Eating and drinking on trains

[158801]

As lock down eases more shops and cafes are opening.

Yesterday I saw a couple go to McDonald's for some food to take on the train with them.

With the government's messsge to wear a face mask whilst on public transport, should their be a message that you should try, wherever possible, not to eat and drink whilst on board?

Obviously for someone going Edinburgh to Plymouth this is nigh on impossible. But is feasible for journies up to 2 hours.

Station shops and outlets would obviously be affected by this as they're desperate for business after lockdown.

I've seen people make a bag of maltesers last them almost an hour. That's an hour of eating and no face mask!
Alcohol on board should, in my opinion be banned (all trains dry) as that bottle of procescco could last for an hour whilst you take sips every now and then.

 

[Huntergreed]

One of the legally permitted exemptions is that people are allowed to remove their mask to eat and drink (and many will, perfectly legally, take their sweet, sweet time to eat up so they can get more comfortable without the mask).

This in my opinion renders the law pointless (as if it wasn't before anyway!), but there'll be many who disagree. It's down to personal interpretation I suppose.

 

[bramling]

As lock down eases more shops and cafes are opening.

Yesterday I saw a couple go to McDonald's for some food to take on the train with them.

With the government's messsge to wear a face mask whilst on public transport, should their be a message that you should try, wherever possible, not to eat and drink whilst on board?

Obviously for someone going Edinburgh to Plymouth this is nigh on impossible. But is feasible for journies up to 2 hours.

Station shops and outlets would obviously be affected by this as they're desperate for business after lockdown.

I've seen people make a bag of maltesers last them almost an hour. That's an hour of eating and no face mask!
Alcohol on board should, in my opinion be banned (all trains dry) as that bottle of procescco could last for an hour whilst you take sips every now and then.

I like the Maltesers idea, more enjoyable than making a bottle of water last out!

 

[mmh]

should their be a message that you should try, wherever possible, not to eat and drink whilst on board?

The only time I've ever called for an ambulance was after a train journey where in the final hour of it I felt seriously unwell, dizzy and feeling as if I was about to pass out. Reaching home and guzzling water, I felt no better and was seriously worried. I was taken to hospital, diagnosed as severely dehydrated and put on a drip overnight.

I would say no, we shouldn't be demonising eating and drinking.

 

[duncanp]

Alcohol on board should, in my opinion be banned (all trains dry) as that bottle of procescco could last for an hour whilst you take sips every now and then.

Why pick on someone who is drinking alcohol?

Someone could make a bottle of water last an hour, or fill it with gin or vodka instead.

The problem with trying to restrict eating and drinking on a train is how do you enforce it, and who should enforce it? (Particularly on DOO services)

Any staff on board a train will have other duties to attend to, and I very mouch doubt that TOCs have the resources to employ staff specifically for this purpose.

In any case, provided there is adequate social distancing on board a train, I don't see to much of a problem here.

 

[BJames]

This reminds me of another thread we had not too long ago about eating and drinking with masks being mandatory, with some TOCs reportedly telling people not to eat or drink on board.

It was and remains my view that people are perfectly entitled to want to eat or drink, particularly on longer-distance services. We've had years of campaigning to get people to carry and drink water whilst on their journeys in order to avoid being dehydrated, especially in the summer. This point hasn't changed.

To put a balanced spin on it though, there is a difference between taking your mask off for a drink of water or a quick snack, and having a full family picnic on the train, which is suddenly an incredibly slow affair lasting the whole journey and circumventing the rule. Although this wouldn't exactly bother me, but I generally find smelly food that stinks the whole carriage out a bit frustrating anyway.