Who are the worst passengers: commuters or weekend revellers?

[chris89]

Both can be as bad as each other.

Early trains i have found Commuters to be better on the New Street - Euston services, Or services between Armadale and Edinburgh.

Most of Weekend travellers are quite good as well. Both lots are as guilty though for trying to barge onto the train when you are attempting to get off though. Which is rather hell when it's single doors at each end of a carriage.

Chris

 

[A-driver]

Deffinately commuters. I know they pay a lot and don't get a great service and that's probably why.

I worked a train up to London this morning and with dispatch being a major subject at the moment after recent events I have been very careful before starting the train. At 4 consecutive stations as soon as I started closing doors everyone on the platform waiting for the next train moved right up to the side of my train so they can be first on the next one. I couldn't see at all in the monitors if the doors were clear or if anyone was touching the train so I got out onto the platform but still couldn't see 110% so I asked people to move back behind the yellow line. No response...nothing. Not even an aknowledgment. So I asked again louder and got some dirty looks, asked again and people did a tiny bit of feet shuffling. Asked once more and at least people were clear enough for me to see that all doors and side of train was clear so I could leave. Made me 8 mins late into London and all I got was a response like I was inconveniencing them by asking them to move!

At least weekend travellers are a bit happier and friendlier!

 

[185]

I guess they both have their worst bits, on one hand you have commuters who if there are network disruptions, can get very abusive. On the other drunks who are generally abusive!

1) Commuters. A minority of them are the worst, and spoil it for the rest of commuters who are infact the nicest customers.

 

[A-driver]

1) Commuters. A minority of them are the worst, and spoil it for the rest of commuters who are infact the nicest customers.

Actually I completely agree with you there. Often in disruption asking as you keep people updated and are as helpful as you can be commuters will generally be quite forgiving and possibly even say thank you when you get them to where they are going.

 

[Lampshade]

Also what gets on my wick is those that get on a station on a single track which is a few stops form the terminus and get on, take loads of seats up, then stay on at the terminus because they are going the other way, why can't they just wait for the train to come back the way they are going, why take up seats they aren't entitled to? used to get that a lot when I used to travel to Blackpool south fortnightly, gets on my Bloody nerves, I've seen people do it at Kirkham and Wesham before, now that's laziness!!

No one is entitled to a seat, if they're paying for the extra distance they've just as much right to a seat as the next guy. Quite clever really, they can be guaranteed a seat when the train departs the terminus.

 

[trentside]

For me, I find the irregular travellers to be the worst. Most of the commuters know what tickets they need, have any railcards ready and usually have the right money out ready - as I see most of them on a daily basis you also build up a bit of a rapport with them and so it makes life easier when things go wrong.

I find I get more grief at weekends, with people who get confused about what they're doing and then take it out on the first member of staff they see. After this group move on, and you get into the afternoon they are increasingly replaced by the boisterous revellers who make a lot of noise and cause a lot of problems.

 

[AndyLandy]

Lee and Herring's Fist of Fun?

I think it was This Morning With Richard Not Judy rather than Fist of Fun.

In answer to the question, I don't think there are stereotypical commuters or leisure travellers. The worst kinds of passengers are the rude and obnoxious ones, whatever time of day they're travelling. Basic etiquette of not taking more space than you need, not blocking aisles, not being too loud and having respect for your fellow passengers, can be found (or not, as the case may be) in any class of passenger.

 

[barnet_fair]

Lee and Herring's Fist of Fun?

nearly! TMWRNJ

 

[Jonny]

Commuters are generally alright although they get difficult when something goes wrong and all they come out with "Do you know how much i pay for this service ?", thinking they rule the roost and should be treated as royalty.

Day-trippers/tourists are worse though, they arent used to how the railway works - of course down here, throw in trains that have sections for different destinations - it can be all fun and games with them !!

Ironic that commuters are probably paying less pro rata given that they have season tickets and are also less marginal since they are less likely to change modes.

 

[maniacmartin]

As a passenger, I find occasional travellers the worst. They don't know where to go or what ticket they need, tend to have more sprawling baggage and possibly rowdy children. Most commuters are instead robotic zombies who follow the same routine without thinking.

My number one pet hate is passengers who rustle plastic bags and crisp packets. The sound drives me crazy and I wish they were banned. Its even worse than headphones that leak noise.

 

[work-traveller]

...boozed up footballists retruning from a match. This isn't a blanket opinion, more relevent if you would like a bit of peace and quiet. At weekends I find a 1st class upgrade resolves the problem nicely however.

 

[Buttsy]

ANYONE with leaky headphones playing way too loud (generally occassionals).

 

[Jimmy McNulty]

Train Enthusiasts that seem to think they are superior to Commuters and Weekend Revellers

 

[yorksrob]

Train Enthusiasts that seem to think they are superior to Commuters and Weekend Revellers

Well, I'm all three so perhaps I ought to be convulsed with self-loathing !

 

[bewildered]

From a passenger perspective I'd say the worst people to travel with are the occasional travellers. Families and the oldies are the worst through experience. Also these idiots that walk past the big luggage rack at the end of the carriage and attempt to drag not the small wheeled cases but the ones that have enough room for a months stay somewhere knocking everyone and getting stuck behind seats.

 

[Mutant Lemming]

In all fairnes we are paying a small fortune for our season tickets and are all too often treated like cattle!

Moo !

 

[O L Leigh]

Class 5 has a special place in my heart.

O L Leigh

 

[Jimmy McNulty]

Well, I'm all three so perhaps I ought to be convulsed with self-loathing !

The point was that you can't put somebody into a bracket in such a fashion. 'He is a commuter so he is a ****' or 'He's a reveller so I better not look at him or he will smash my face in'. Nonsense.

You might have a 19 year old girl who commutes to work every day, then on a Saturday night gets a train into town with her friends to 'revel' and then on the Sunday gets the train to go shopping. She has behaved very well on all of these trains. Then the Monday after her weekend she has the week on Holiday from work and has the train booked from lets say 16:15 from Leeds to London as she is going to meet a friend who lives there and see a show that starts at 20:30. But the train is delayed for two hours so she complains and gives personal insults to the guard because she has missed the show.

You might have a 50 year old man who uses the train once a week for a 200 mile business trip, uses the train to visit his family in Scotland, has just took a couple of train journeys up North to ride on the Settle-Carlisle because he wants to tick it off of his list. No problems caused. On the Saturday he is getting the train back from Bristol with his friends, his beloved Rovers have just bet City, he has had a few Drinks and they all have a bit of a sing song on the train, some other passengers are annoyed at the noise levels.

Both of these made up (but all over the country they do exist) travellers are leisure, commuter, business, reveller etc. all in one.

The worst passengers are the passengers that will be the worst no matter their time or reason for travel and that is based upon them as a person not whether they are commuting for the day or going for a night out.

 

[Stephen55a1960]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with that at all. It's just annoying sharing a train home with people who cannot handle their booze, then proceed to make a nuisance of themselves.

Agreed. Drunken football fans are also amongst the worse type of passengers?

 

[causton]

Agreed. Drunken football fans are also amongst the worse type of passengers?

Agreed 100%!

 

[EM2]

Agreed. Drunken football fans are also amongst the worse type of passengers?

The only real grief I've had in five years as a CSA on a station has been from drunk football fans, and only ever from the same club.

 

[Chapeltom]

I hate the weekend crowds to be honest. Commuters can be a pain leaving items on seats but they generally are more clued up than the occasional travellers who in times of disruption moan a lot.

Occasional travellers seem to be the worst culprits blocking doors, example is getting off a train at island platforms and finding you have to battle your way off a train (because of luggage/items in the way) to have someone say "oh I didn't know train doors opened on that side". Regular passengers would know!

Drunk football fans generally have been ok in my view, although when I see them I'm usually joining them. Bit of banter, bit of fun as long as everyone keeps behaviour reasonable. Good old sing song is fine, when I see a load of travelling fans going to/from somewhere making some noise I generally don't care.

 

[ushawk]

Agreed. Drunken football fans are also amongst the worse type of passengers?

Agreed, although if your nice to them, they can be nice enough back. Not all football fans are like this thought (id say around 10% myself).

 

[Stephen55a1960]

Agreed, although if your nice to them, they can be nice enough back. Not all football fans are like this thought (id say around 10% myself).

I took no pleasure in posting that. I'm a football fan myself (SWFC). I absolutely hate drunkenness. I have been on a Dutch train with drunk football fans - it was uncomfortable - nowhere near as bad as this country though.

 

[Thumper Bill]

Commuters who think a class 321 is an office all the way from London to Chelmsford, lap-tops and phones all over the place!

 

[DXMachina]

In my experience both motorways and trains are significantly better (in terms of user behaviour / etiquette) on weekdays than weekends. I'm putting it down to expert users in both cases.

 

[Skimpot flyer]

The worst bit of behaviour I ever saw / heard on a train came at King's Cross, from a well-dressed City-type, talking very loudly on his mobile just after the train driver announced a delayed departure, due to a particularly serious incident further down the line.

About a dozen people and myself heard the commuter's voice booming out the words 'No darling, it looks as if I'm going to be late.... Hmmm, I know, bloody incompetent sods... apparently some idiot threw himself under a train near Hatfield'.

I really wish, looking back, that I'd followed up on my gut instinct to rip the phone from his hand and confront him. I really wanted to yell at him 'Some poor soul - who must have been in the depths of despair - takes his own life in a horrific way, and all you feel is indignation that your journey home this evening is delayed? Have you not a shred of compassion or a modicum of decency?'