Train Etiquette

[lyesbkz]

People who stand on the left hand side on escalators rather than the right

People who stand in the middle of escalators (or beside their suitcase) and pretend not to notice the increasing number of people trying to get past them.

People who stop at the bottom of the escalator and try to work out how to get their pram/buggy onto it without folding, when there are lifts available.

 

[Eng274]

My patience was tested on that, whilst travelling around southern India. I almost had to crowd surf, just to get out of the darned trains. The most incredulous etiquette I had was when an old man sat down beside me on the Cochin train, plonked a live chicken from under his arm and onto my lap - and he turned away from me and went to sleep! What?!

I still marvel at the way French and Italian young teenage foreign students can occupy every possible space in a train / on a platform / concourse / escalator. Never see 'em achieving that level of inthewayness in their own country...

French and Italians never slaked their thirst for an empire covering 66% of the globe, so bit by bit they pseudo-occupy other countries, platforms and all. I have no problem with foreign students who try to adjust to our society; I absolutely adore that German culture respects the use of the local language (they see it as rude to speak German when in English-speaking company over here, for instance) and appreciates punctuality, good build quality and common sense! Italians and French haven't quite grasped the British etiquette when using the railways.

 

[jamesr]

People who insist on getting on the train at intermediate stations to see someone off and then have to push past all the passengers boarding behind them in order to get off the train before it leaves.

Obviously, this can be excused where they're helping disabled or elderly people but that rarely seems to be the case.

 

[danfitz123]

I love it when you are on platform 1 and your train leaves in 2 mins on platform 58... running up the stairs and little old lady blocks the stairway going 1/2 a mile an hour. You try to get around her but someone is walking down the stairs the other way... :-x

 

[jon0844]

Finsbury Park has narrow stairs, and if you get to them too late to go up for your train when it's just arrived and everyone is getting off to take the tube, forget about catching it as nobody takes any notice of the 'keep left' signs.

They won't move for you as they're all convinced the stairs are only for them.

 

[12CSVT]

I love it when you are on platform 1 and your train leaves in 2 mins on platform 58... running up the stairs and little old lady blocks the stairway going 1/2 a mile an hour. You try to get around her but someone is walking down the stairs the other way... :-x

This happened for real at Clapham Junction a few years ago in the middle of the afternoon rush hour. About 1,000 people (slight exaggeration perhaps) waiting on platform 2 for the Willesden Junction service. About 2 minutes before departure time an announcement was made that it would be leaving from platform 17 - cue mad scramble across the footbridge. Having sprinted across to platform 17 (lost count of how many people I nearly bumped into on the way) progress is halted on the steps down to the platform by the 1,000 people who had just got off the incoming service, and I eventually made it onto the train with about a minute to spare. Not sure how many people didn't make it onto the train before it pulled out.

 

[Oswyntail]

I have had a damaged knee for the last couple of months, which has meant that I have to leave trains very slowly, one step at a time. In order not to hold too many people up, I tend to get up from my seat last, and be last off the train. Footbridges have to be taken very slowly, again one step at a time, and I prefer the lift if one is available. So I am, in effect, that "little old lady" that people moan about. What bugs me is the number of fellow passengers I have encountered who have treated me as if I am not in pain, but deliberately making a nuisance of myself to annoy them. Not to mention train staff who see me hobbling onto a platform and close the doors - I presume the sight of a burly middle-aged man does not evoke the same compassion as a frail lady!

 

[175001]

As a Guard, one of my pet hates is when people stare at me doing my door procediure, looking at the fact that I need to be by my local door to do it, then those very people stand right next to the door at the next stop and huff and puff when I politely ask them to move!

Also, 142/144's, people crowding round the cab door, then tutting when I have to get out of my cab, as the door opens out!

But I love my job

 

[DarloRich]

Things that annoy me (and they are worse down here i the south!)

1) People who try to get on to trains at the same time you try to get off - Seems worse on sliding door EMU. They seem to think one door is for me and one for them. Being of a "larger" build and having been a prop forward for many years I find they very quickly bounce off me if they try this move!
2) Bags on seats/must have double seat to myself - I make a beeline for these people and move their bags. I have noticed that GC have started announcements along the lines of "this train is very full please remove all luggage etc for the seats, any bag sitting on a seat will be charged a full single ticket if not already in possession of a valid ticket"!
3) Quiet Coach noise makers - Stop it or i will tell you to shut up - it is the quiet coach for a reason.
4) Self Important mobile phone talkers/lower or middle management proto Gordon Gekko types. - Shut it - I don’t care about what is going on in your lowly little self important position or whatever collection of management speak mumbo jumbo is currently in vogue and passes for your conversation with other lower or middle management proto Gordon Gekko types
5)People crowding round vestibules when there are more seats further down the train/People who don’t look at/realise reservation tickets may not be for the whole journey - Why are you standing you fools! I have given up trying to point vacant seats out to people.
6) Girls/Women talking all journey on their mobiles to their friends - How can you make one conversation about shoes/fit blokes in the office/bags last that long and more to the point is that all you have to talk about in your life? Read a book and expand your mind
7) Chavs acting up/swearing/thinking they are hard/cool - Please just shut up and grow up. I asked one young lad to stop swearing because there were young children sat over the aisle form him and he started acting all big and hard in front of his mates & as I got off he made some rude/abusive comment to me so I "offered him out" (god knows what i would have done if he said yes!) He wilted and apologised and didn’t want no trouble lol

I sound like a moany old bloke, bring back the birch , national service is what they need, hanging is to good for them Daily Mail type - I really am not - I just wish people had a few more manners and tried to think about other people for a short period of their day!

 

[Bohemian]

4) Self Important mobile phone talkers/lower or middle management proto Gordon Gekko types. - Shut it - I don’t care about what is going on in your lowly little self important position or whatever collection of management speak mumbo jumbo is currently in vogue and passes for your conversation with other lower or middle management proto Gordon Gekko types.
5)People crowding round vestibules when there are more seats further down the train/People who don’t look at/realise reservation tickets may not be for the whole journey.
6) Girls/Women talking all journey on their mobiles to their friends - How can you make one conversation about shoes/fit blokes in the office/bags last that long and more to the point is that all you have to talk about in your life?
7) Chavs acting up/swearing/thinking they are hard/cool - Please just shut up and grow up.

A typical journey by train in this day and age!

:roll:

 

[DarloRich]

the worst thing is i really love travelling by train! Dont let the Chavs put you off! lol

 

[ollyrogers]

I can't stand the jobsworth ticket inspectors - got an anecdote on this about a year ago when I was 17 (about a week after turning 17) I went to OXF from DID - didn't trust the ticket machines so I used the ticket windows - didn't get asked if I was a child so I assumed I'd been given an adult by default. Got off at Oxford, was allowed through the gate barrier as opposed to the turnstile-type ones at Oxford as my ticket wasn't accepted by the barrier. Couple of hours later when I try to go back through to come home to DID, the guy looks at my ticket and asks my age/ DOB. He then proceeds to shout at me in no uncertain terms - loud enough for anyone in the vicinity to hear - how people like me exploit the system, calls me little more than a criminal and slaps me with a £5 fine for having a ticket I didn't know was wrong.

I probably should have checked the ticket but at my age it's not something you'd expect to have to do. Now I carry my YP railcard wherever I go so it cannot happen again - oh, and I only trust the machines now

 

[island]

Well, child tickets do have a big CHILD printed mid-left on them

Ticket clerk shouldn't have guessed, all the same.

 

[LexyBoy]

I probably should have checked the ticket but at my age it's not something you'd expect to have to do. Now I carry my YP railcard wherever I go so it cannot happen again - oh, and I only trust the machines now

Definitely always check the ticket - from the machine likewise!

There are other problems with the machines - if you leave your YP at home then the machine isn't going to notice whereas the ticket clerk certainly will! And I've made the mistake of buying the wrong ticket due to the machine's habit of going back to the ticket selection after adding a railcard (I just looked at the first one, assuming it was the return I'd already selected, saw £3.25 and thought 'that's the right price'... Of course I wanted the £3.30 CDR). That and the fact that the machines don't offer a full range of tickets.

 

[ollyrogers]

Well, child tickets do have a big CHILD printed mid-left on them

Ticket clerk shouldn't have guessed, all the same.

I know - I take partial blame from assuming the clerk would have done her job properly but still that gives the ticket inspector no right to announce to the whole of Oxford station that I am a delinquent! :cry:

 

[ralphchadkirk]

The responsibility to check you have the correct ticket rests entirely with the customer. Yes, the clerk should have asked, but the law states that you are entirely responsible.

 

[Flamingo]

nd slaps me with a £5 fine for having a ticket I didn't know was wrong.

Wasn't a fine, especially if £5. Must have been a new (valid) ticket

A PF would have been £20, a fine would have involved being cautioned, and been a lot more! (last one I was involved in for fraudulent travel was £450)

 

[amcluesent]

>I'm sure you can think of many others.<

People at KGX getting into EC 1st class with a stinking McD product to consume and pretend they haven't noticed the rancid pong. Actually Virgin out of Euston is far worse for this, not helped by the Pendolinos always stinking of widdle.

Train crew coming off shift and travelling free in 1st class and then chattering non-stop with raucous laughter. Hello! We've paid £££ to get some peace!

Peeps walking through the buffet-car and 1st class to get off the front carriage. Usually stopped at the buffet-car thankfully

The Guard prattling on and on and on about the all aspects of the journey, train, food etc. Ten minutes out the station, they're still going on.

FCC trains where the 1st class may be at either end, in the middle or absent all together. Randomly

Peeps getting into 1st class on Thameslink, then not sitting down to pretend they're not doing anything wrong.

Lagered-up passengers getting into 1st class on FCC out of KGX knowing that after 8pm there's zero chance of a ticket inspector coming through

Peeps listening to drum'n'bass on their iPad. Without any earbuds.

Peeps not moving inside the carriage 'as they're only going one stop'. Get out the way then!

Mothers with pram and toddlers using packed commuter trains. Why???

Peeps not moving from a squeezed three-abreast when the two seats opposite become free.

 

[jon0844]

FCC trains where the 1st class may be at either end, in the middle or absent all together. Randomly

Funny you say that, as I got one of the 'new' 321s today (the final two added in service in December) and they're in reverse formation. 321 418 was the one I was on, both going to work this morning and home!!

But, obviously without knowing what train it would be at eithe rtime, I was in the wrong end to board (FC not declassified) this morning and then tonight, also at the wrong end when boarding as FC is declassified. Damn FCC!

It isn't just TL where people think standing or perching themselves down on the armrest doesn't really count as being in first class.

I might just accept having a foot, or bag, partly in the aisle if the vestibule is packed (and that's assuming the vestibule isn't part of FC) but if you go all in then - bam! Of course, a packed train means no chance of RPIs. They come unstuck because when the train gradually empties, they continue to stay in there and RPIs can board along the way.

 

[gnolife]

one of my pet hates is when people sit in reserved seats, then act like they cant see that the seat is reserved between A and B when someone asks them to move (particularly bad on TPX i tend to find)

 

[syorksdeano]

one of my pet hates is when people sit in reserved seats, then act like they cant see that the seat is reserved between A and B when someone asks them to move (particularly bad on TPX i tend to find)

That is one of my pet hates as well. I had one "person" the other week telling me "can't you go find another seat?". he got told I could do but why should I when I had reserved a seat....then to top it off when it came around to the ticket check he hadn't got one!

 

[317666]

Finsbury Park has narrow stairs, and if you get to them too late to go up for your train when it's just arrived and everyone is getting off to take the tube, forget about catching it as nobody takes any notice of the 'keep left' signs.

They won't move for you as they're all convinced the stairs are only for them.

I guess I was lucky last year when I noticed the departure boards on a different platform displaying my train, before the platform change was announced, so I got a head-start on everyone else

One thing that really annoys me is people who use ticket machines and don't know what they're buying - if you're that confused, speak to a member of staff at the ticket window! It always seems to happen at Cambridge, and many a time I have almost missed my train because the foreign student/tourist/whatever in front of me is clueless!

 

[jon0844]

But ATOC insist everyone loves TVMs and that they sell all the tickets anyone could ever want or need! We all know machines aren't good enough, even for regular travellers, let alone those who are confused (and who wouldn't be given all the options on the first page of most TVMs?).

I work with technology ALL the time and even I find myself having to double check things as I'm always worried that I'm going to select/buy the wrong thing!

 

[Aictos]

But ATOC insist everyone loves TVMs and that they sell all the tickets anyone could ever want or need! We all know machines aren't good enough, even for regular travellers, let alone those who are confused (and who wouldn't be given all the options on the first page of most TVMs?).

I work with technology ALL the time and even I find myself having to double check things as I'm always worried that I'm going to select/buy the wrong thing!

Exactly, I know full well that the TVMs cannot sell certain types of tickets which is only possible to be brought from a booking office although they are good for selling the majority of tickets used by passengers.

It doesn't help anyone when someone wants to travel yet the booking office is closed and the TVMs cannot sell the required ticket not forgetting there's no PERTIS available.

 

[Solent&Wessex]

Pet hates, oh where to do I start:

With a "work" hat on:

1) People who hear my announcement about a full ticket check of everyones tickets, watch me enter the carriage and check everyone else in the carriage, and then wait till I get to them before they even start looking for their tickets.

2) People who have the tickets out, but have the railcard buried in the bottom of a bag somewhere. You have to show your railcard at the same time as the ticket so if you've got your ticket ready, why not your railcard?

3) People who think that "moving right down to the centre of the carriage" involves one slight little sideways step of a few inches away from the doorway.

4) People who think that because there are no standard class seats in the coach they are in, they can just go and sit in the adjacent first class - without looking in the other standard class carriages.

5) loud headphones

6) People who waste my time by doing the ticket dance when they quite clearly haven't got a ticket / railcard hoping I'll get bored of waiting and go away and forget about them. I won't. So don't waste my time, just admit you haven't got one and get the money out.

7) People who ask incredibly stupid questions like "which way is the train going?" when the train is parked against the buffer stops at a terminal station.

8) People who pretend not to know it is first class - despite the signs on the doors as you enter the compartment, the huge sign on the bulkhead in the compartment and the seat headrests.

As a passenger when I am travelling around:

1) Music that I can hear. Turn you headphones down to a volume that no one else can hear.

2) Screaming babies and noisy children in the quiet carriage. I am sitting in here as I want some peace and quiet. If you cannot shut your brats up then sit somewhere else.

3) Music that I can hear. Turn you headphones down to a volume that no one else can hear.

4) Stag / hen parties.

5) Music that I can hear. Turn you headphones down to a volume that no one else can hear.

6) People who block doorways and aisles with luggage / bikes / prams etc.

7) Music that I can hear. Turn you headphones down to a volume that no one else can hear.

 

[trainophile]

Coughers and sneezers who make no attempt to catch their germs in a tissue.

The woman who propped her baby standing up on her lap on the seat behind mine and let it dribble down the back of my neck!

Ticket inspectors who never ask to see my proof of age when I'm travelling on a Club 55 ticket!

Also those already mentioned - foul language, feet on seats and other people's tinny music/loud boring phone conversations.

Must admit I am guilty of putting my bags on the seat beside me if the train isn't too full. I like to have my stuff handy!

 

[GNER 373]

Must admit I am guilty of putting my bags on the seat beside me if the train isn't too full. I like to have my stuff handy!

But would move it if someone needed a seat? I'm sure you would but it's the people who look at you as if you've just said ''Excuse me I've just killed your mum''!

 

[chris89]

But would move it if someone needed a seat? I'm sure you would but it's the people who look at you as if you've just said ''Excuse me I've just killed your mum''!

I know what you mean by that, mentioned my experience earlier in this thread. I do put my bag on the seat sometimes but will move it. Yet Buses are far worse then that really, and people won't move across. But another thread.

Not really counts but some people where annoying me when we were on a train waiting to leave new street to Wolvo after a concert and they were about to 'go into' the emergency light strip boxes, until i said don't do that will put the emgerncy brakes on. Made them be quite and they didn't know it wouldn't do such a thing.

 

[GNER 373]

Don't get me started on the 'Peasant Wagons'! Buses are much worse!

 

[TGV]

Pet hates, oh where to do I start:

2) Screaming babies and noisy children in the quiet carriage. I am sitting in here as I want some peace and quiet. If you cannot shut your brats up then sit somewhere else.

.

Here's another one... Read my post from earlier to get my full thoughts on this one. The quiet coach usually advises restraint against mobile phone and personal stereo use. Those are optional and voluntary things that it's reasonable to ask a few passengers to control for the benefit of others.

Kids though are not optional for most passengers who have them. And if the quiet coach is the only place with a seat, they're not going to stand somewhere with their family just so you can have a nice day. The quiet coach signs do not say "no children" or "no crying kids", so stop moaning and deal with it or move yourself to somewhere else in the train - it's a lot easier for you to move yourself than for a whole family or mother with baby to relocate.

Stop being so bloody selfish - you work on the railways (as do I) so you should know better. Railways exist for the public and the public includes kids with fare paying parents who have every right to be there. Babies cry - do you have any kids? If so, please enlighten the rest of parents of the world how you managed to stop an ill/distressed/confused or tired baby from crying. Or is your message that young families are not welcome on trains? Should they be piling into cars instead?

They are not all "brats", but you certainly seem to be.