Eating smelly food on trains

[Iskra]

It seems a bit of a niche concern. How many journeys have been genuinely negatively affected by smelly food, compared to the total number of journeys made? Less than 0.0001% I would imagine…

 

[fwsmVor]

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.

Wasabi? Unless you're on a charter train for the Japanese ambassador, all British wasabi is just green horseradish. I've never thought horseradish smells particularly strongly.

 

[dk1]

Wasabi? Unless you're on a charter train for the Japanese ambassador, all British wasabi is just green horseradish. I've never thought horseradish smells particularly strongly.

You’ve obviously not sat on a train next to somebody eating a takeaway Wasabi curry.

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

Are we talking about the same thing? You seem to be referring to the horseradish like Japanese plant.

 

[John Luxton]

Nothing like a nice hot genuine Cornish pasty aroma in a carriage! Makes one feel very hungry.

Must admit to having eaten a few on GWR trains in the past couple of years. Even managed it once on a Settle and Carlisle Northern service out of Leeds as there is a genuine pasty kiosk at Leeds station.

 

[DanNCL]

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

Exactly. Some are absolutely fine with LNER serving smelly fish in First Class, yet have an issue with people eating a much less smelly Burger King in standard. It's as if the problem a select few people have with it isn't with the food but rather the people eating it.

Many on here would disagree with you there.

I'm sure many disagree with me but that doesn't change my opinion.

One of the selling points the train has over the private car for long distance journeys is that you don't have to stop to eat. Maybe not a massive number but banning eating on long distance trains would result in some people switching to the car for their journey, as one of the influencing factors that would have convinced them to take the train no longer applies.

There's also this - if you shouldn't eat on a train, why are there take-out only food outlets in stations? Almost as if the idea of these outlets is that you take the food with you when you get on your train...

 

[nanstallon]

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.

Let's face it, the British are pigs. But banning anything leads to hassle and confrontation from people used to doing whatever they like.

 

[P Binnersley]

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....

At least it means the trains would have a decent number of carriages!

 

[J3053B]

As a guard of seen and smelt most things people are going to eat on a train and none of them have been particularly bad.

What I will say is, if you can carry something on to the train and eat it - then you can bloody well put it in the bin or take it with you.

The British public on a whole are disgusting and the way they treat trains and this attitude of someone else will sort it out needs to stop.

The thing that make trains stink is food that’s been sat there for 3 bloody hours.

 

[Iskra]

As a guard of seen and smelt most things people are going to eat on a train and none of them have been particularly bad.

What I will say is, if you can carry something on to the train and eat it - then you can bloody well put it in the bin or take it with you.

The British public on a whole are disgusting and the way they treat trains and this attitude of someone else will sort it out needs to stop.

The thing that make trains stink is food that’s been sat there for 3 bloody hours.

Train bins are often tiny, insufficient in number, over-flowing due to not being emptied enough, strangely/inconsistently-located or non-existent altogether. Until bin provision and emptying is adequate, I don’t think it’s acceptable to blame the passengers.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Are we talking about the same thing? You seem to be referring to the horseradish like Japanese plant.

Vast majority of product sold in UK which is supposedly Wasabi isn't. Most of the so-called Wasabi sold in the U.K. is simply regular horseradish root mixed with green food colouring and other things.

 

[J3053B]

Train bins are often tiny, insufficient in number, over-flowing due to not being emptied enough, strangely/inconsistently-located or non-existent altogether. Until bin provision and emptying is adequate, I don’t think it’s acceptable to blame the passengers.

Then take it with you. It’s actually easier to carrier off once it’s been consumed!

 

[Iskra]

Then take it with you. It’s actually easier to carrier off once it’s been consumed!

That’s often not practical or safe.

 

[John Luxton]

As a guard of seen and smelt most things people are going to eat on a train and none of them have been particularly bad.

What I will say is, if you can carry something on to the train and eat it - then you can bloody well put it in the bin or take it with you.

The British public on a whole are disgusting and the way they treat trains and this attitude of someone else will sort it out needs to stop.

The thing that make trains stink is food that’s been sat there for 3 bloody hours.

Well said!

It amazing the mess that some passengers create and are then prepared to sit in whilst travelling.

If I can't find a bin on the train and there is no sign of an on train cleaner I any rubbish I have generated off the train and put in a bin.

But then I am the sort of person who if they have a drink in a pub takes their glass back to the bar when leaving. Most don't!

 

[Bletchleyite]

It seems a bit of a niche concern. How many journeys have been genuinely negatively affected by smelly food, compared to the total number of journeys made? Less than 0.0001% I would imagine…

Probably close to 100% of Saturday late evening ones, but relatively few others.

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

That’s often not practical or safe.

Don't eat it then.

 

[dk1]

Vast majority of product sold in UK which is supposedly Wasabi isn't. Most of the so-called Wasabi sold in the U.K. is simply regular horseradish root mixed with green food colouring and other things.

It’s the trading name of a fast food chain lol

 

[yorksrob]

If someone had an issue with my hot food on the train I'd say "sorry, but it's not my fault that they withdrew the buffet cars in 1983 !*

(Though that mainly works on the South Eastern).

 

[Iskra]

Probably close to 100% of Saturday late evening ones, but relatively few others.

I’ve made many such journeys, and can’t think of a single such occasion, despite much drunken obnoxiousness being witnessed.

If someone has smelly food, you are of course free to move away from it.

 

[OhNoAPacer]

Yes ban hot food, now let me settle down to my snack of durian and hakari

 

[dk1]

Then take it with you. It’s actually easier to carrier off once it’s been consumed!

I always take anything like that with me and dispose of in the first suitable bin. Unfortunately we carry a lot of very self centred and inconsiderate people around on trains who for some reason do not seem to care about anybody else. They however would no doubt be the first to complain if they boarded a train and found the carriage full of others waste food and packaging.

 

[route101]

The most offensive I find are kebabs and strangely enough last nights curry or chili out of a tupperware.

 

[trainophile]

Some people seem to take the view that if they have a table in front of them then it's like a cafe or restaurant, where you do leave your debris for others to clear up.

Just about sums up the mentality of a lot of the general public.

 

[NSE]

Train bins are often tiny, insufficient in number, over-flowing due to not being emptied enough, strangely/inconsistently-located or non-existent altogether. Until bin provision and emptying is adequate, I don’t think it’s acceptable to blame the passengers.

That’s often not practical or safe.

I have to disagree. Yes, train bins are often very small, strangely located, full up or possibly non existent, I don’t disagree with you, however if you bring food, you can take it for disposal. I’ve folded wrappers neatly and put them in my pockets or bags if there are no bins. I’ve taken rubbish and put it in station bins. I’ve never ever left rubbish. Apart from the one time I zoned out and nearly missed my stop and picked everything up in a hurry and forgot the empty can next to me. I’ll admit to that one.

 

[zero]

The smell of someone who has smoked just before boarding is worse than any food smell.

Some women also wear unpleasant-smelling perfume.

 

[Iskra]

I have to disagree. Yes, train bins are often very small, strangely located, full up or possibly non existent, I don’t disagree with you, however if you bring food, you can take it for disposal. I’ve folded wrappers neatly and put them in my pockets or bags if there are no bins. I’ve taken rubbish and put it in station bins. I’ve never ever left rubbish. Apart from the one time I zoned out and nearly missed my stop and picked everything up in a hurry and forgot the empty can next to me. I’ll admit to that one.

Sorry, I think it’s important to keep at least one hand free when alighting trains and walking around stations for grab rails, escalators, to support you if you fall etc, and you often need one free for ticket barriers. Older people may need to keep both hands free, especially in bad weather.

 

[Bungle158]

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

Many bus and train operators in SE Asia ban the on-board consumption of durians. Rightly so in my opinion.

 

[Magdalia]

The smell of someone who has smoked just before boarding is worse than any food smell.

Some women also wear unpleasant-smelling perfume.

Having commuted in the days before the smoking ban, I'd agree on smokers. It still happens occasionally with the smell of stale smoke on people's clothes.

But the worst for me was nail painting on the train on the way into work, that definitely should be banned.

 

[NSE]

Sorry, I think it’s important to keep at least one hand free when alighting trains and walking around stations for grab rails, escalators, to support you if you fall etc, and you often need one free for ticket barriers. Older people may need to keep both hands free, especially in bad weather.

Yes, they do, but if they have been able to carry the food on then they are able to carry the rubbish off. Bring a bag to carry it in. Leaving rubbish because you need a free hand to get your ticket out is not an excuse to leave rubbish everywhere.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Yes, they do, but if they have been able to carry the food on then they are able to carry the rubbish off. Bring a bag to carry it in. Leaving rubbish because you need a free hand to get your ticket out is not an excuse to leave rubbish everywhere.

M&S etc could really do with adopting the compostable single use bags Co-op do. They aren't good for doing your shopping, where you should really bring a reusable one, but when you've had an "M&S banquet" a single-use bag is handy for collecting and disposing of the often food-covered litter. I suspect this alone would reduce train littering a bit.

The paper ones they offer now are all very well but are mostly too big and quite rigid so hard to get into a train bin.

 

[Falcon1200]

Then take it with you. It’s actually easier to carrier off once it’s been consumed!

That’s often not practical or safe.

How not? As below, if they managed to bring the food onto the train they are certainly able to take the empty containers away with them.

The smell of someone who has smoked just before boarding is worse than any food smell.

Not to mention the seemingly-ubiquitous drug-stinking passengers; If smelly food is to be banned surely smelly people should be too?

but if they have been able to carry the food on then they are able to carry the rubbish off.

Exactly. Yesterday I boarded a train on which someone had left a large paper bag from a well known burger chain blocking one seat, simply ignorant and selfish.

 

[trainophile]

If you knew there was bin provision at stations you'd be more likely to take your rubbish with you. I know they were once a security threat but nowadays those metal hoop ones with transparent plastic bags are as safe as you'd get, and easy to remove the bag when full and replace it. I'm in the "take it anyway" camp but it is annoying to have to cart it around until you're out of the station, and look for a bin on the street. Especially if dragging a case and carrying a holdall.