A story told by a friend from five years or so ago. His boss in the construction industry was going up to a meeting in London when another passenger started a conversation using a ‘phone placed on the table. It quickly became clear that the other passenger worked for a rival company and the call was to discuss details of a bid for a contract that both companies were after. My friend’s boss listened with interest and was later able to tweak their bid.
Person sits opposite me when many empty seats all around and scoffs a disgustingly smelly burger and chips then promptly starts a loud phone conversation on speakerphone.
And I think we now have good evidence that the poor punctuality of the 21st century GB railway was driven by trying to push too many (short) trains through the network.
Sticking your foot out at just the right moment can also put a stop to this annoyance.
Of all the LNER services that i have travelled on during Covid, the guard could not care less where you sit. I never sit in my allocated seat as there are always near empty coaches in other parts of the train.
I've had at least one LNER guard shout at passengers for not sitting in allocated seats and attempt to show them up in front of the carriage. In reality there was no actual problem.
