British railway firm urges passengers not to watch ‘explicit material’ during commute

A British railway firm has asked passengers to stop watching inappropriate and explicit material on trains and in stations, telling them to “wait till you get home”.

Northern Railway is appealing to customers to refrain from watching content that is “not suitable for work”, which includes inappropriate jokes, bad language, offensive topics and explicit material.

Northern, which operates trains across Yorkshire, the north-west and north-east of Britain, said while it understands the train journey home is often the first opportunity to view content, they should wait until they reach home to do so.

“We welcome millions of people into our stations and on board our trains every year and access to safe and reliable Internet is part and parcel of our customers’ expectations,” said Ms Tricia Williams, Northern’s chief operating officer.

“It is important, however, that people remember that some content is not suitable for everyone to see or hear, particularly children. As such, if something is ‘not suitable for work’, it’s more than likely not suitable in our stations or on board our trains either – so please wait until you get home.”

Regional director Chris Jackson said Northern is giving passengers “a gentle reminder on etiquette”.

“We don’t want to give the impression it’s like the Wild West out there – it isn’t. It’s very safe. These incidents are few and far between but they do occasionally happen and it needs calling out,” he told the BBC.

British police have previously told passengers to lodge a report if they catch anyone watching porn on public transport.

Those found viewing porn or any explicit material can be prosecuted for causing harassment, alarm or distress, the police added.