A couple of times a year, I encounter a group of seven or eight RPOs at Tilehurst in the afternoons. An initial reaction is that's a lot of people for the small number of passengers during the day, even allowing for up and down trains arriving within two or three minutes of each other. But a bit later on the trains do get busier, especially with school-children and then commuters returning from Reading.
I explain that I have no ticket but am seeing a friend off and they've always accepted that and allowed me on to the platform. I make a point of thanking them on my way back. ("See, you were right to trust me."
)
BTW▸ I've wondered whether at least one of the group is a police officer, as I understand RPOs have no power of arrest...
The annual Rock Festival is one occasion when one can expect to see RPOs at Tilehurst as the station is within walking distance of camping-sites. I once saw a large rucksack tossed over the fence on Platform 4, followed by its owner, who'd presumably walked along the Thames tow-path and clambered up the bank before climbing over the railings. (Time was when access onto the platform from the tow-path was facilitated by a path and a gate with a penny-in-the-slot lock. Forty-five years ago, the lock had been painted solid and the gate disappeared during recent modifications.)
Marlburian
