York ROC
SLINK into York station by train from the south and the ROC is hard to miss. Sitting in the ‘V’ between the East Coast Main Line and the ‘York avoider’ the brightly coloured ‘Y’s and giant ‘Welcome to Yorkshire’ hoarding facing the main line make the most modern of the UK’s 11 ROCs something of a standout building.
Cheery as the exterior may be, entering the 76,000 sq ft three-level main building, which started operating in 2014, is no mean feat. Large concrete anti-vehicle blocks protect the main front gates, which are surrounded by tall, barbed wire-topped fences. Pedestrian access is via a full-height turnstile and only after showing ID via a CCTV camera. Inside, security is equally tight, with access to individual rooms and sections controlled by key tags and staff encouraged to challenge faces they don’t recognise (later in the day of our visit, when the Rail Express day pass tag has slipped off into a pocket, a concerned member of the team alerts their manager).
The original rationale behind the creation of the ROCs was refreshingly simple: to
