Passengers trying to board before passengers can alight...

[harry42]

When the dispatcher is blowing their whistle 5 times to hurry people up when the trains only been there 10 seconds, people get scared the doors are going to close. PAITENCE!
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Opening an HST door at a station with a sparse HST service is always funny as people don't realise the doors swing open...

And at Paddington on event days like Glastonbury when 99% of passengers have never used a train before

 

[johntea]

What annoys me the most is when you're sat next to someone on a train and they want to get off at the same station you do, yet almost always decide they need to stand up and walk to the doors about 3 minutes before the train actually pulls into the station!

 

[Flamingo]

It's amazing how often we'll be coming into stations and people say "excuse me" or try to push past me. I usually explain to them they are they not getting off the train before me, as I'm the one who unlocks the doors.

 

[trainophile]

What annoys me the most is when you're sat next to someone on a train and they want to get off at the same station you do, yet almost always decide they need to stand up and walk to the doors about 3 minutes before the train actually pulls into the station!

What annoys me is when I'm in a window seat (rarely - I always try to get an aisle) and want to get up a couple of minutes before my station, so that I can get my bag down off the overhead rack, zip my coat up, and make sure I'm in the queue to get off before it becomes a rush - and the person in the aisle seat says "it's okay, I'm getting off there too", and won't budge until the train is practically at a halt!

 

[Dieseldriver]

Back to topic, another thing I have noticed in the shove for seats is (this is going to sound really self important) no-one seems to understand the importance of train crew to a train. Big shove onto the train yet no-one will let the driver or guard get on the train, you can all rush as much as you want but if train crew are still stood on the platform waiting to get on you will be waiting even longer.

Generally I'm more than happy to allow them to barge past me, all the while I just stand there smiling knowingly to no-one in particular...

 

[Teaboy1]

Happens throughout the world folks not just UK & NYC!! Its exactly same here in Tel Aviv !!

 

[NHG66]

Why? Why does that really matter? Do we live in a world where minutes mean so very much that everyone needs to sit nearest to their exit and barge over bridges?

There are 42 million minutes in the average life, losing 2 because you didn't get to the footbridge first isn't the end of the world.

Of course it matters, on the route I drive into Paddington there are more than a dozen stations between Reading and Paddington (granted our stopping patterns means we usually miss out one or two). At peak times you get passengers who will only get on at the rear set of doors of 5/6 car turbo because this puts them closest to their escape to the tube lines at Ealing Broadway. This behaviour can add 30 seconds to over a minute to the dwell time at each station, so multiply that by the number of stops and it can be a significant delay which knocks on through the day. The set I am working may be delayed on its next working as may I as if I have a 30 minute PNB booked then I will not be working my next service if I am out of hours and due a rest.

Think about that next time you are miffed because a train is running late, it may be nothing at all to do with the TOC or staff, more to do with the behaviour patterns of the travelling public.

 

[dannypye9999]

Really annoys me when the train pulls into a station and the person in the doorway starts bashing away violently at the door buttons before they even light up. Just one touch when they light up is enough for me.

 

[trainophile]

Really annoys me when the train pulls into a station and the person in the doorway starts bashing away violently at the door buttons before they even light up. Just one touch when they light up is enough for me.

Or when I'm on the platform waiting to board, and I can see people waiting to get off, and they don't press the button, just stand there. I've got my hand baggage in one hand, and have lifted my trolley bag with the other hand ready to board, but have to put something down again to press it from the outside, or we'd be there all day .

 

[sheff1]

What annoys me is when I'm in a window seat (rarely - I always try to get an aisle) and want to get up a couple of minutes before my station, so that I can get my bag down off the overhead rack, zip my coat up, and make sure I'm in the queue to get off before it becomes a rush - and the person in the aisle seat says "it's okay, I'm getting off there too", and won't budge until the train is practically at a halt!

Which is exactly why, if I join a evening peak train which I know will get crowded by departure, I choose an aisle seat near the end of the carriage. Some people on here claim this is me being rude

 

[Signal Head]

Really annoys me when the train pulls into a station and the person in the doorway starts bashing away violently at the door buttons before they even light up. Just one touch when they light up is enough for me.

Had one of those in front of me tonight (Pendolino), I wonder what they think it will achieve. I think in this case the train hadn't quite stopped and the button was being given a battering!

 

[island]

Particularly bad on Pendos because the step has to unfold, and people think the button hasn't worked because the door isn't opening.

 

[Darren R]

Or when I'm on the platform waiting to board, and I can see people waiting to get off, and they don't press the button, just stand there. I've got my hand baggage in one hand, and have lifted my trolley bag with the other hand ready to board, but have to put something down again to press it from the outside, or we'd be there all day .

I'm a little more forgiving of people who do that following a highly embarrassing incident a few years ago when I still lived in London. Visiting family in Lancashire, as the train stopped at my destination I stood there waiting for the doors to open. Since it was a Pacer they didn't - until someone reached past me to press the button! I'd forgotten you have to open the doors yourself when not on the Tube!

 

[dannypye9999]

bet these people that are whacking the door buttons so violently will be the first ones to complain when the button breaks.

 

[greatkingrat]

Part of the problem is that on many trains it can be quite difficult to see when the door open light comes on, particularly in direct sunlight, so you end up just pressing it repeatedly until it opens.

 

[trainophile]

Part of the problem is that on many trains it can be quite difficult to see when the door open light comes on, particularly in direct sunlight, so you end up just pressing it repeatedly until it opens.

Don't they all have an audible alert as well as the light?

 

[edwin_m]

Stock built after about 1997 has an audible alert when the doors are released, as it is required by the Rail Vehicle Accessiblity Regulations and successors. Most older stock has now been retrofitted with new tactile buttons with brighter lights, but adding a sound is a bigger modification and many don't have it.

 

[IanXC]

Part of the problem is that on many trains it can be quite difficult to see when the door open light comes on, particularly in direct sunlight, so you end up just pressing it repeatedly until it opens.

Just this week I was trying to get off a 185, which has not only an audible alarm, but flashing colour coded lights around the buttons to show the doors are released, and the whole collection of people standing closer to the door ALL just stood there!

I guess theres no accounting for every passenger!

 

[Eagle]

Part of the problem is that on many trains it can be quite difficult to see when the door open light comes on, particularly in direct sunlight, so you end up just pressing it repeatedly until it opens.

On some trains (although by no means all) you can hold down the button and the door will open as soon as it's unlocked. Rather than having to mash it.

 

[EssexGonzo]

Yep. GA 315s and 321s in particular. No audible alert on these.

 

[Rich McLean]

Networkers (165/166/365/465) have a bell which the driver activates when the doors are unlocked. However, not all drivers use it.

 

[jon0844]

Surely it can't be controlled? On a 365 it sounds every single time the doors are unlocked (not once in 10 years has it ever not sounded on a train I've been on).

Another thing is that the hustle alarm only sounds for doors that are open, not just every door (like a 313, say).

 

[Rich McLean]

Surely it can't be controlled? On a 365 it sounds every single time the doors are unlocked (not once in 10 years has it ever not sounded on a train I've been on).

Another thing is that the hustle alarm only sounds for doors that are open, not just every door (like a 313, say).

Maybe its set up different for 365's, but often on Turbo's you could get a double bell, a single bell or none at all.

 

[A-driver]

Maybe its set up different for 365's, but often on Turbo's you could get a double bell, a single bell or none at all.

If you don't get a bell then it means the bell is broken. The bell goes off when the driver pushes in both door release buttons so you can't release doors without the bell sounding, it isn't a seperate button or anything.

The double or single bell just indicates how many times the driver is pressing the open buttons. Some drivers just press them once, others a few times out of habit. So if the driver jabs the door open buttons 6 times then the bell will ring 6 times.

 

[Wikipedia]

Just one touch when they light up is enough for me.

I normally double tap after they light just to be sure as I have caught one or two that haven't pressed in properly on the first attempt!

 

[bronzeonion]

The bunching around doors happens on busy routes because for some reason building a commuter train with more than 2 doorways per carriage side is just unthinkable on the UK Railway.

Most robot passengers don't bother going to the other doors as they are just that little bit too far away from the one they are already crowding around. One or 2 more doorways per side would mean the passengers would move over to the now closer door to board!

 

[OuterDistant]

This is why I always take a javelin with me whenever I travel by train. One look at it and the passengers on the platform simply part like the Red Sea.

 

[tannedfrog]

I am surprised that posts on this thread refer to "shoulder action" and "accidentally" stepping on toes.

Do people not think that communicating verbally is preferable?

 

[jon0844]

I expect that saying anything to another person would just result in you being showered with abuse.

 

[Eagle]

Do people not think that communicating verbally is preferable?

I'm pretty sure it's illegal to talk to a stranger in SE England. Or at least it seems that way. :P