Litter on trains

[anti-pacer]

Is it just Northern, or do other TOC's, especially on 'Metro' type services suffer litter problems on trains during service?

 

[455driver]

Before you go into yet another moan about Northern rail perhaps you would like to hazard a guess where all that litter comes from!

 

[MCW]

to be honest, litter is an issue for lots of companies and it is the general public and paying passengers who create the mess in the first place, so it will not be affecting just one TOC but it does affect all TOC's who carry passengers. yes some services get more litter than others, but thats just the name of the game.

 

[anti-pacer]

Before you go into yet another moan about Northern rail perhaps you would like to hazard a guess where all that litter comes from!

As Northern is the main operator that I use to get from A to B, I have little to compare it to, but TOC's I have used such as LM and EMT are generally clean.

I appreciate that litter comes from less desirable passengers and not TOC staff, but I just wondered what the NATIONAL situation is.

Is it just passengers from the North who care little for their surroundings, or is the same elsewhere.

Perhaps as your name suggests you work for a southern TOC you could tell me what the situation is down there!

 

[455driver]

Apart from the free newspapers it isnt too bad really except for the late night ones which can smell like the mix between a curry house, a burger bar, a urinal and a well used sick bag!

 

[The Barlow Boy]

More bins might equal less litter lying around.

 

[anti-pacer]

Apart from the free newspapers it isnt too bad really except for the late night ones which can smell like the mix between a curry house, a burger bar, a urinal and a well used sick bag!

Nice!

As you're also familiar with the North, do you think the situation up here is worse or similar to London?

 

[CarltonA]

I've experienced badly littered FGW trains on a Sunday morning, no doubt they had worked a late diagram on the Saturday. Never had a bad train on Chiltern though.

 

[bronzeonion]

Litter happens because some people are incredibly inconsiderate!

 

[87015]

Litter happens because some people are incredibly inconsiderate!

Yes, and some TOCs put a lot more effort into clearing it than others...

 

[anti-pacer]

At SWT we have teams of people that get on them at the terminii and do a quick litter pick but if it wasnt for them then the trains would be filthy, all our trains have large litter bins near the doors which dont seem to get very full at all.

Northern could only do similar things at terminus stations and not at Leeds etc as it simply wouldnt be possible for the staff to get through the train.

Northern do however have travelling cleaners as I once saw at Outwood. Would be nice if they were used more though.

I agree 100% that it's the passengers who litter the trains, and sometimes not likely suspects either. It comes to something when a daughter (aged probably between 8-10) tells her MOTHER to bin her rubbish instead of leaving it on the table! I felt more than happy to pass on my thoughts to this fantastic "example setter"!

All too common though that mentality of "someone else will clean/move it" comes out from what I've seen.

 

[PaxVobiscum]

Oh no - the Cybermen have got poor 455driver.

(Well it said he had been deleted.)

 

[Goatboy]

Before you go into yet another moan about Northern rail perhaps you would like to hazard a guess where all that litter comes from!

Thats ok then, just leave it there.

 

[yorksrob]

I've seen litter pickers get on a Northern train at Leeds, clear the train, get off at Wakefield Westgate, get on the stopper back to Leeds and start cleaning that train.

Also seen them get on at Man Vic.

 

[WatcherZero]

Is it really surprising when for the last two decades theyve always tried to educate passengers to just leave it and a member of staff will pick it up?

 

[yorksrob]

Is it really surprising when for the last two decades theyve always tried to educate passengers to just leave it and a member of staff will pick it up?

Isn't that mainly large stations without bins rather than trains though.

 

[rebmcr]

In my experience, it's Virgin who get the most crap left on tables.

 

[bunnahabhain]

Litter is an issue for everywhere. I always try to go through the train with a litter bag, especially on some of our longer journeys where litter really can accumulate. We normally get our trains cleaned at least once every journey, and that includes litter, bins, wiping tables and surfaces down, etc. Its one of the aspects that people won't see very often as its normally done in turnaround time!

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Most commuter TOC's make a good effort to heavy litter pick - I/C trains seem worse at weekends partly due to more food consumer (and drink) + massive weekend newspapers with supplements and inserts.

FCC at St Albans employ cleaners on the turnround sets M-F and I reckon they get about 12 large bags of papers etc a day.!

If you really want to see the "Metro" effect - try the Waterloo&City line on weekday am around 1000 am - a sea of discarded "papers".

Most normal passengers are pretty good - I note with approval the number of them who take their discards with them. A minorty don't !

 

[Bevan Price]

Litter happens because some people are incredibly inconsiderate!

A better description might be that too many people are too ****** lazy to take away their litter.

 

[jon0844]

Lazy is being too nice. Rude or arrogant are far better words.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Part of the problem is the removal of bins during the 'troubles' but also the lack of respect from so many people. Of course, Merseyrail have a real problem with litter as they're not allowed to have bins on board due to the underground section. On Monday I was on a litter-strewn 333 as I ate my supermarket sandwich. Upon finishing I was surprised to find that the bin in the carriage I was on, rather than being overflowing as I expected, was completely empty.

 

[anti-pacer]

From reading these comments, it does seem the problem is worse in the North!

 

[Bald Rick]

From reading these comments, it does seem the problem is worse in the North!

Dirty Northerners!

(from an ex Northener)

 

[anti-pacer]

To be honest, in my experience, the 333's I've been on have been pretty clean.

It's a pity fixed penalty notices can't be issued to people who litter trains! Of course it would never happen though!

 

[PHILIPE]

ATW, FGW and XC all emply travelling cleaners to go through between stations. Perhaps at weekends.
ATW also spout out an automated announcement - "Will customers please place litter in the bins on trains and stations". You hear this approaching Cardiff Central, and to be tidy and dispose of such you collect your rubbish together and look for a litter bin. They arn't any. There is still a paranoia about bins being targeted for terrorists to place bombs. They don't seem to understandthat if a terrorist wants to place a bomb on a statio, they will easily find somewhere to place it, bins or no no bins. This lack of bins sends out a message that the terrorists think that they have us on the run and succeeding in causing a degree of alarm.

 

[Mutant Lemming]

With a surfeit of packaging and a shortage of bins what do you expect ? The amount of garbage generated by our throwaway consumer society (including the TOC's themselves) would mean many people carrying a sack round with them for half the day until they can find somewhere to bin it. Most TOC's do tend to have a regular black bag collection but it is too easy just to blame arrogant and lazy people. You may keep the odd Mars bar wrapper in your pocket till you get home but I doubt many of you would cart burger boxes, wrappers, coke bottles, newspapers around with you until you find a convenient bin.
It's a problem that needs to be tackled from a number of angles.

 

[High Dyke]

Before you go into yet another moan about Northern rail perhaps you would like to hazard a guess where all that litter comes from!

That reminds me of a line from the song 'Breaking News' by HMHB.

http://www.chrisrand.com/hmhb/cammell-laird-social-club-2002/breaking-news/

People who moan at the council about the streets being full of litter, not stopping to think that it is people who drop litter, not the council;

I can't speak about the WCML so much, but East Coast trains do have cleaners onboard during the journies i've undertaken who go round with a bin bag frequently.

This morning on an EMT service the guard came round removing expired seat reservation tickets and picking up discarded newspapers, the obvious waste, to keep his train tidier - until the next crop of passengers. He's not the only EMT guard i'm aware of that does it.

 

[chris89]

I can't speak about the WCML so much, but East Coast trains do have cleaners onboard during the journies i've undertaken who go round with a bin bag frequently.

This morning on an EMT service the guard came round removing expired seat reservation tickets and picking up discarded newspapers, the obvious waste, to keep his train tidier - until the next crop of passengers. He's not the only EMT guard i'm aware of that does it.

Virgin do exactly the same thing.

Chris

 

[anti-pacer]

I've seen a few Northern conductors do the same, but it is a few.

Northern don't seem to have a very pro-active approach to it. If you call Customer Services they say "we know it's a problem and we're looking into it".

All they need to do is employ more travelling cleaners on problem routes, and if the conductors also did their bit (as other TOC's do from reading this thread), it would go a long way to solving the issue.