Mosquito Devices at Wivenhoe - Under 24s Beware!

ONE Railway is currently bragging that they have made Wivenhoe station less chavvy. This seems to have come from a combination of more patrols and a Mosquito Device:

"Recent innovations have included the installation of a ‘mosquito’ device, which lets out a high pitched sound that can only be heard by those under the age of 24, thus acting as a deterrent to people loitering at the station." (From onerailway.com.)

A mosquito device was installed at Greenstead shopping centre for similar reasons. For those that don't know, a moquito device exploits the fact that a person's hearing degrades over time. As you get older you hear less. Some of these sounds are really nasty and can make people leave the area.

ONE Railway is acting a bit stupid, for two reasons:

1. Not all people under 24 are chavs. Switching on such a device will just drive away innocent people.
2. The University of Essex is one mile away and students travel by train. Since most students graduate before the age of 24, this is a rather bad way to attract students to travel by train.

Luckily I don't use the station any more, but it was a useful alternative to North station - avoiding the 'rush hour' that Colchester suffers.

If I ever use the station again, I might take the opportunity to test those noise-cancelling headphones people use on planes. I have a feeling the chavs will eventually win this one...