Turnpike bastion

A turnpike bastion is a fortified structure controlling entry and egress from checkpoints established at the boundaries between bailiwicks of the Benacian Union, most notably within the realms of Elluenuueq, the Sovereign Confederation, and the Unified Governorates. These bastions are established as the sole lawful means of passing from one bailiwick into another, and permits for all subjects to have their status and itineraries verified and validated. As they are to be encountered at regular intervals along all major and minor roads, as well as along all rail routes. Passengers for scheduled rail services are obliged to disembark at each turnpike bastion for verification and to permit security services to conduct sweeps of rail carriages and wagons. The only exception to this process are the so-called sealed trains, reserved for meritorious subjects, which pass through minor bailiwicks without stopping on their way to the administrative centre of each governorate and towards the capitals of the respective realms. It follows that a bailiwick is obliged to maintain a turnpike bastion on each crossing point into a neighbouring bastion. It follows that this is an obligation more onerous for some municipal corporations than for others.

To pass through a turnpike it is necessary, in addition to the process of verification, for a nominal administration fee to be deducted and processed. For these reasons, it is necessary for each bastion to be connected to the Panopticon Nexus, and for automated biometric scanners to be installed and active on the turnpike infrastructure itself.

The turnpike bastions are administered by the agents of the Worshipful Municipal Corporation of Aldermen established within each bailiwick, with one positioned on each side of a boundary crossing point, with a short distance of no-mans land in between. Because of the integration of data feeds from turnpike sensors into the Panopticon Nexus via nodes connected to the Benacian Data Network, it is not necessary for realm or Union-State level security services to maintain a permanent presence at the site of each bastion. However, access to the data generated by turnpike traffic is routinely available to the following organisations:

Subjects flagged on the Panopticon Nexus as being of interest to the authorities may accordingly be held by agents for collection by the requesting authorities. Additionally, five percent of daily traffic is required to be subjected to enhanced verification action by local agents at the bastion, with results inputted onto the Nexus once the action is complete. Unusual or persistent patterns of transit through the turnpike network may impact upon a subject's merit score, as monitored on the Societal Compliance Utility Matrix by the Benacian Censorate, with adverse consequences for that subject's travel entitlements and potentially their standing in the Table of Grades and Ranks of the Benacian Union.

Access to and or transit through a turnpike bastion is forbidden to bondsmen unless by the prior authorised permission of their lawful bond holder, typically the worshipful municipal corporation of their bailiwick of residence.

To attempt to circumvent the turnpike bastion for the purpose of entering or departing from a bailiwick without lawful authority or permission is an offence, for which the punishment, upon detention, is immediate transfer into the Benacian Labour Reserve.