The disused Aldwych Station. Photo credit: Annie Mole, http://www.flickr.com/photos/anniemole/5029006469/in/set-72157625044252934
Reports at the end of last week in the Guardian have brought to light details of a legal battle between Transport for London (TfL) and a group of urban explorers dubbed the “Aldwych Four” who were found in the early hours in a disused underground station days before last year’s royal wedding.
The London Underground network houses a number of disused – “ghost” – stations. Among the most famous is the station at Aldwych on the Piccadilly line, last in service on 30 September 1994. Reportedly used to house the British Museum’s treasures during WWII, since its closure the station has been the location of choice for film directors who want to film an “authentic” underground scene. There is, I think understandably, a legitimate interest in these fozen-in-time “ghost” stations, an appropriate fascination about an important part of London’s past. Some, however, take this fascination further than others, particularly the so-called “urban explorer”.
On Easter Monday last year, with the capital in the throes of preparation for the royal wedding, the “Aldwych Four” entered Russell Square station (it is not reported how) and sprinted for 10 minutes down tube tracks to Aldwych’s abandoned platforms. Between 2 am and 3 am on that morning, when only maintenance trains were in use, the four, also members of the urban-exploring collective London Consolidation Crew, succeeded in their expedition. One member, Otter, has been very clear about the dangers. Writing on his own website, Silent UK, he wrote: “At any moment the track on which we stood could have gone live, its guest of honor a 40mph mass of iron and steel singing our last goodbyes.”
For four hours after they found the grimy, green ceramic tiles of the hidden station the explorers were at leisure to photograph the ghostly corridors, still reportedly redolent with adverts and hoardings from times past. The Guardian reports, however, that as their camera battery went flat they were interrupted by the shout: “Get on the ground!”.
It is clear that the Crew’s entrance had not gone unnoticed. CCTV operators had alerted British Transport Police who had, in turn, issued a terror alert.
Reports say that the explorers were put in cells, cautioned and interviewed. It is also said that laptops, cameras and hard drives were confiscated. According to Otter, however, “[T]he police pretty quickly realised our intentions and let us go with a caution.”
The Guardian’s report discusses the steps which TfL has taken since to keep people out of disused stations. It is said that the transport body has applied for anti-social behavior orders, i.e. orders with criminal sanction, which would prevent members of the group from undertaking further expeditions, from blogging about urban exploration, and from carrying equipment which could be used for exploring after dark. It is also, however, reported that the order provides that the Crew should not be allowed to speak to each other for the duration of the decade-long sanction.
A TfL spokesman is on record in support of the move: “Trespassing on the tube network is illegal and extremely dangerous not just for the safety of the trespasser but also for the security of the railway.” As several elements of the legal proceedings regarding the individuals who trespassed at Aldwych are ongoing, “we will not able to comment further until those have concluded”, he added.
A fellow urban explorer, Bradley L Garrett, has however slammed TfL’s move as an “incredible invasion of human rights” and as a “complete overreaction”. He avers that TfL’s legal action is fueled by a misunderstanding of urban exploration’s “very benign” motivation. For Garrett, urban explorers are benefactors helping to iron out security loopholes. In his view, “what this all comes down to is the Olympics because what we’re doing could make London’s security seem weak, which is embarrassing for TfL”.
As a property lawyer with experience of anti-social behavior sanctions but also as a cultural heritage practitioner, this development places me in something of a quandary. It is unarguable that the Crew broke the law (as urban explorers often do) and that their arrest was justified. They were trespassing and such action cannot be ignored. It is naïve for urban explorers to vaunt their action as entirely benign and, in fact, as a service, because the underground network is hugely important infrastructure and a clear terrorist target which has already faced attack. Successful unlawful entry by the Crew will not deter others whose purpose may be much more sinister.
Having said that, ASBOs are notoriously drawn too widely by prosecutors and this ASBO is clearly too broad, if the reports are correct. The Crew cannot realistically be prevented from talking to one another at all, let alone for a decade. Such an order cannot be enforced and must be liable to be overturned or varied on appeal. The overreach of criminal sanctions is something which should always be avoided.
The Crew cannot realistically be prevented from talking to one another at all, let alone for a decade…. The overreach of criminal sanctions is something which should always be avoided.
It is hard not to agree that the Crew’s successful endeavour undermines the security credentials of TfL and others and, as such, is an unhelpful spoke in the wheel when the organization is under scrutiny in the run up to London 2012. That said, TfL must take its share of the blame for this type of urban exploration. Like many other historic sites in the capital, the Aldwych station is a fascinating part of London’s heritage to which access to the public is, to all intents and purposes, denied.
TfL needs to strike a better balance between conservation, tourism and its interest in commercial revenue from the use of these stations. At present the balance is weighed too heavily against the interests of members of the public and this will only serve to encourage more people to try to obtain access by other methods. More access for all is the way forward.