Government announces crackdown on annoying public transport habit

A pet peeve for millions

This comes under an attempt by the government to crack down on antisocial behaviour, while the measures also seek to tackle littering, vaping and threatening behaviour to help improve journeys on all forms of public transport.

On buses, offenders could be issued with the fines under new powers for local authorities.

Meanwhile, a national campaign asking rail passengers “share the carriage, not the noise” is also being launched.

Campaigners have welcomed the proposed crackdown, but there have been questions as to how the authorities can enforce it.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said that noise on the train can “get on your nerves”, and that it can “quickly spoil the journey”.

“We've all been on the train when someone starts blasting music or videos from their phone”, Burnham said.

Those who are asked to stop and refuse could be removed from a train or fined up to £1,000, under existing powers.

‘Loudcasting’ or ‘sodcasting’ – and what it really means

In recent years, the phenomenon has been given many terms - including loudcasting or sodcasting.

And as polls by Ofcom, YouGov and Transport for London (TfL) show, it is disliked by the vast majority of people.

According to Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander, small changes in behaviour "can make a massive difference to people's experience on public transport".

To local authorities, the government said it had issued new guidance on powers, which were introduced earlier this year to help them crackdown on loud music and other antisocial behaviour on buses in England.

While these new powers allow them to impose new rules on buses, they still need to be signed off by the Transport Secretary.

As bus drivers will not be responsible for enforcing the new rules, the government said that it is the authorised officers, including Transport Safety Officers and the Police, who will deal with the incidents.