Rail staff - what's your pet hate?

[Skimpot flyer]

What's my pet hate?

When the vet sticks a thermometer up its jacksie, of course......

 

[OneThirtyEight]

Boarding before other passengers have alighted.
Whole platform boarding at one door set.
Walking length of platform to get to favourite doors.
Running along platform as friend waves from train.
Riding bike onto or off train.
On a red or standing time, head popping out, looking up and down train then staring.
Three drags of cigarette as hustle alarm sounds.
Reopening doors for passenger, only for them to jump off when they realise they're on the wrong train.

 

[Jonfun]

Single most irritating thing is people all crowding into one small space when half the train is empty, and extra lost marks for those who also then moan about the crowding. Four carriage train, and there were as many people crammed into one vestibule of the second to back carriage as there were sitting in the entirety of the front vehicle.

Then, prams. Pram manufacturers probably spend hundreds of thousands of pounds designing them so they fold up easily. But no, we'll just buy a 4x4 baby wagon the size of a Range Rover and dump it in the first place we see. Often this is blocking the doors, possibly blocking the wheelchair space, and in at least a couple of cases, the aisle down the coach. I recall seeing one lady dutifully roll the pram into the luggage space facing the wall, it fit perfectly, then walked off to her seat halfway down the carriage. I was quite impressed, until I walked past and realised that the poor baby was still sat in it.

 

[wensley]

Drunk passengers annoy me - there's nothing worse than being sober amongst a group of drunks, especially when you're responsible for their safety.

Other pet hates "Where's Platform 9 3/4?"...
And "When's the next train to so-and-so" Me "xx.xx" Passenger "Is there one before that?"...
And, punters who will ask a question, wait for an answer and ask a number of follow up questions before shaking their head, walking to one of my colleagues and repeating the same charade. This can be repeated with up to four staff in my experience!!

 

[DarloRich]

wibbling spotters who think they know how to run a railway better than people who actually run a railway. You don't. Honestly. No, really, you don't.

 

[Minilad]

Drunk passengers annoy me - there's nothing worse than being sober amongst a group of drunks, especially when you're responsible for their safety.

Other pet hates "Where's Platform 9 3/4?"...
And "When's the next train to so-and-so" Me "xx.xx" Passenger "Is there one before that?"...
And, punters who will ask a question, wait for an answer and ask a number of follow up questions before shaking their head, walking to one of my colleagues and repeating the same charade. This can be repeated with up to four staff in my experience!!

I feel your pain Bro!

 

[Stigy]

When a passenger asks for a train to Waterloo, then has a go at me when I direct them to a fast train to Waterloo, making them just miss their train to Cobham or something. I now tend to confirm it's waterloo they wish to travel to rather than an intermediate station.

 

[222007]

Railcards are my biggest pet hate.
Passengers who have read the terms and conditions of advance/print at home tickets and then become argumentative when they havent followed the t&c's
Bikes on trains not in the clearly marked cycle section

 

[HarleyDavidson]

In no particular order:

Cyclists who put their bikes in any door other than the one that has a whacking great bike symbol by it.

Cyclists who ignore the restrictions & ride on the platform with their lights on!

People who load heavily muddied up mountain bikes on and then whinge when we sling off for it.

People who don't get the concept of pickup & set down only stops (Clapham & all stations down on the last ones).

Colleagues who park their cars across two parking spaces when space is at a premium & it's raining so you end up with a long walk from the far end of the car park and end up drenched before you even start! Then there's the ones who park so close even Kate Moss wouldn't be able to get in, so you end up having to climb in over the passenger seat and over the gearstick to be able to go home!

 

[ComUtoR]

People who don't get the concept of pickup & set down only stops (Clapham & all stations down on the last ones).

I don't get them either. If a train stops on the platform and opens the doors then surely its a free for all. Weirdly on the rare ones that I have had nobody is usually there :/ They are services that don't appear in the timetable so the stations are usually empty.

I'm one of those that really doesn't understand why they exist.

 

[HarleyDavidson]

Clapham is like it because they have more than ample service provision via the suburban services and Windsor line services and with trains going through on the down fast lines every 3-4 minutes, you'd soon have a massive backlog of trains and serious delays as a consequence.

 

[Blindtraveler]

Im not rail staff, but 1 member of Scotrail traincrew who I think will now have retired used to get very cross when he pre announced a station and then found the PA was faulty so foalk hadnt heard it. Felt sorry for him but the state hed get into was quite entertaining!

 

[ComUtoR]

Cheers Harley

 

[Bodiddly]

Hats off to all of you that have to interact with JP (Joe Public) because as depot staff, we have very limited contact with the travelling customer. On the rare occasions I have been approached from JP, the majority of these conflicts have been some eedjit sounding off because they see an orange boiler suit.
I have had an old woman nearly flying for me for condemning a set that could not move. The language that she vented to me would have made a sailor blush.
A businessman who told me to f*** **f when he thought he was allowed more time to get dressed when the sleeper arrived. That was a funny one. I told him he could take all the time he wanted but he would be trapped on the set until I had safely berthed it in the depot in around two hours time. That got him moving!
A drunk try to attack me because he had missed his train and thought it was my fault. This happened right in front of our BTP officer who very quickly sprung into action and removed the intoxicated JP from the station.
On the flip side, you do speak to some interesting people now and again.
My biggest pet hate though, is how my shift pattern doesn't follow the train timetable in any way which means I can't get a train to work.

 

[jonty14]

For all of you hate customers just remember without them you would be all unemployed. Then you would have something to moan about! Still no excuse for passengers to be unfriendly.

 

[craigybagel]

My pet hate? 158s, pure and simple.

 

[BestWestern]

I try not to allow 'pet hates' to get the better of me; after all train travel is an awful lot more daunting and confusing for those who don't work here! However, one particular annoyance, which I'm afraid does get my back up, are those who intentionally sit themselves down in the Quiet Carriage (clearly marked as such and accompanied on my trains by an appropriate announcement), and proceed to spend the entire journey talking to one another. Offenders seem to be equally split between important business types and leisure travellers, and often are of the more mature demographic. I was once told I was "bloody rude" for politely pointing out this issue to a middle aged group of four sat chatting at normal conversational volume. Other responses have included one suited chap who seemed utterly perplexed that the 'Quiet' rule applied to two people talking to one another as well as 'just people on phones'. It really does fill me with a sense of utter frustration!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

My pet hate? 158s, pure and simple.

?? Why?! They're damn good units when they're properly maintained.

 

[455driver]

For all of you hate customers just remember without them you would be all unemployed. Then you would have something to moan about! Still no excuse for passengers to be unfriendly.

But nobody has said they hate all passengers/customers/wotevabuzzwordtheyarecalledtoday, people have said they hate the (lot less than) 1% who think the world revolves around them and they have the right to be abusive to anyone in a uniform simply because they cant get their own way!

 

[Clip]

wibbling spotters who think they know how to run a railway better than people who actually run a railway. You don't. Honestly. No, really, you don't.

instant like

 

[bradders1983]

This came around on faceache a while back, I doubt if the atuhor will mind it being shared............


• Occasionally there will be engineering works and you may have to catch a replacement bus service. Yes, a bus, you know, four wheels, travels on the road, a bit like a car but it carries lots of people. Sound familiar? If there is a bus replacement this means that there are no trains, I repeat NO TRAINS!! And NO you don’t need to go to the bus station - it’s a RAIL replacement bus service - it goes from the RAILway station. And for goodness sake, please don’t ask which platform it goes from.

[/I]

The author of this clearly hasnt been to Sheffield

 

[455driver]

The author of this clearly hasnt been to Sheffield

You cant blame them for that though, its a horrible place!


I am only joking, I quite like Sheffield except all the bloody hills!

 

[185]

What's your pet hate?

Managers who haven't seen a train since 1983 and seem to forget the **$ we have to put up with.

 

[craigybagel]

?? Why?! They're damn good units when they're properly maintained.

Your batch are, ours aren't so good unfortunately. Ours still have the original EBAC air con system, plus the additions of an APIS system by trainFx and ERTMS (more of an issue for drivers than guards - although we're the ones who have to deal with the delays it causes) which can add together to make life awkward.

Also, we've got Damien

Seriously though, even on a long distance run I'd much rather work a 150 than a 158. Great for passengers, but a right pain for a guard.

 

[321446]

When a passenger asks for a train to Waterloo, then has a go at me when I direct them to a fast train to Waterloo, making them just miss their train to Cobham or something. I now tend to confirm it's waterloo they wish to travel to rather than an intermediate station.

I actually had a variation on this the other day.

"Is this the Braintree?"

Thinking on my feet, to avoid the above scenario, "is it Braintree that you want or...." duly cut off by "I wouldn't have bloody asked if it wasn't!"

So proof, if it be needed, you can't win!! And he did indeed get of at Braintree, so it was just me being an obtuse badly trained member of staff that made this an issue!!

 

[fowler9]

I actually had a variation on this the other day.

"Is this the Braintree?"

Thinking on my feet, to avoid the above scenario, "is it Braintree that you want or...." duly cut off by "I wouldn't have bloody asked if it wasn't!"

So proof, if it be needed, you can't win!! And he did indeed get of at Braintree, so it was just me being an obtuse badly trained member of staff that made this an issue!!

Yeah you can't win. Joe Public knows best. In my job when I ask someone for their address or phone number and they say "Don't you already have it?". On my last day before leaving for bigger and better things I will say "Yes, I just asked because I get up in the morning hoping for arguments with bloody idiots".

 

[40129]

£20 notes

Passengers who wait for the warning tone to sound before deciding to get on/off

Cl-150s

Passengers who read the departure screen and then ask "is this the train to ... ?" Even more so when there's just been an announcement confirming what the screen says

 

[BestWestern]

Your batch are, ours aren't so good unfortunately. Ours still have the original EBAC air con system, plus the additions of an APIS system by trainFx and ERTMS (more of an issue for drivers than guards - although we're the ones who have to deal with the delays it causes) which can add together to make life awkward.

Also, we've got Damien

Seriously though, even on a long distance run I'd much rather work a 150 than a 158. Great for passengers, but a right pain for a guard.

Lol what's Damien!?

One of our lads much prefers 150s, I just don't get it! I find a 158 cab a far nicer place to be, and the saloon for that matter, and a panel at every door.
Luxury!

 

[HLE]

instant like

Can't disagree at all on that!

 

[SPADTrap]

I actually had a variation on this the other day.

"Is this the Braintree?"

Thinking on my feet, to avoid the above scenario, "is it Braintree that you want or...." duly cut off by "I wouldn't have bloody asked if it wasn't!"

So proof, if it be needed, you can't win!! And he did indeed get of at Braintree, so it was just me being an obtuse badly trained member of staff that made this an issue!!

You're not inspired, that's your problem. I'm.glad you saw the error of your ways though :razz:

 

[trentside]

Got to agree about 158s - can't stand spending an entire shift walking sideways, fighting with awkward door controls and generally being boiled because someone has opened the windows but isolated the internal doors but not bothered to set the air con unit to 'VENT' so it's busy trying to heat up the saloon. I think officially we're not supposed to play with them anymore but when the rear saloon is showing a temperature at 37 degrees you don't have much choice!

I agree with so many of the points on tickets. The people who watch you checking tickets but fail to get them out from their massive bags, plus those who don't get their railcards out ("Nobody has ever asked before...").

Another pet hate of mine is short formation. It's an occupational hazard but happens to certain trains more than others and pretty much guarentees that you're going to get an ear bashing from someone for something you can do nothing about. You can get a surprising number of people in a dogbox but tends to get uncomfortable after the first 100 get on...