People on subways and trains

holnrew

Handsome_Chris said:

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).

I used to travel between Cheltenham and Bristol using them a lot. They were OK, except for when I had to stand in the vestibule. I'm not a fan of the Voyager trains, they're too narrow and you can have a "window" seat right by a pillar. And the toilet tanks get heated by the braking vents or something... it makes them a bit smelly anyway. But it was only a 45 minute or so trip, the bus journey from Bristol was over twice as long covering half the distance.

Danny1969

Whenever I'm on the tube in London I can help noticing nobody wants to acknowledge anybody, nobody makes eye contact, even when the overcrowded standing room only forces people to stand in each overs faces with full body contact  they still pretend no one's there and stare intently into their phone or iPad. It makes me think why do so many people who hate other people want to live in such an overcrowded area ?

TTony

Danny1969 said:

It makes me think why do so many people who hate other people want to live in such an overcrowded area ?

It's not because they hate other people, it's because they fear other people.  Making eye contact is the first step in communicating and it might turn out that the other person is a raving nutter, so best to avoid any risk of communication, or looking like you want to communicate (because the other person then thinks that you're the raving nutter).

Close bodily contact is fine (obligatory in many tube trains), but avoid all risk of eye contact.

Your point about choosing to live there remains valid though.  I go into London purely for the money, but I can't imagine anyone offering me enough money to persuade me to stay there.

Snap

Its the same in any big city. When you are somewhere so highly populated, your own personal space becomes sacrosanct. Its not about being rude or ignorant, its more about not being arsed - after all, in somewhere like London, you'd end up saying "alright" almost constantly cos there's so many people in your face. Privacy is hard to come by, so people create their own by retreating into themselves.

I do it. I won't be rude, but I honestly can't be bothered being sociable. What's the point? Get on a tube, get to where you're going, without a song and a dance.

On a train, where you're going to be mext to someone for a longer time, then I might say hello, but can you really be arsed strking up a conversation? Last time I did that I ended up having a 2 hour debate with a left wing doctor about why everything I did for a living was unethical. Fk that for a laugh, next time I'll keep my headphones on.

holnrew

Danny1969 said:

Whenever I'm on the tube in London I can help noticing nobody wants to acknowledge anybody, nobody makes eye contact, even when the overcrowded standing room only forces people to stand in each overs faces with full body contact  they still pretend no one's there and stare intently into their phone or iPad. It makes me think why do so many people who hate other people want to live in such an overcrowded area ?

I don't think they hate other people, it's just easier to keep to your bubble.

Roland

TTony said:

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

Jean Paul Sartre "Hell is other people", or to quote Sid Viscious "I've met the man in the street and he's a ... "

stickyfiddle

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?

Yeh, potentially, or even go the whole hog and get moulded ones and use them as IEMs

thecolourbox

Yeah I used to dislike the whole mardy looking avaoiding any kind of reaction to other people being in your face but I kind of grew to realising that it kind of works somehow, as long as everybody does it (except for the nutters, purely for identification purposes of course). I used to think Londoners were moody arrogant people because of this.

Now I reserve that sweeping judgement for when they are above ground ;-)

RobDavies

I quite like getting on a train.

 

Since moving down to Hants, I've started to use them regularly for football and gigs in London.  70 minute journey, Free Wifi, £25 return.  Pretty reasonable if you ask me - I'd easily do that in petrol AND I can sample as much euro-fizz as I want.

That's when it works....

South West Trains have been a flippin' nightmare with engineering work recently.  My usual saturday trip to Brentford (60 miles away) has become a six hour round trip nightmare.... 

Less trains too, so that means that I spent much of my journey standing up with pissed rugby Tarquins on their way back from "Twickers",  or sat on the floor in the door areas.  AND the bitch of a woman working at Southampton Central station told my kids off for the henious crime of sitting on a bike rack!  Arggghhhh!!

mike_l

dchwhite said:

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.

It would have been quicker to walk up the A10.

mike_l

TTony said:

Danny1969 said:

It makes me think why do so many people who hate other people want to live in such an overcrowded area ?

It's not because they hate other people, it's because they fear other people.  Making eye contact is the first step in communicating and it might turn out that the other person is a raving nutter, so best to avoid any risk of communication, or looking like you want to communicate (because the other person then thinks that you're the raving nutter).

Looking like a raging psycho/nutcase works wonders, at least for me.

Drew_TNBD

Danny1969 said:

Whenever I'm on the tube in London I can help noticing nobody wants to acknowledge anybody, nobody makes eye contact, even when the overcrowded standing room only forces people to stand in each overs faces with full body contact  they still pretend no one's there and stare intently into their phone or iPad. It makes me think why do so many people who hate other people want to live in such an overcrowded area ?

Why do you assume that people don't look at each other because they hate other people? I was taught that it was rude to stare.

It's bollocks anyway... amount of times I've been on the tube and caught eye contact with people, or had drunken chats with people on a Friday night. It's just a stupid stereotype.

Handsome_Chris

holnrew said:

Handsome_Chris said:

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).

I used to travel between Cheltenham and Bristol using them a lot. They were OK, except for when I had to stand in the vestibule. I'm not a fan of the Voyager trains, they're too narrow and you can have a "window" seat right by a pillar. And the toilet tanks get heated by the braking vents or something... it makes them a bit smelly anyway. But it was only a 45 minute or so trip, the bus journey from Bristol was over twice as long covering half the distance.

@Holnrew, I LOVE the Voyagers.  They are my favourite passenger train, although I have had a cab ride in a Class 43, which was very exciting. I do like Class 67 loco's too, they can do up to 125mph.

I am looking forward to seeing these Hitachi beasts.

holnrew

Handsome_Chris said:

holnrew said:

Handsome_Chris said:

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).

I used to travel between Cheltenham and Bristol using them a lot. They were OK, except for when I had to stand in the vestibule. I'm not a fan of the Voyager trains, they're too narrow and you can have a "window" seat right by a pillar. And the toilet tanks get heated by the braking vents or something... it makes them a bit smelly anyway. But it was only a 45 minute or so trip, the bus journey from Bristol was over twice as long covering half the distance.

@Holnrew, I LOVE the Voyagers.  They are my favourite passenger train, although I have had a cab ride in a Class 43, which was very exciting. I do like Class 67 loco's too, they can do up to 125mph.

I am looking forward to seeing these Hitachi beasts.

Jealous of the cab ride, I love HSTs. Class 67s are pretty cool too, they never got used to their full potential though. Same with the 91, built for 140mph, but will likely never reach it. I'm looking forward to the Hitachis as well, the assemblly plant is being built near here, I hope they can do tours.

chillidoggy

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee189/chillidoggy/train-spotter_zps3eb41f55.jpg

Axe_meister

Why do I get all the nutters on a train.

I was quite happily sitting there minding my own business and the little old lady next to me
passes me a piece of paper with some scripture written on it. I politely gave it back saying I 

was non-religious.

She suddenly bursts into tears. I ask her what was wrong.

She said she is crying for my soul as it will burn in hell.

Quickly went to find another seat. 

Handsome_Chris

chillidoggy;419792" said:

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee189/chillidoggy/train-spotter_zps3eb41f55.jpg

@Chillidoggy, you may think that's clever; however a Class 55 is a Deltic.



I do not feel proud about knowing that.

jonnyburgo

The trains in Europe are totally awesome, on time and fast as fuck, Ive done Inter-railing twice and never had as much as a 5 minute delay. 

Handsome_Chris

jonnyburgo;419889" said:

The trains in Europe are totally awesome, on time and fast as fuck, Ive done Inter-railing twice and never had as much as a 5 minute delay. 

I'd say they may go too fast at times.

Handsome_Chris

When I say "...they may go too fast at times." I would like to clarify that I am giving them permission to go too fast, as opposed to saying there may be a possibility of them putting someone with @Emp_Fab levels of inconsideration of speed limits in the cab of a HST.