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Loud music ban on buses among new anti-social behaviour measures proposed by Tories

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Young bus passengers sitting on top deck reading and or using mobile phones to text and listen to music UK
Bus passengers could be banned from playing loud music under a new swathe of anti-social behaviour measures set out by the Tories. Picture: Alamy

By Chay Quinn

Bus passengers could be banned from playing loud music under a new swathe of anti-social behaviour measures set out by the Tories.

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Shadow transport secretary Richard Holden said passengers should not have to "endure somebody else's choice of crap music".

Railway operators currently prohibit playing music, but the Conservatives are seeking to extend the measure to bus passengers.

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The Tories say they will do this by tabling changes to the Bus Services Bill currently going through Parliament to extend similar protections to passengers on buses.

London, UK. 30th Oct, 2024. Richard Holden, MP, Conservative Party, former Tory Chairman, Member of Parliament for Basildon and Billericay.
Shadow transport secretary Richard Holden said passengers should not have to "endure somebody else's choice of crap music". Picture: Alamy

They also suggest that railway operators should make sure they are actively enforcing the rule with on-the-spot fines.

Mr Holden said: "Inconsiderate and obnoxious behaviour blights the lives of the travelling public.

"Taking public transport shouldn't mean having to endure somebody else's choice of crap music blasted through a speaker at full blast.

"Rail passengers need to see enforcement and swift justice for those who make people's lives a misery and bus passengers need the same laws to protect them against this nuisance."

The Liberal Democrats have already pushed for similar action, calling for fines of up to £1,000 for "headphone dodgers" who play music out loud on buses and trains.

At the time of the Lib Dem call in April, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch expressed concern about how workable that would be, saying: "I don't know whether many of the people who do those things could even afford to pay £1,000 fines.

"I'm not sure whether it would work, we would have to look a little bit more at that, but I'm very, very much against antisocial behaviour and I think that that's something that we could be looking more at."