Fellow Passengers

[overtonchris]

I love catching the train and doing a bit of people / train watching.....

On "Mad Saturday- 15/02" on a very crowded but fast moving train from Basingstoke to Waterloo the on-train guard announced ...."for all passengers standing in the middle and rear portions of the train, please be advised there are plenty of seats in the front carriage.".......This was followed by a very posh sounding lady standing in the aisle in our carriage saying in a very loud voice..."Oooh Lovely.....now which way do I head to get to the front....???".

Made me smile anyway.. Any passengers made you smile in all this weather created nastiness????

 

[johntea]

There was an elderly gentleman on my train this morning and his grandson was going on about tablet computers.

The elderly gentleman goes 'Your gran keeps telling me to get an iPod Air...I know the latest version on that is Kit Kat and the one before was Jelly Bean'

Maybe made funnier for me as I'm a technical whiz!

 

[Oliver]

Other may be luckier than I am with their fellow passengers. For me, it's usually a proof of Jean-Paul Sartre's maxim: Hell is Other People.

 

[ian1944]

My last journey saw a little boy, about 3, clutching a large pink rabbit to which clearly he was deeply attached. Long may he continue to not know what he's supposed to like. As he passed along the carriage, with his furry pal bouncing off the seats and occasionally the floor, there was a perceptible ripple of smiles shared between strangers, as for the moment everybody was snapped out of their own cares and considerations.

 

[alex17595]

Not really weather related, but its aways funny seeing people confused about opening doors on Mk3 and Mk4 coaches.

 

[al.currie93]

It did make me smile last Thursday morning when the commuter filled train I was on ran beside a rarely seen (for this part of the country) Direct Rail Services class 37 on the tail of a maintenance train... the driver then accelerated and the tractor let out its signature roar that made the walls of our 455 shake and most other people in the carriage suddenly stare out at it with "What is THAT?!" expressions :P

 

[DelayRepay]

I was "resting my eyes" on a train heading north before Christmas. I was rather concerned to hear the small boy sat opposite me say to his mum "Mum, I think that man's dead" !!

 

[Lee_Again]

Back in the GNER days it was always fun to watch people with reservations in coach X try and find their seats when a Eurostar was switched to a HST.

 

[TheEdge]

I boarded a Worcester bound Adelante at Paddington and a couple of Americans got on and before picking a seat asked out loud which direction the train would leave. There were a number of quiet chuckles throughout the train!

Number 1 for my best ever sightings on a train remains the chap I saw on board an ATW service between Shrewsbury and Hereford. On his table he nonchalantly set himself up a full cheeseboard. Wooden board, a selection of cheeses, some pickles and chutney, a nice French loaf and a few cheese knifes and a rather vicious looking bread knife!

 

[overtonchris]

Can't laugh at the guy with the cheeseboard......sounds a top man and I'd chow down with him!!!!! But no wine? - Ooh the knife thing might get a wry look from the BTP!!!!!!

 

[Mojo]

Not sure whether to laugh or cry at some other customers I have come across on my travels which includes:

- People who keep walking up and down the car looking for their seat xxA (because the reservation coupons have an A after the seat number) even when it's clear that the seats are all numbered only

- People who keep jabbing the 'door open' button on Underground trains even when they have been sat there watching the doors open by themselves for the last 5 stops

 

[Hadders]

I was on a packed East Coast departure from Kings Cross at around 5pm one day late last year.

Sat at a table were grandparents and their two young grandchildren having a picnic tea. It was lovely seeing their food all laid out on the table, they even had a table cloth!

A complete contrast to the grumpy commuters!

 

[transmanche]

My last journey saw a little boy, about 3, clutching a large pink rabbit to which clearly he was deeply attached. Long may he continue to not know what he's supposed to like. As he passed along the carriage, with his furry pal bouncing off the seats and occasionally the floor, there was a perceptible ripple of smiles shared between strangers, as for the moment everybody was snapped out of their own cares and considerations.

A similar story from me one evening rush hour at Moorgate. A man boards with his young daughter aged about two, and she's clutching an enormous red apple.

Sat on a seat, legs swinging, in between occasional bites of the apple, she starts singing nursery rhymes - oblivious to all the commuters around her.

After a couple of stations, I think nearly everyone in the carriage was smiling.

 

[Welshman]

I well remember a journey from Grantham to Leeds a while back.

There was a young man speaking loudly into a mobile phone for most of the way to Doncaster, and he didn't seem to care who else could hear.

He was pleading with his partner to let him spend Christmas with her - telling her in many ways how much he loved her, how sorry he was for what he'd done to her, how he didn't mean to hurt her, etc. He also added how desperately he wanted to see his children again and couldn't bear to be without them.

This went on for about 30 minutes or so, and whereas normally such a long, loud conversation would have been annoying, we sat, spellbound, listening to every word.

When, eventually approaching Doncaster, she must have agreed to his pleas for he became very happy and full of thanks, we all smiled at eachother and felt like standing up and cheering.