LNER advert for Londoners

[redreni]

[Image showing an LNER advert which reads: Warning. Passengers up north may say hello]

I saw this on an Elizabeth Line train and just wondered if any forum members based up north could confirm whether or not, as a corollary to this, LNER is running adverts on local trains in the north of England warning people that in London, talking to people you don't know is against the law?

 

[styles]

There are no such equivalent signs up "north" (debatable) as far as I have seen.

 

[D1537]

I was on a crowded Northern service yesterday and the conductor said over the PA "there are a few single seats in the front coach, so if you'd like to make a new friend today that's where to go".

 

[Grey Turbot]

This has been cribbed from a sketch on the Mash Report, quite funny

 

[Bletchleyite]

There are no such equivalent signs up "north" (debatable) as far as I have seen.

It'd be a bit hard to spin as a positive experience unlike heading north I guess. "Warning, passengers down South may be miserable *******s"?

(The *s don't represent any specific word, pick your own )

 

[Harpo]

It'd be a bit hard to spin as a positive experience unlike heading north I guess. "Warning, passengers down South may be miserable *******s"?

(The *s don't represent any specific word, pick your own )

Too many letters!

 

[ExRes]

I can't ever understand what people up north are saying, I opted out of Latin at school

 

[Bletchleyite]

Tell you what, though, North or South if that doll thing poked its head round my seat I would run a mile!

 

[BordersBob]

Presumably you can text 61016 in this situation and BTP will sort it ?

 

[redreni]

Presumably you can text 61016 in this situation and BTP will sort it ?

"Something that doesn't look right" is an incredibly broad category of possible things to be inviting the general public to trouble you about, isn't it?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 7 Sep 2026 ==

It'd be a bit hard to spin as a positive experience unlike heading north I guess. "Warning, passengers down South may be miserable *******s"?

(The *s don't represent any specific word, pick your own )

Frankly I suspect many of the people on my Elizabeth Line train this morning would see that advert and think golly, that's the very last thing we need, people talking to us on public transport. Next time we head up to see the in-laws let's take the car.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Frankly I suspect many of the people on my Elizabeth Line train this morning would see that advert and think golly, that's the very last thing we need, people talking to us on public transport. Next time we head up to see the in-laws let's take the car.

And if not, they will decide that when they see what LNER are trying to charge them under the fares "trial"...

Having said that there are rather a lot of Northerners in "exile" down South (me included, I'm not a Bletchleyite by birth!) and it might give them pangs of homesickness... I'm pretty used to Southern shortness and insularity these days, but I did miss the friendliness of the North for my first 5 or so years down here, and there are quite a lot of twentysomethings who have gone down south for a new career (as I did) who might actually be very tempted to take a trip north as a result of that ad.

 

[Jamesrob637]

And if not, they will decide that when they see what LNER are trying to charge them under the fares "trial"...

Having said that there are rather a lot of Northerners in "exile" down South (me included, I'm not a Bletchleyite by birth!) and it might give them pangs of homesickness... I'm pretty used to Southern shortness and insularity these days, but I did miss the friendliness of the North for my first 5 or so years down here, and there are quite a lot of twentysomethings who have gone down south for a new career (as I did) who might actually be very tempted to take a trip north as a result of that ad.

You're within an hour of London. Go Bristol and further and the mentality turns more Northern again. Mind you, Brizzle is expensive and the job market south/west thereof is a bit seasonal. Wonder whether GWR run similar adverts describing how much friendlier Devon and Cornwall are?

 

[sh24]

You're within an hour of London. Go Bristol and further and the mentality turns more Northern again. Mind you, Brizzle is expensive and the job market south/west thereof is a bit seasonal. Wonder whether GWR run similar adverts describing how much friendlier Devon and Cornwall are?

No because people in the South West don't have an inferiority complex about where they come from, unlike the northern provinces of England.

 

[Big M]

And if not, they will decide that when they see what LNER are trying to charge them under the fares "trial"...

Having said that there are rather a lot of Northerners in "exile" down South (me included, I'm not a Bletchleyite by birth!) and it might give them pangs of homesickness... I'm pretty used to Southern shortness and insularity these days, but I did miss the friendliness of the North for my first 5 or so years down here, and there are quite a lot of twentysomethings who have gone down south for a new career (as I did) who might actually be very tempted to take a trip north as a result of that ad.

This advert is being endlessly repeated on television. It is an awful horror show and must be costing a fortune in marketing fees which probably, in part, explains some of the eye watering fares now the service unattractive to use. The sooner someone rips the head off this awful muppet reject puppet the better.

 

[Bletchleyite]

You're within an hour of London. Go Bristol and further and the mentality turns more Northern again.

Yeah, it's more South East vs. not South East than north/south as such. But for LNER the Westcountry isn't really relevant.

Mind you, Brizzle is expensive and the job market south/west thereof is a bit seasonal. Wonder whether GWR run similar adverts describing how much friendlier Devon and Cornwall are?

GWR's present advertising scheme is about "Great Western Adventures" so it doesn't really fit. What GBR will do, who knows?

 

[Magdalia]

Image showing an LNER advert which reads: Warning. Passengers up north may say hello

I am quite amused by this, as it reminds me of my first train journey to Edinburgh almost 50 years ago. I would have welcomed receiving this warning, and I don't think it is strong enough.

By the time the train had got to Newcastle, I had a bay of 4 to myself, but then an old Geordie couple got on and sat opposite me. They didn't just say hello, they seemed determined to extract my whole life story and had 2 hours to do it before Edinburgh.

It was totally unlike anything that I had ever experienced on a train before.

 

[Flange Squeal]

It'd be a bit hard to spin as a positive experience unlike heading north I guess. "Warning, passengers down South may be miserable *******s"?

(The *s don't represent any specific word, pick your own )

"Don't want to be hassled by complete strangers when just trying to go about your day? Head down south for some peace and quiet!"

 

[Kumquat]

I don't know if it's related to GBR being formed, but I'm being inundated with TV ads for trains at the moment.

If it's not Eleanor the daft muppet, it's the poor lad falling in the Cam and acquiring a new girlfriend, Gran scandalising her granddaughter, or the chap being laughed at for wearing socks with sandals. I couldn't tell you which companies they're for (except LNER), mind you, but I suppose it'll make even less difference soon.

Spouse assured the kids that he's quite capable of slagging off someone's clothes, and driving, at the same time.

The Doncaster to Sheffield line is always very chatty and sociable, but I'm usually on it on a Friday after people have had a few drinks.

 

[ox_chap]

I don't know if it's related to GBR being formed, but I'm being inundated with TV ads for trains atm. If it's not Eleanor the daft muppet, it's the poor lad falling in the Cam and acquiring a new girlfriend, Gran scandalising her granddaughter, or the chap being laughed at for wearing socks with sandals. Couldn't tell you which companies they're for (except LNER), mind you, but I suppose it'll make even less difference soon.

Spouse assured the kids that he's quite capable of slagging off someone's clothes, and driving, at the same time.

The Doncaster to Sheffield line is always very chatty and sociable, but I'm usually on it on a Friday after people have had a few drinks.

Somewhere in my "cookies", there must be evidence I live in Oxfordshire, through which Cross Country passes. So all I ever get is an advert for "Kevin the pigeon", who follows the train (although he doesn't like tunnels, seemingly). Travels all the way to Edinburgh....

 

[Purple Train]

Northerner in exile (for now). I'm an antisocial so-and-so, so the advert doesn't make me feel homesick. But if there genuinely is anybody out there for whom it is enough persuasion to ditch public transport and take the car then frankly they shouldn't be allowed north of Watford Gap services or west of Stonehenge. I would hope that everybody who might be so afflicted could tell that it's a corporate attempt at Humour, but like the OP I've spent too long on Elizabeth Line trains to think that everybody would take it as a joke...

Strangely enough I was trying to explain what it's like living in the south-east to somebody from Warrington last week. I mentioned the whole ignoring-strangers-in-all-circumstances thing, and he could hardly believe his ears. That being said, I've found it's slightly more sociable outside the M25. Slightly.

 

[redreni]

Strangely enough I was trying to explain what it's like living in the south-east to somebody from Warrington last week. I mentioned the whole ignoring-strangers-in-all-circumstances thing, and he could hardly believe his ears. That being said, I've found it's slightly more sociable outside the M25. Slightly.

And it really is all circumstances.

Not long after I moved to London I boarded a packed Cannon St circular train at London Bridge only to find that a social media gymnast had decided to hook his feet and toes around the horizontal handrail in the vestibule above the door and hang from it like a bat while his mate filmed it. People were on their phones or reading the Evening Standard silently, determined to ignore the bloke even as the motion of the train caused him to swing and bump into them.

 

[Tetchytyke]

If I’m on a sweaty tube train wedged in between someone’s armpit and someone else’s bum, I want to close my eyes and pretend I’m somewhere else. The last thing I want to do is strike up a conversation.

I’d be deeply suspicious of anyone who was talkative in that situation!

 

[mickey]

I’ve seen the ad and think it’s quite humorous - it’s a stereotype but not a cruel or harsh one, and it’s better than a lot of adverts are. But then like Bletchleyite I’m a northerner-in-exile and do miss the friendliness of where I come from, so it was always likely to make me smile.

 

[johntea]

This advert is being endlessly repeated on television. It is an awful horror show and must be costing a fortune in marketing fees which probably, in part, explains some of the eye watering fares now the service unattractive to use. The sooner someone rips the head off this awful muppet reject puppet the better.

The marketing team have obviously done their job well by getting people talking about it!

One unique thing about London is the (old school) cabbies, who will happily have an (albeit usually rather expensive!) chat, up North pretty much every taxi these days has a Wolverhampton badge stuck to it (due to the easier requirements to obtain such a license) and the driver usually spends the entire journey on speakerphone chatting away to half their extended family!

 

[Merseysider]

Warning: Strangers in London may stab you.

North Yorkshire consistently has one of the lowest rates of knife crimes with London boroughs consistently having the highest.

 

[Krokodil]

One unique thing about London is the (old school) cabbies, who will happily have an (albeit usually rather expensive!) chat

Which does beg the question: in these new driverless taxis that have started running in London, who will be there to pass on their views on immigration?

 

[Flange Squeal]

Warning: Strangers in London may stab you.

North Yorkshire consistently has one of the lowest rates of knife crimes with London boroughs consistently having the highest.

Maybe not the best joke to make in a light hearted LNER thread, after last year’s sad event between Peterborough and Huntingdon…?

 

[185143]

The marketing team have obviously done their job well by getting people talking about it!

One unique thing about London is the (old school) cabbies, who will happily have an (albeit usually rather expensive!) chat, up North pretty much every taxi these days has a Wolverhampton badge stuck to it (due to the easier requirements to obtain such a license) and the driver usually spends the entire journey on speakerphone chatting away to half their extended family!

That's a really good point actually. Where I am (up North), the local taxi firm must require drivers to be plated by the local council as they all are. So the result is you get drivers who are all local, or at least the vast majority are, know their regulars and the roads pretty well. They will mostly have a good chat.

Uber are either Wolverhampton or Sefton plated, a few have plates from some neighbouring local authorities and end up here depending on how the shift goes though. But you can tell they don't know the area nearly as well as the local firm and are heavily reliant on the maps, and usually not nearly as talkative. There's exceptions both ways of course.

Whenever I've used a London black cab, the drivers have been very friendly which as a Northerner is a bit of a breath of fresh (by London standards at least) air really.

But getting back on topic, I saw these adverts when I was in London a couple of weeks back, I took it as LNER taking the mick out of Southerners a bit. Which is something we'll always get onboard with up here!

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

One unique thing about London is the (old school) cabbies, who will happily have an (albeit usually rather expensive!) chat, up North pretty much every taxi these days has a Wolverhampton badge stuck to it (due to the easier requirements to obtain such a license) and the driver usually spends the entire journey on speakerphone chatting away to half their extended family!

YES. This drives me WILD every time. When I’m paying to travel I don’t want to hear them yelling down my ear.

 

[185143]

Do you know something? I, and I’m sure many others too, wouldn’t have even made that connection had you not drawn attention to it. And that is a great, frustrating irony.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 7 Sep 2026 ==


YES. This drives me WILD every time. When I’m paying to travel I don’t want to hear them yelling down my ear.

I've been asked if I'd mind them making/taking a call a couple of times.

ASK me, and I'm fine with it. Every time. But just taking, or worse, making the call to anyone but the taxi office or the emergency services with a paying customer onboard? Nope.

You wouldn't expect to go for a pint and have the barman ring someone in the middle of pouring your pint, or a chef stood on the phone in the middle of the kitchen. And they have far less downtime than a taxi driver will.