Eating smelly food on trains

[Bletchleyite]

From this thread: https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/northern-to-london-could-it-work.258577/page-4#post-6529611

Came to make a pie gag. Very subjective stuff - chips are delicious to me. Can't bear the smell of an egg sandwich. Either no food or all is welcome. The amenities of Piccadilly etc include McDonalds/BK, Leon, Subway - all smell.

I love eating chips and do so several times a week, but the smell of someone else eating them on the train is just unpleasant. Burger King is worse.

Egg sandwiches I'd ban entirely. But the majority of what you'll buy from those (and M&S) don't stink the train out like fried food does, even heated sandwiches from Subway.

Merseyrail used to have quite oddly worded "don't eat cooked food on trains" posters. I guess they meant hot food, but I agree with the sentiment outside of a restaurant car where provided.

 

[Peter0124]

Having a McDonalds burger/fries on train is surely fine

 

[peterblue]

Having a McDonalds burger/fries on train is surely fine

Why? It smells. Any smelly food on a train should be banned. Cold food/drinks are fine.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Having a McDonalds burger/fries on train is surely fine

It absolutely stinks the train out. A cold sandwich would be preferable as apart from egg that doesn't. Fried food is the absolute worst - if you must have hot, a toasted Subway sandwich is nowhere near as bad.

I've had Maccies breakfast on a train before but have always eaten it out in the vestibule to avoid stinking the saloon out.

 

[YorkRailFan]

Once someone opened an Indian take out on a LNER train almost a year ago, it made me hungry and I had food poisoning at the time.

 

[liamf656]

Why? It smells. Any smelly food on a train should be banned. Cold food/drinks are fine.

I personally don't see the issue, but I can see why others would. Where do you stand with smelly food thats served on the train itself? EMR offer cooked food onboard including omlette/sausage in first class and chilli/curry flavoured noodles which give off a strong smell

 

[Peter0124]

You can also open the windows if your train has openable hopper ones, to try and reduce the smell if that works.

I personally and selfishly disagree with the banning of McDonalds/Greggs Sausage Rolls etc, especially on suburban trains as it's a quick and convenient takeaway to bring home.

 

[6Gman]

Why? It smells. Any smelly food on a train should be banned. Cold food/drinks are fine.

Coffee smells. Beer smells. How far would you go?

 

[hexagon789]

Different smells upset different people. You either ban all food or no food, the latter option is of course ridiculous but how on earth can staff be expected to decide what is and isn't acceptable food?

It would be exactly like ScotRail's alcohol ban - widely flouted, un-policed and frankly rather pointless.

 

[Merseysider]

Coffee smells. Beer smells. How far would you go?

And some passengers smell too… let’s ban those

One option would be to have the quiet coach (where it still exists) further designated a “no eating” coach… it will of course be completely unenforceable but at least it might work some of the time, possibly

Yes, beer smells to high heaven if spilt, but we don’t want to go the way of some countries where all personal alcohol is banned fullstop *cough, Sweden, USA, cough, ridiculous, cough*

 

[HarryF]

In my opinion, attempting to ban McDonalds or similar would be very poor PR for the railway, considering some stations have a Burger King or McDonalds in them and as previously stated, practically unenforceable.
I have a sensory issue where certain noises such as sniffing are distressing for me to hear. Should we have a “no sniffing” coach? Of course not. I think this is a solution looking for a problem.

 

[CharlieSpotted]

It's obviously not practical to ban it, but is just one of those things where you wish people would be a bit more considerate. A warm Burger King is obviously, clearly more smelly than a ham salad sandwich. I eat way too much junk food myself, of practically every type, but I still find the smell of *someone else's* junk food on a train really unpleasant. I've never eaten my monster kebab naan on the train and I never would!

Damn, now I'm hungry.

 

[peterblue]

Coffee smells. Beer smells. How far would you go?

It generally only produces a noticeable odour if split, unlike most takeaways, so I don't consider it as bad.

Subway sandwiches don't produce any noticeable odour either, for the most part.

This is only my personal preference though. As pointed out, banning this outright would be very negative PR for the railway.

 

[yorksrob]

I'd rather someone brought a delicious aromatic curry on the train, than those disgusting smelling cream cheese flavoured pringles that make me want to gag.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

Let's have a "no eating" coach; a "no drinking" coach; a "quiet coach"; a "no luggage" coach; a "no electronic devices" coach; a "no-people" coach

Honestly; I have more to worry about in life....

 

[Bletchleyite]

Coffee smells. Beer smells. How far would you go?

I think most people would recognise that fried food smells far worse than cold food, egg sandwiches aside. National Express for instance allow cold food but not hot food.

https://faq.nationalexpress.com/s/article/Can-i-carry-food-on-the-coach?language=en_US

Can I take food and/or drink on the coach​

You are welcome to bring onto the coach hot drinks (provided they are fitted with a safety lid to avoid spillage and you take care with them), cold non-alcoholic drinks and cold food.
You are not permitted to bring onto the Coach, or consume on the Coach, any hot or strong-smelling food which emits an offensive odour regardless of packing or preservation methods.
Food items that emit an offensive odour onto any Coach will not be allowed, the driver will advise you that they are prohibited and they will be removed from the Coach.

This seems a reasonable policy. And it's very much enforced, I've seen a driver take chips off someone before.

 

[43096]

This seems a reasonable policy. And it's very much enforced, I've seen a driver take chips off someone before.

Must be tempting for anyone treated like that to stand in front of/behind the vehicle so it can’t move off. And take your time eating them.

 

[randyrippley]

Try crisps made from fried diced durian.
Guaranteed seats...

 

[Bletchleyite]

Try crisps made from fried diced durian.
Guaranteed seats...

Durian is actually specifically banned from almost all air conditioned spaces in South East Asia, there are signs everywhere. Public transport included (though I think you can on Thai fresh air coaches).

I've had it and I think it's vile, never understood why anyone bothers with it. Maybe it tastes nice if you've got a cold and so can't smell anything.

 

[Merseysider]

a "no-people" coach

That already exists - try travelling with LNWR after 7pm this week - no trains turn up

 

[randyrippley]

Durian is actually specifically banned from almost all air conditioned spaces in South East Asia, there are signs everywhere. Public transport included (though I think you can on Thai fresh air coaches).

I've had it and I think it's vile, never understood why anyone bothers with it. Maybe it tastes nice if you've got a cold and so can't smell anything.

You can buy durian crisps and sweets in a lot of Asian food shops.
The sweets are like a smelly butterscotch. The crisps are just... Interesting.

 

[stj]

As there are so many Food Outlets on stations these days,I dont think it would be right telling some of them your food is banned from the train.

 

[DerekC]

I don't think a ban is right or enforceable, but I wouldn't do as one well-dressed young guy did on a crowded 444 one night at Waterloo and buy a lager and a very smelly Thai curry to eat (with a slurpy sound track) on the fold-down table right next to me - and then go to sleep with the dirty empties piled up and in danger of falling in my lap. An hour and ten minutes can be a long time! It's all about consideration for others - and let's face it, some people don't have any.

 

[greyman42]

At what point would we stop objecting to the smell of food. If you get home and someone is cooking dinner, do we object? If not, then why is it so bad on a train?

 

[Bletchleyite]

At what point would we stop objecting to the smell of food. If you get home and someone is cooking dinner, do we object? If not, then why is it so bad on a train?

I think it's fair to say that unless you're eating them the smells from fried food are unpleasant to most people.

 

[YorkRailFan]

That already exists - try travelling with LNWR after 7pm this week - no trains turn up

Travel with GC at any time of the day for that.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Dec 2023 ==

At what point would we stop objecting to the smell of food. If you get home and someone is cooking dinner, do we object? If not, then why is it so bad on a train?

The argument is that a train is a public space, your home is not.

 

[dk1]

As on train staff we all find Wasabi the most offensive of smells onboard a train that seems to even get into your clothes if sitting in the vicinity of anyone consuming it. People eating that on a busy train around others must have very thick skin indeed. I could never do it.

 

[DanNCL]

I think it depends on the journey. On a local train then maybe it should be banned but I really don’t see the issue with someone grabbing a Burger King at the station and eating it on the train at the start of a 2-3 hour journey.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

As on train staff we all find Wasabi the most offensive of smells onboard a train...

Much more likely to be horse radish and mustard flour than actual Wasabi.

The argument is that a train is a public space, your home is not.

Indeed.

It's all about consideration for others - and let's face it, some people don't have any.

Quite.

I really don’t see the issue with someone grabbing a Burger King at the station and eating it on the train at the start of a 2-3 hour journey.

Many on here would disagree with you there.

 

[800001]

Try sitting in first class on LNER when they are serving fish, smells disgusting.