Worrying reality of what it means if you hear 'Inspector Sands' at a train station

You hear a lot of things when at train stations in the UK and many of them, we might never comprehend.

Why does it cost £80 for a 30 minute trip? Why do I have to change stations four times? How do I get home now that all the trains are cancelled?

These are all questions that we're left asking on far too many occasions, particularly here in the UK at the moment, where there's been a huge amount of travel chaos in the wake of some of the worst snow for over a decade.

But plenty is going on behind the scenes that might make it a little easier to find the answers to.

If you don't have a train enthusiast in your family or follow the content of Francis Bourgeois, then you might not be aware of some of the secret codes that are used within the railway industry.

It turns out that if you hear about a certain Inspector Sands, then that might well be a sign that something is wrong.

Inspector Sands has been around for many years (Getty Stock Image)

While we call Inspector Morse if we need a crime solving or Inspector Gadget if, for some reason, we need a helicopter hat or extendable arms, we hear about Inspector Sands if there's a fire.

After a video online captured the rare moment, plenty were left asking about the identity of the mysterious Inspector Sands.

The name will most likely be mentioned over a tannoy, and it is used as a way of alerting staff to a fire, without the need to evacuate everyone in the station.

The code, which is also used across the London Underground system, takes its name from the sand buckets that were historically used to put out fires.

The term has also been used in the theatre business, which is used to alert staff that there is a fire backstage.

Don't panic if you hear it (Getty Stock Image)

Since larger public buildings such as railway stations require a staged evacuation procedure to avoid false alarms, they use this system to ensure that everybody doesn't panic if a fire alarm is sounded.

So you also shouldn't sprint out of the station the moment you hear Inspector Sands' name.

While secret codes on Netflix are more well-known, it turns out that codes in general are more common than you might think.

And you really don't want to hear the number 86 while you're out eating at a restaurant.

Unfortunately, if you're a Brit abroad, you're also likely to encounter secret codes used by places as a way of charging you more as a tourist, which is why it's always worth speaking the language or having a guide where you can.