People on subways and trains

thecolourbox

It was cheese and pickle... I was in full office corporate uniform as well, no greasy hair haha I'm not a musician either. Advantage me?

Sambostar

OK cheese and pickle is OK, I side with you then after all.

Sambostar

What sort of cheese was it?

VimFuego

when my mum came down to visit she used the train and booked a seat for both journeys. When she got on the train in that there London there was a chap in her seat. She showed him her ticket and he moved. By some bizarre coincidence he also got off at Exeter and she pointed him out to me as he was walking out the station. He lasted a good two weeks, which was quite impressive. Now, I'm sure some people will say that slowly torturing him to death by peeling his skin off inch by inch and screaming at him "this is what you get when you fuck a stranger in the ass" was a bit harsh and even over the top, but you have to draw a line in the sand, over which you will not cross.

Sambostar

Fair enough.  At least he won't be sitting in her seat again.  Although I do feel that might of been a bit harsh as he did volunteer to move.  maybe a quick kneecapping would have been more fitting for the crime? Although I respect the fact you have harsher enforcements further down south.

Alnico

Make it a rule to buy a can of soft drink (red coke works best) on way to train.

When person is found to be sitting in your seat (reserved seat obviously), ask politely for them to move.

If they give you attitude and refuse, simply open can of coke and pour over their head.

Walk away telling them they are welcome to the seat.

People with attitude should be treated as they treat others. With contempt.

imalone

stickyfiddle;418189" said:

I once bought a ticket from Oxford to Devon, in advance, to travel on the 23rd of December. When I got to the train on the day (with the beginnings of proper flu in progress) it turned out the only "seat 14 in carriage D", or whatever it was, was in First, so I sat in it anyway. Of course that train was the one that day with an inspector and he was a jobsworth dick who told me to move, and that any clerical oversight was not his fault or his problem and I'd be arrested if I was still there when he got back. Being 23rd December this of course entailed there were no other seats free on the entire train so I sat on the floor in the buffet car. 

I honestly don't think I've ben on a train since. Fuck em.

I'd have asked him if you'd have got a seat if you were arrested. Not sure they have any power of arrest anyway, and he's on shaky ground given you did have a reservation for that seat (can call it clerical error if he likes, but they've issued you the ticket). Trains from Oxford can be a bit crazy. Don't make that trip often, but have got on one with a reservation and realised there wasn't even a prospect of getting to the right carriage as people were standing in the aisles all the way down.

TTony

As a regular train traveler, it pees me off when ...

A seat is reserved, so you don't sit in it (obviously) and neither does anyone else for the duration of the journey.  So what?  The "best" seats are the ones that get reserved, so I could have sat there in relative comfort for the 90min journey, facing forward, looking out of a window, rather than rubbing elbows with some egg / cheese sandwich eating Neanderthal musician-in-fancy-dress.

The seat reserver turns up, but the train company has forgotten to put the reservation ticket on the seat.  Or the ticket reservation printing machine has broken.  Or the last train was cancelled so there are no reservation on this train.  Or excuses #4 - #112.  Whatever.  It's the seat that I'm now sitting in.  In the carriage with no other empty seats.  "you're in my seat", "no I'm not", "look at my ticket", "where's the seat reservation ticket", "I paid for this seat", "so did I, and I'm sitting in it" .... Etc.

The problem with public transport is that you have to share it with the public.

dchwhite

jellyroll said:

dchwhite said:

Could be worse - my train has just hit a horse

What a mare.....

Lol. The 1701 out of Cambridge should have got me back to Ely in about twenty minutes; we actually landed just before half eight. I LOVE TRAINS.

mellowsun

In my experience, unless you are paying full price, reserved seats are usually in the shit carriage. You see an empty train pull in and all the reserved labels are packed into coach D with all the plebs. You requested a forward facing, airline style window seat when booking online, but you actually get allocated a backward facing seat on a table with some idiot opposite who keeps kicking your feet.

Best thing to do is book an advance fare, but, unless the train is full, sit somewhere else where it's quieter.

You can get some crazy deals for First Class at the moment. In-laws live in Norwich and we often travel up First Class from London for £12.

Bucket

I get National Rail and the Underground three days a week, and it is usually fairly hellish unless it's off peak. I hate not getting a seat, and I hate the screaming children, and I hate the crowds, the heat and the disregard for personal space. I'm either up early and heading to college, or coming back (often after a long day). It's a long journey, and the trains do nothing for my mood in either direction.

Most of all I hate the occasional pestering I get from people telling me to turn my music down. I realise this is an unpopular viewpoint and that everyone hates the sound of someone else's earphones, but it's not as if I'm playing it out loud, and it's my only escape from the unadulterated hell of being on a train with you absolute bastards. I hate you all and want nothing to do with any of you, fucking leave me alone and stick your whining passive aggression firmly up your arse.

Just wanted to get that off my chest.

Alnico

Bucket said:

I get National Rail and the Underground three days a week, and it is usually fairly hellish unless it's off peak. I hate not getting a seat, and I hate the screaming children, and I hate the crowds, the heat and the disregard for personal space. I'm either up early and heading to college, or coming back (often after a long day). It's a long journey, and the trains do nothing for my mood in either direction.

Most of all I hate the occasional pestering I get from people telling me to turn my music down. I realise this is an unpopular viewpoint and that everyone hates the sound of someone else's earphones, but it's not as if I'm playing it out loud, and it's my only escape from the unadulterated hell of being on a train with you absolute bastards. I hate you all and want nothing to do with any of you, fucking leave me alone and stick your whining passive aggression firmly up your arse.

Just wanted to get that off my chest.

Why don't you get a 'Stig' style crash helmet (Simpson RX8) with a blacked out visor and install headphones inside it.

Wear the crash helmet when you get on the train and if anyone tries to speak to you, simply ignore them. Most people will back off and leave you alone. If you call them names, they won't hear you and they certainly won't see you do it and if it all goes tits up and you get in a fight with someone who decided you had an attitude and poured coke all over your head, you won't get hurt !

(And your head won't get wet)

Emp_Fab

You're all mad.  Drive yourselves....  it's the only way to avoid having to have any contact with other people.

stickyfiddle

Bucket said:

I get National Rail and the Underground three days a week, and it is usually fairly hellish unless it's off peak. I hate not getting a seat, and I hate the screaming children, and I hate the crowds, the heat and the disregard for personal space. I'm either up early and heading to college, or coming back (often after a long day). It's a long journey, and the trains do nothing for my mood in either direction.

Most of all I hate the occasional pestering I get from people telling me to turn my music down. I realise this is an unpopular viewpoint and that everyone hates the sound of someone else's earphones, but it's not as if I'm playing it out loud, and it's my only escape from the unadulterated hell of being on a train with you absolute bastards. I hate you all and want nothing to do with any of you, fucking leave me alone and stick your whining passive aggression firmly up your arse.

Just wanted to get that off my chest.

I highly recommend a decent set of in-ear phones. Leak less and drown out a lot more of the noise too. Win

holnrew

With cross-country trains now, somebody can reserve a seat any time before it f gets to their station. So you could settle in to an unreserved seat, only to have to vacate it.

Handsome_Chris

holnrew said:

With cross-country trains now, somebody can reserve a seat any time before it f gets to their station. So you could settle in to an unreserved seat, only to have to vacate it.

That has happened to a friend of mine.  The trick is to, once you're on board, to reserve it via the interwebs.

I love trains, and I believe that XC are a delightful TOC to travel with.  I spent about ten weeks this year traveling between Salisbury and York, and it was a pleasure.  £15 for a 1st class upgrade too, which entitled me to free tea, biscuits and access to the super-mation info-highway (© Clive James).

jonnyburgo

Once travelled on Virgin trains from Cornwall to Manchester £100 each, I had the shits from food poisoning and EVERY toilet was blocked and overflowing (and thats before I used them) I cut my leg on a broken drop down tray on the seat in front of me. THEN the train broke down at Birmingham, after about an hour (by this time it's 8pm) we get put into a minibus with 10 other passengers going in approximately the same direction. 

The taxi driver barely speaks English doesnt know how to get to Manchester!!!. THEN the electrics fail on the minibus and we are doing 90 in pitch darkness everybody is telling him to pull over which he doesn't for about another 5 miles. so one of the passengers has to help him fix the car because he doesnt know the fucking back end from the front. Eventually we get dropped off at Marple station at 3am which is about 4 miles from home, with no money. After writing a letter of complaint highlighting the issues of the day we got a £20 travel token. Our original tickets cost £100 each

Still at least Richard Bastard gets to buy another island and build a shit space rocket. 

Bucket

Alnico said:

Why don't you get a 'Stig' style crash helmet (Simpson RX8) with a blacked out visor and install headphones inside it.

Wear the crash helmet when you get on the train and if anyone tries to speak to you, simply ignore them. Most people will back off and leave you alone. If you call them names, they won't hear you and they certainly won't see you do it and if it all goes tits up and you get in a fight with someone who decided you had an attitude and poured coke all over your head, you won't get hurt !

(And your head won't get wet)

And I can headbutt them with no fear of injury, even better

@stickyfiddle That's a good call, I could presumably use them as earplugs on stage as well?

boogieman

Bucket;418771" said:

Alnico said:



Why don't you get a 'Stig' style crash helmet (Simpson RX8) with a blacked out visor and install headphones inside it.Wear the crash helmet when you get on the train and if anyone tries to speak to you, simply ignore them. Most people will back off and leave you alone. If you call them names, they won't hear you and they certainly won't see you do it and if it all goes tits up and you get in a fight with someone who decided you had an attitude and poured coke all over your head, you won't get hurt !(And your head won't get wet):)





And I can headbutt them with no fear of injury, even better

@stickyfiddle That's a good call, I could presumably use them as earplugs on stage as well?

Yeah get a helmet. And hope they don't think to kick you in the nuts.

Snap

aah, trains........

I use them to travel to London, 2 hours, no decision. And most of the time I will go first class, in advance, off peak, very cheap. I would rather drive than go standard. WHy - cos it's usually full of either:

pissed up blokes
students, who stink and are generally just annoying and clueless of the world
weirdoes. Just general nutters
Loud people,
kids

First class on the other hand can be nice and quiet, or, as you found, you get some gobby wannabe Alan Sugar, mouthing off down the phone. "Yah, Yah, he's a fucking good guy. Giles, just go close the farking deal, get it to the end zone, I want some SERIOUS zeroes on the end of that deal big man. Farking hell yeah, go farking do it"

nobbers.