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Conversely I've been on a Holyhead a couple of times (in the DMF of a voyager) when U.S. Americans have had VERY LOUD conversations continuously all the way. The most recent was two couples who had clearly never met before each trying to out-do the other in places visited "Yeah, we wenna the targe merhaarl when we were in India did you? etc. Accompanied by patronising remarks about the local people on their visits. Mid-summer, too intent on conversation to look out of the window once, as far as I could see, and the were on the coast side on the North Wales stretch.
Perhaps an American Ian Allan has produced an a.b.c. of world tourist sites to visit and they are trying to underline the lot . Didn't seem to be very interested in the environment around them, though. Probably off to check out the Irish roots...
Conversely I've been on a Holyhead a couple of times (in the DMF of a voyager) when U.S. Americans have had VERY LOUD conversations continuously all the way. The most recent was two couples who had clearly never met before each trying to out-do the other in places visited "Yeah, we wenna the targe merhaarl when we were in India did you? etc. Accompanied by patronising remarks about the local people on their visits. Mid-summer, too intent on conversation to look out of the window once, as far as I could see, and the were on the coast side on the North Wales stretch.
Perhaps an American Ian Allan has produced an a.b.c. of world tourist sites to visit and they are trying to underline the lot . Didn't seem to be very interested in the environment around them, though. Probably off to check out the Irish roots...
Oh, I'm not saying Americans are perfect. My own comparable tale – from a trip on the West Highland line – was an American lady, exclaiming, "we loved Windsor. It was laid out just like Disneyland!".
But I feel very sorry for anybody on holiday who experiences that kind of drunken aggression from a local…
I regularly commute from Taunton to Bristol Temple Meads but on Saturday as a leisure trip I was on the platform at Taunton and a group of 7 teenagers started playing offensive loud music so loudly it could be easily heard on the opposite platform, they were also ALL smoking, spitting, swearing with the 'C' word and laughing at everyone who was moving away etc. Usually Taunton station isn't too bad for unruly behaviour, rarely see it but what annoyed me the most is that there were several staff members present literally within meters on the platform and not one of them said anything to them.
Every other waiting passenger had to move away all the way down the platform to get away from them. My gripe is why didnt the staff approach them? Surely together the 3 staff could have approached them (safety in numbers etc) My 6 year old little boy was so frightened he was in tears, I wont be taking him on a train again. This will only get worse if staff to not challenge these low lifes.
I was very, very pleased to see an Avanti guard yesterday tell "da yoof" to turn their rubbish off in coach A (quiet coach) of a Brum-Euston service without a complaint needing to be made first. They did, too.
If British Transport Police weren't so utterly useless then ASB could be addressed at source. And if county police forces hadn't been slashed to the bone, they could conceivably address this before they even get on the train.
I regularly commute from Taunton to Bristol Temple Meads but on Saturday as a leisure trip I was on the platform at Taunton and a group of 7 teenagers started playing offensive loud music so loudly it could be easily heard on the opposite platform, they were also ALL smoking, spitting, swearing with the 'C' word and laughing at everyone who was moving away etc. Usually Taunton station isn't too bad for unruly behaviour, rarely see it but what annoyed me the most is that there were several staff members present literally within meters on the platform and not one of them said anything to them.
Every other waiting passenger had to move away all the way down the platform to get away from them. My gripe is why didnt the staff approach them? Surely together the 3 staff could have approached them (safety in numbers etc) My 6 year old little boy was so frightened he was in tears, I wont be taking him on a train again. This will only get worse if staff to not challenge these low lifes.
They may well have done, but that doesn’t mean BTP will turn up. Even if there are BTP nearly they will potentially have a list of things to deal with, and youths smoking may well not be anywhere near the top of that list.
BTP are extremely thinly spread. As an aside, this is why one finds it slightly irritating when they spend their time doing stuff like monitoring for people hanging out of HST droplight windows.
As an aside, this is why one finds it slightly irritating when they spend their time doing stuff like monitoring for people hanging out of HST droplight windows.
How many HSTs have droplights these days? Even the LSL ones have window bars. I've never seen BTP take the slightest interest in window hanging, that's the guard's job.
I was very glad to see the dispatcher at Temple Meads yesterday inform two young men that vaping, especially over a bench full of people, was not allowed. Makes a nice change.
The rather sadder flip side is that it's a nice change to have that as the worst ASB I encountered on my journey.
Was browsing the forums whilst on the bus on my way to work this morning and noticed there were updates to this thread. Ironic that whilst I was reading the latest posts, another passenger decided to broadcast the soundtrack to whatever video she was watching. I only had two stops left before getting off, so didn’t say anything, but may well have done so if I’d been travelling further:
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How many HSTs have droplights these days? Even the LSL ones have window bars. I've never seen BTP take the slightest interest in window hanging, that's the guard's job.
Yesterday, I boarded a lightly-loaded Gatwick Express service at London Victoria, about 10 minutes before departure. I sat in an airline-style seat and looked forward to the journey. A few minutes later, a man settled into the airline style seat (of a pair) in front of me, arranged all his stuff on the seat-back table, and starts playing YouTube or TikTok videos on a phone, at full volume.
I politely asked if he had any earphones, as people might not want their peace and quiet disturbed.
He said ‘Earphones? You’re incredibly rude! I’ll tell you what, I’ll just move somewhere else, ok’
I was flabbergasted. I said ‘I’M rude? You want to inflict loud noise on everyone but it’s me that’s rude??’
He walks off with a ‘stop digging’ comment over his shoulder. Then sits down in a bay of four seats about 5 rows ahead, on the opposite side.
A man at his new proposed seating area says ‘the gentleman has a point, don’t think you can play that here’ presumably pointing at the phone (I couldn’t see). ‘You’d best move on, or else…’
‘Or else what?’ said phone man, gathering his things and moving off into the next carriage…
Was I in the wrong? I thanked the other chap for his support and enjoyed a quiet journey as a result.
Was I unreasonable?
Not that it makes any difference, but phone man was not a teenager, he was in his mid-50s !
Wow that is pretty shocking for a guy in his mid 50's! I would expect that kind of attitude from a disobedient child or a rebellious teenager, but not a middle aged man who should know better!
I don't travel on the train very often (about once or twice a year on average) but have witnessed a few incidents of anti-social behaviour over the years. All of them were on class 142 pacer trains I think between East Lancashire and Blackpool South when I was a child.
The first incident was actually quite amusing. I can't remember where we were travelling to, but I was on the train with my parents and a teenager, attempting to get out of paying the fare, hid in the toilet. The guard, however caught him and when he refused to pay, chucked him off at the next station. When he got off and the doors closed, he banged his head on the glass bus doors in frustration. A woman said "What is the point of doing that"? Then when the train started pulling away, he stepped onto the ledge on the outside of the train. I was slightly worried at this point that the train would carry him along with him clinging to the outside like a scene from a James Bond film, but a couple of seconds later he jumped down again. My guess was he might have been travelling to Blackpool Pleasure Beach but couldn't afford the train fare. Teenagers, eh?
The next incident was also when I was a child. We were coming home from Blackpool. When we were waiting for the train home from Blackpool South, there were a group of 4 men, talking loudly and swearing. When we were on the train they were still swearing. A woman asked them to stop as she had a child. But they carried on. The guard intervened and argued with them. But they wouldn't stop swearing. Eventually, he chucked them off the train, but one of the men threw a can of beer at the guard, soaking his shirt in it. As a result, the train was terminated at Blackburn, and we had to wait an hour for the next train home.
The last incident wasn't really what I would call anti-social, but I thought I'd include it anyway. On Halloween one year, me and my parents went on the pacer to see the Blackpool illuminations. Coming home, a drunk man had fallen asleep on one of the bus seats. When he woke up, he realised he had missed his stop, and was a bit grumpy, complaining to the guard about it. The guard let him stay on, as when the train got to Colne it would reverse and go back again.
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I’ve been down in Birmingham for the weekend, and I’ve been shocked at the standard of behaviour I’ve seen on some trains.
Over the past 24 hours, I have seen:
Shouting across a carriage
No fewer than 9 separate instances of people playing audio out loud from a device.
Swearing
Cycling along platforms
Plenty of feet on seats
Someone being told to “shut your ******* baby up or I’ll do it for you” when a baby was crying.
Shoving
People barging onto trains before everyone has alighted.
Someone telling a guard to “**** off” when asked to produce a ticket.
An extensive amount of litter left on many trains
People spreading their luggage and belongings across a bay of 4 on a busy train
Plenty of drunk football fans singing loudly
People blocking the door on a busy train and refusing to move to allow people on or off.
The standard of behaviour on the railway is shocking at the moment. I’m generally against the Merseyrail approach of Penalty Fares or prosecutions for misconduct. That said, having seen the behaviour I’ve seen this weekend, I’m inclined to think there may be some merit to being much stricter and issuing penalty fares for some of the above.
That’s terrible, but I’m sure things were worse 15 years ago when “chav“ culture was at its high point in the UK. I don’t travel on the train often, but I went down to the Cotswolds on the train for a holiday in early September, passed through Birmingham and didn’t see any AS behaviour. Well except a few football fans singing at Birmingham New Street but I wouldn’t class that as AS.
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. Didn't seem to be very interested in the environment around them, though. Probably off to check out the Irish roots...
I would expect that kind of attitude from a disobedient child or a rebellious teenager, but not a middle aged man who should know better!