UK rail commuters call for 'Inspector Sands' codeword to be scrapped

[John Ashworth]

Commuters call for 'Inspector Sands' codeword to be scrapped after it caused panic in busy train stations

Commuters who worked out the meaning of an emergency codeword have called for it to be scrapped after its use caused panic in busy train stations.

Rail authorities have long used the words “Inspector Sands” as a coded way to signify a possible fire emergency on the London Underground and at airports.

It is usually broadcast over a public announcement system along with a request for the “inspector” to report to the “operations room”...

however, the overuse of the announcement has led commuters to work out its true meaning...

an incident at Waterloo station where people started “nervously running down the tunnels and up the escalators” after it was used recently... “panic broke out” after repeated Inspector Sands announcements at Paddington station earlier this year...