yeh, well it would be good if surfers could actually take their campers to Boscombe beach car park. Bournemouth Council's idea is to park up near Boscombe high street and get a "special" bus down to the beach. Surfing competitions may attract people (if the reef was improved) but then the car park at the beach is really too small to take a lot of camper vans. When a mate pointed this out to Cllr. Dunlop, she said, "Well we don't really want to attract any serious surfers. Its really just for families messing about on." Serious surfers and their families (some in the 70's) surf but also like to enjoy competitions, which could also bring some much needed trade to the area (if the reef was up to it) Most surfers disposable income is fairly high so this is a missed opportunity. The whole thing about taking your surfboard on a train is a red herring and no serious surfer would consider hiring a board. Three Bournemouth Council officers went on an 18 day trip to New Zealand and Australia in 2008 to check out all the pros and cons about the reef but don't seem to have learnt much. Tony Williams, executive environment and economy director, said: “If the team had not visited the surf reefs they would not have gathered such vital and in-depth knowledge, especially in terms of the problems incurred with the overall construction.”
He said the concerns meant the contract was eventually signed as performance based.
Really..........well try surfing it then...
It is not up to the job - as far as competitions are concerned and probably too dangerous for the inexperianced surfer to "mess about on".

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SonofKinson says...
4:01pm Sat 27 Feb 10

This is nothing more than Mr. Tobias Ellwood trying to obtain support prior to the forthcoming elections, and nothing else. He is not interested in the facts of whether one can carry a surf board on a train or not. As someone has already pointed out. For an MP of Bournemouth who does not realise that there is not a station at Boscombe, and that surfers will have to disembark at stations such as Bournemouth, and then take public transport to Boscombe. One will definately not get aboard a bus with a surfboard, one is not allowed to travel with a tin of paint.
.
The reef will not be used by competent surfers because of its failings as pointed out by one of the leads behind the project. However, I think one can carry fishing tackle on a train, which then fishermen can fish over the reef, in a few years time.
.
Not a bad list of actions for the town Mr. Ellwood. Catching kids near a brick wall. Trying to stop lads playing football in a back street. And now trying to get surf boards on trains. I have used trains through out the years, and have not seen a surf board on one yet.

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Nan Sheppard says...
6:43pm Sat 27 Feb 10

We can take bikes on trains, why not surfboards? My kids have enjoyed surfing for years, and I'm beginning to realise that if they are to surf here I will have to buy a car and take them to the beach myself. VERY un-cool, to have to get Mum to give you a lift. Perhaps trains and buses would not consider surfboards dangerous as long as they were in a padded case? Surely there is a sensible solution?

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kevvo ezyfurt says...
10:23pm Sat 27 Feb 10

We got folding surfboards out here in Australia you can use them as a deck chair or a table when not surfing.

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Bob49 says...
12:02am Sun 28 Feb 10

" There is a surprising amount of red tape and a worrying number of organisations needed to change something so simple"

Well said young Tobias. Now perhaps you can tell us who introduced all the those problems, dressed up as competition (privatisation), Or tell us how these surfers are supposed to get the boards from their houses to the trains in the first place. Or maybe just admit that this fiasco was a scam from the start with the sole intention being to allow a select few the chance to make a fast buck out of flogging off some of the council's (our) land. And as said above the surf nonsense was only ever meant to be a theme (cover story).

To think these clueless, upper class buffons may well be running the country soon. Let them eat cake I say.

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oneshortleg says...
9:05am Sun 28 Feb 10

Simple wrap in paper say its a present for someone!

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peter hurt says...
9:12am Sun 28 Feb 10

Kevvo, don't tease. It's the first of March tomorrow, not April!
But our airlines will take surfboards, and if you can get them on a plane surely a train couldn't be that difficult, by the way a plane ticket over 500 miles, say Adelaide to Melbourne, appears to be cheaper than a train ride from Bmth to London! ....

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traindriver3ss says...
10:41am Sun 28 Feb 10

peter hurt wrote:
Kevvo, don't tease. It's the first of March tomorrow, not April!
But our airlines will take surfboards, and if you can get them on a plane surely a train couldn't be that difficult, by the way a plane ticket over 500 miles, say Adelaide to Melbourne, appears to be cheaper than a train ride from Bmth to London! ....
yeah but you cant take more than 100mls of liquid, scissors, any knife, lighters, etc etc in the cabin on a plane, these things you can carry on a train! which do you use more often??? different rules related to the capabilities of the vehicle

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kevvo ezyfurt says...
10:50am Sun 28 Feb 10

Some airlines refuse to take surfboards on certain routes,I was turned away recently when I tried to check on a Emirates flight to California, they insisted my board was no problem but they didn't allow combovers.

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madras says...
11:48am Sun 28 Feb 10

a case of 'left hand / right hand' - build a surf reef, then ban surf boards on trains - priceless!

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Laurie H Marsh says...
12:07pm Sun 28 Feb 10

My wife and I are flying to Melbourne tomorrow (1,000 miles).
It will cost us $49 each, each way. That is about 100 Quid.
I think that I need to sell my Virgin shares and buy some railway shares!

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traindriver3ss says...
12:11pm Sun 28 Feb 10

no the surfboards have been banned on trains long before the idea of a surf reef was even mooted let alone built!!!

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traindriver3ss says...
12:13pm Sun 28 Feb 10

Laurie H Marsh wrote:
My wife and I are flying to Melbourne tomorrow (1,000 miles).
It will cost us $49 each, each way. That is about 100 Quid.
I think that I need to sell my Virgin shares and buy some railway shares!
laurie how long ago did you book your tickets though? if you book in advance you can get form poole to london for £1.50. the prices quoted on here are walk on rates they are expensive i admit but even if you book the day before its normally half the rate you have seen on here!!!

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elfonfire says...
1:08am Mon 1 Mar 10

i think most surfers care about pollution as it affects the ocean that we surf in!, as well as millions..BiLLiONS! of animals and peoples lives and public transport is a good way to reduce polltion, if it's doing no harm then hows it anyworse than the dudes ya see with bikes on trains? and there no problem at all..the ones ive met are LOVELY

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mikey2gorgeous says...
9:11am Mon 1 Mar 10

Nan Sheppard wrote:
We can take bikes on trains, why not surfboards? My kids have enjoyed surfing for years, and I'm beginning to realise that if they are to surf here I will have to buy a car and take them to the beach myself. VERY un-cool, to have to get Mum to give you a lift. Perhaps trains and buses would not consider surfboards dangerous as long as they were in a padded case? Surely there is a sensible solution?
Have you tried taking a bike on a train recently? You almost certainly can't at rush hour (so bike-train-bike is out for commuters)!

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traindriver3ss says...
11:48am Mon 1 Mar 10

u can take fold up bikes! they don't need a rack???

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