Anti-terrorist bollards installed at York Station

9:18am Thursday 9th August 2012 in News Photograph of the Author By Kate Liptrot, kate.liptrot@thepress.co.uk

Some of the new anti-terrorist bollards installed at York Station Some of the new anti-terrorist bollards installed at York Station

ANTI-TERRORISM bollards have been installed at York Station without public consultation to protect it from possible attack.

The bollards have been put in place following a national security review into the 2007 attack at Glasgow Airport, when a burning car carrying gas canisters and petrol was crashed into the main terminal building.

Bollards have been installed at the front of the station near the taxi rank, on the ramp leading from the long-stay car park towards platforms one and three and next to the York Tap pub.

A security gate is also being installed next to the York Tap, a spokesman for East Coast said.

Although planning permission was sought in the normal way, rail and council bosses said the public was not informed of the plans in advance of the decision being made and the work being done due to security concerns.

A Network Rail spokesman said the application had not been widely publicised as it was a “security critical job”.

He said: “We are doing this over the network and it’s about making it more safe and secure for everybody.”

A City of York Council spokesman said: “We can confirm that the anti-terrorist measures for York Railway Station were brought forward through the correct procedures for handling works required by the Department for Transport, acting on advice from the Centre for Protection of National Infrastructure.”

A spokesman for East Coast said: “Additional bollards have been and are being installed as part of a wider security-led and Network Rail-managed project at various main line railway stations around the country, including York. The work follows a national security review following an incident in June 2007 when a burning Jeep car was driven at the main terminal building at Glasgow Airport.”

While the bollards were being installed at the station, contractors uncovered a small number of bones next to the York Tap and the entrance to the short stay carpark on June 19.

The scene was briefly turned into a crime scene whiles tests were carried out, before the remains were found to be animal bones.

Plans for automatic ticket barriers at York Station sparked widespread controversy in 2008/9, before being scrapped following huge public opposition to the scheme.

York Civic Trust director Peter Brown said: “The trust is aware that the station is a really important listed building, and therefore any interventions must be done with sensitivity and care. We look forward to assessing the scheme and making comments in due course.”

Comments(23)

Old_Man says...
9:24am Thu 9 Aug 12

I think its a safe bet that any potential terrorist would soon get fed up of queuing outside the station!

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notmyrealname says...
10:18am Thu 9 Aug 12

I have never seen anything so ridiculous - even if you could get a car up to speed anywhere near the station doors past all the taxis what possible threat does this present - anyone could just drive a car into the station through the car park at the back .

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NoNewsIsGoodNews says...
10:18am Thu 9 Aug 12

Those bollards will do nothing to deter the cycling terrorists.

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notmyrealname says...
10:19am Thu 9 Aug 12

I have never seen anything so ridiculous - even if you could get a car up to speed anywhere near the station doors past all the taxis what possible threat does this present

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greg 1 says...
10:59am Thu 9 Aug 12

Anything that keeps us safe from a terrorist attack must be a good thing.Now to get ticket barriers up to stop all the non paying passengers traveling for free , whilst honest citizens pay the price.

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Michael Th says...
11:22am Thu 9 Aug 12

One incident in one public transport interchange in two hundred years where the only person killed was one of the protagonists, and now every airport and now every main train station needs military style defences. When are we going to make proportional response to the risk? You are a hundred times more likely to get killed or injured trying to cross the road outside the station than get hurt by terrorists.

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markymmark says...
12:16pm Thu 9 Aug 12

Credit where it is due - Its only taken a committee of "experts" 5 years to come up with this plan of blocking one entrance with some metal and concrete posts.
Amazing !!!

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Stuart Jones says...
12:30pm Thu 9 Aug 12

Ah bollards. The ‘Achilles heel’ of the common terrorist.

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Buzz Light-year says...
12:38pm Thu 9 Aug 12

Ridiculous idea, hilarious comments.

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MarkyMarkMark says...
12:51pm Thu 9 Aug 12

Will they stop any potential back-packing suicide bombers that caused so much pain/havoc/grief in London?

Thought not ....

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invisibleman says...
12:57pm Thu 9 Aug 12

MarkyMarkMark wrote:
Will they stop any potential back-packing suicide bombers that caused so much pain/havoc/grief in London? Thought not ....
Or large motorcycle full of petrol and explosives? ditto

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lokifromyork says...
1:22pm Thu 9 Aug 12

What a sad world we live in if this is how we deal with peoples misconstrued thoughts.

I think we should all have swipe cards or gps implants so when we leave a room/building or enter a street, get into a car/bus/train Big Brother will know where we are at all times!

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Priapus says...
1:23pm Thu 9 Aug 12

" the public was not informed of the plans in advance of the decision being made and the work being done due to security concerns". That's really quite sinsiter and gives carte blanche to the Council to do anything without consultation as long as there's some spurious "security concern".

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TB1 says...
2:50pm Thu 9 Aug 12

First the railway invents the word "Safety Critical" and has hidden behind that phrase to justify their existence, now they invent the term "Security Critical" and doubtlessly will continue to hide behind this phrase for the same reasons.

No doubt YCC will follow suit - a dangerous situation.

I do hope both organisations will continue their ridiculous excuses for not consulting though - I have found the comments make more sense than either of their press people and have given me a laugh to boot.

Well done to all who have commented and keep exposing the aforementioned organisations stupidity.....

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lokifromyork says...
3:11pm Thu 9 Aug 12

I have just been past there to have a look and the bollards only just cover two of the four doors? which is good if the car is going to be coming the same way as all the other traffic! But if you are planing something like that in 2007 you would not go in that way as others have said.

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Mullarkian says...
4:39pm Thu 9 Aug 12

I presume they are to attract the would be suicide bomber into a game of leafrog, thus taking his/her mind off what they set out to do.

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Pete the Brickie says...
5:06pm Thu 9 Aug 12



The work follows a national security review following an incident in June 2007 when a burning Jeep car was driven at the main terminal building at Glasgow Airport.”



England have got knocked out of three football tournaments since then. Thankfully terrorists have not used the narrow five year widow of opportunity to try again but I'd accept in York's case they probably set off in 2007 and are still trying to reach the railway station.

If the anti terror police check all the gaps between First's buses and the kerb they've a good chance of finding a load of starving jehadists desperate to surrender having long since run out of food and water trying to get past.




A Network Rail spokesman said the application had not been widely publicised as it was a “security critical job”.



I know "Anti terrorist" sounds cool, but calling them by their real name Anti Ram Bollards is as adequate a "security precaution" as you'd really need, although I'd accept it wouldn't give quite the same mission impossible feeling to those who were told on a need to know only basis in the planning office.

They're probably all still off on the sick if the file spoke to them and tried to self destuct in the recycling bin at the end of the meeting though.




He said: “We are doing this over the network and it’s about making it more safe and secure for everybody.”




This statement is a little unwise if you haven't finished yet as the terror network will now realise they have only a matter of years before Network Rail complete the job.

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Caecilius says...
5:19pm Thu 9 Aug 12

greg 1 wrote:
Anything that keeps us safe from a terrorist attack must be a good thing.Now to get ticket barriers up to stop all the non paying passengers traveling for free , whilst honest citizens pay the price.
Oh yes, ticket barriers. I got off the Harrogate train on Platform 8 last Saturday and was required to show my ticket to a pair of Northern Rail staff solemnly blocking the platform - essentially, just because they can. Meanwhile, anyone without a ticket presumably just walked in the other direction, turned the corner and sauntered off unimpeded down the next platform, while the NR guys achieved absolutely nothing except inconveniencing the people who did have tickets. Same story with Northern Rail at Harrogate that morning, incidentally - two blokes demanding to see tickets at the exit on the town centre side, while the one on the Leeds platform was wide open for any hypothetical fare evaders to stroll out of. Train Operating Company hogwash at its finest.

None of this is really about security, or alleged fare evasion. It's about keeping customers in their place and showing them who's boss.

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Lord_Ray says...
11:34pm Thu 9 Aug 12

I'd say.

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lokifromyork says...
12:03pm Fri 10 Aug 12

1st thing they teach you in Anti-terrorist 1o1 school is to cerate the image of terror!
2nd is to act like you are doing something Really Really important ALL the time!
3rd stop people going about there daily life's to reinforce the first two points making shore the media is there to see what your doing!
4th justify spending loads of money and coursing turmoil by saying that there is Real threat and say "it’s about making it more safe and secure for everybody"
Safe and secure from what?

All I can say is that if someone was going to do something to York Station that you can't get a car inside now!?! why not pack what ever it is into big 100 / 150 litre bags and walk them in!
Or just do it out side as the 'Anti-terrorist' lot will shut down the station anyway.

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Yorkborneinbse says...
10:34am Sat 11 Aug 12

Michael Th wrote:
One incident in one public transport interchange in two hundred years where the only person killed was one of the protagonists, and now every airport and now every main train station needs military style defences. When are we going to make proportional response to the risk? You are a hundred times more likely to get killed or injured trying to cross the road outside the station than get hurt by terrorists.
Totally agree.

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Yorkborneinbse says...
10:45am Sat 11 Aug 12

It would have been smarter to paint the things before they dug them in, or is that too easy?

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Magicman! says...
3:23am Sun 12 Aug 12

Stuart Jones wrote:
Ah bollards. The ‘Achilles heel’ of the common terrorist.
hehe!

I saw these bollards today when going for a train and thought they looked stupid, and incomplete with the red and white tape around the top. How would a terrorist get any speed up inside the small portico space anyway, even if there were no taxi's there?

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