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Telltale sìgns of newbie rail travellers

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TUC

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What are the giveaway signs that the passenger in front of you isn't used to travelling by rail? My favourite is seeing people faced all of the ticket gates open still taking their ticket out of their wallet and trying to place it through the scanner.


What are other signs?
 
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Xenophon PCDGS

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Bags on seats on a rush hour train is a dead giveawya

But there again, that might well be a member of the "rude and ignorant" brigade who feel themselves to be "a cut above" other travellers in Standard Class. Two years ago, I took a young female trainee solicitor from a well known legal practice in Manchester to task for doing the very thing you describe above. Other passengers confided in me after she departed at Stockport that she was well known for doing this in the evening peak period.
 

Hyphen

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What are other signs?

Handing over a seat reservation instead of a ticket, either at a barrier or an onboard inspection.

I don't know if it's something specific about the route in question, but I probably hear the phrase "No, that's your seat reservation" most on the XC Turbostar routes (though of course not limited to this!).

Bonus points available if the passenger goes "Ugh, I don't understand this" and hands over every bit of orange card they can find, expecting someone else to understand it for them.
 

Welshman

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Fainting at the booking-office window when learning the price of a ticket? ;)

Quietly congratulating themselves on finding an "unreserved" seat on a XC train at Edinburgh for their journey all the way to Plymouth?
 
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David Turner

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I'm about to be a newbie rail traveller myself. I've lived in Australia for the last 43 years and my last time on a train in the UK was in 1983. I'm coming back to the UK for a holiday and on monday the 8th June I shall be on the 14.05 from London Kings Cross to Leeds - hope nobody is watching me struggling with new technology. I rather think that I shall notice a difference in fares, but luckily I'm travelling on a whole month first class Britrail pass and they are still amazing value - even after all this time.
 

EM2

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Frantically mashing the 'Door Open' button that a] isn't lit, b] is on a carriage that's in complete darkness and c] has no-one else on board.
Also, getting in a dreadful flap that their train doesn't show a platform, even though it's still half-an-hour before departure.
 
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Darandio

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Frantically mashing the 'Door Open' button that a] isn't lit, b] is on a carriage that's in complete darkness and c] has no-one else on board.

Equally standing in the vestibule of an HST waiting for the door to open......

Saying that, I see it on 142's on our line as well, I've lost count of the amount of times I've told people to push the button. Surprisingly, for some it seemed to be a chore.
 
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Bletchleyite

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Bags on seats on a rush hour train is a dead giveawya

Not really, it's a common tactic for anyone who wants a double seat to themselves.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Frantically mashing the 'Door Open' button that a] isn't lit, b] is on a carriage that's in complete darkness and c] has no-one else on board.

Pressing "door open" on those Tube trains where it doesn't do anything :)
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
What are the giveaway signs that the passenger in front of you isn't used to travelling by rail? My favourite is seeing people faced all of the ticket gates open still taking their ticket out of their wallet and trying to place it through the scanner.

Walk through an open gate in Japan and you'll get whacked in the legs by the barriers closing, though. There, they stay open until someone tries to pass without a valid ticket, then they close on them with some force.
 

Darandio

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Bags on seats on a rush hour train is a dead giveawya

I wouldn't say it's a giveaway for a newbie at all, it's more of an annoyance.

On a similar subject, when travelling as a family, I cannot stand the solitary traveller who boards a 142 then jumps straight in one of the bay of 4 seats on the inner end of the carriage. They have every right of course, but it's just such an ideal spot to keep us together. :lol:
 

glbotu

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My favourite is seeing people faced all of the ticket gates open still taking their ticket out of their wallet and trying to place it through the scanner.

That's not the sign of a noob, that's the sign of someone who's really really tired.............ahem...............ahem........
 

plymothian

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Someone who doesn't know what ticket they need to show, even if it's a choice between OUT or RTN of a CDR, let alone APs (possibly with splits) with reservations, collection receipt, VAT receipt...

Someone who stands staring at a CIS for 5 minutes, during which 2 announcements have been made, and a train sat on the platform, who still asks 'does this train go to..?'; especially when it's a branch line and there's no other place it could possibly go.

Someone who expects the door to open automatically, and complains when they get over carried because 'the door didn't open'.

Someone who doesn't get the concept that one lift will not take you to all platforms, and you may have to walk a bit to catch another lift.
 

Johnnie2Sheds

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Seeing my partners seven year old Grand-daughters face at Folkestone when her first ever train ride, a Javelin, swept in to the station to take us all to London. Apparantly all trains are John's (I wish!) and they all go to London. So there.
 

Taunton

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Back in the 1990s, in the restaurant car (when they still had them) on a St Pancras to Derby service. Across the aisle were two American business travellers, who had been booked reserved seats in the car by their London office. It may have been the first time they had ever been in a train, otherwise being just used to air travel. Breakfast was served, which they continually complimented to one another over its quality and amount, and "how good these English trains are". Then, at the end they were astounded to be given a bill ...!
 

Diplodicus

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My mother-in-law (bless her) travelled from Wolverhampton to Southampton Airport Parkway; her first train journey in 35 years! Carrying a shopping trolley of Christmas pressies, mince pies, crackers, etc. as. Well as her suitcase. As train arrives into Soton, decides she ought to think about alighting. I knew which coach she was in by the general uproar as everyone tried to get her off. In the end, I jammed myself in the doors to prevent the TM closing them (which he tried to do).
 

Mojo

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Pressing "door open" on those Tube trains where it doesn't do anything :)
Or, even better, as I saw the other day, pressing the light that flashes when the doors are about to close :-x
 

cjohnson

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Tourists on the tube have a tendency to hold their one-day travelcards in their laps, as if putting those tickets in a pocket will somehow make them vanish.

There's also the stubborn refusal to move more than an inch down the platform away from the exit/entrance.
 

Groningen

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When a train can only go into 1 direction (because of a buffer) and get asked in which direction the train will be moving.
 

sprinterguy

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When a train can only go into 1 direction (because of a buffer) and get asked in which direction the train will be moving.
From what I've seen that's not restricted to first time travellers, but simply down to naivety or lack of awareness.
 

talltim

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But there again, that might well be a member of the "rude and ignorant" brigade who feel themselves to be "a cut above" other travellers in Standard Class. Two years ago, I took a young female trainee solicitor from a well known legal practice in Manchester to task for doing the very thing you describe above. Other passengers confided in me after she departed at Stockport that she was well known for doing this in the evening peak period.
I put my bag on the seat during rush hour*. That's because I've chosen a nice quiet commute, where there are plenty of spare seats. I'm no train n00b, I've been commuting by train since I was 11. Its not really any indication.
*I do move it of someone is looking like they might want to sit there
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I wouldn't say it's a giveaway for a newbie at all, it's more of an annoyance.

On a similar subject, when travelling as a family, I cannot stand the solitary traveller who boards a 142 then jumps straight in one of the bay of 4 seats on the inner end of the carriage. They have every right of course, but it's just such an ideal spot to keep us together. :lol:

They are the ones with enough room for your legs.
 

davetheguard

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I'm about to be a newbie rail traveller myself. I've lived in Australia for the last 43 years and my last time on a train in the UK was in 1983. I'm coming back to the UK for a holiday and on monday the 8th June I shall be on the 14.05 from London Kings Cross to Leeds - hope nobody is watching me struggling with new technology. I rather think that I shall notice a difference in fares, but luckily I'm travelling on a whole month first class Britrail pass and they are still amazing value - even after all this time.

David, I hope you have a great time travelling round Britain by train: you'll probably find the trains a lot busier than you remember, and King's Cross a whole lot smarter. Have a look round St. Pancras (next door) too if you have time.

The main sign of a new traveller round this part of the UK is the unfamiliarity with slam door stock on trains operated by HST's; although I'm sure you won't have any trouble there - plenty of it around when you last used a train here! More unfamiliar on more modern stock might be the sliding door on disabled-accessible train toilets: don't just press the door "close" button; wait for the door to close, and then press the "lock" button. Failure to press "lock" causes a few embarrassments.....
 

andrewkeith5

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I put my bag on the seat during rush hour*. That's because I've chosen a nice quiet commute, where there are plenty of spare seats. I'm no train n00b, I've been commuting by train since I was 11. Its not really any indication.
*I do move it of someone is looking like they might want to sit there

As do I - I always sit in an aisle seat, because I simply cannot stand being trapped between the window and someone else, and frankly because I don't think most trains have enough space for someone to comfortably be able to do anything other than sit with arms in lap.

If I have a bag, I will put it on the window seat purely for convenience purposes.

In either situation, I will happily move my bag and/or get up to allow someone to occupy the window seat, if they ask. I simply cannot stand people who steadfastly refuse to ask and just stand there looking like a lemon.

Funnily enough I seem to quite frequently end up in a comfortable seat with nobody sitting next to me - probably because of the unique British 'I will not talk to anybody on public transport' thing...

Of course, obvious exceptions to the rule are all those people who should have been offered the priority seats - I will always offer to move for them and if they are travelling with someone I will happily stand to allow them to sit together.


Back on topic, you can usually identify someone new to the UK railways because there'll be a half-mile long queue behind them at the TVM. They'll also probably not be travelling on the correct train for their advance ticket, or will panic run to the platform the second it is announced!

At Gatwick you can easily spot people who aren't used to UK railways because they'll be accompanied to the TVM by someone in a purple London Transport Hi-Vis jacket to be sold the most expensive possible ticket to London. Then on the way back they'll be accompanied by gateline staff to a bank of Southern RPIs ready and waiting to give them a penalty fare for using Oyster because Gatwick isn't part of the London Transport system....
 
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TheNewNo2

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Pressing "door open" on those Tube trains where it doesn't do anything :)

I am so glad the Northern Line mid-life refurbishment includes doing away with those buttons!


Regarding the bags-on-seat thing, I do put my bag on the seat but take it off if people start arriving into the carriage and there aren't many spare double seats (I travel long distance). Luckily I usually give off enough of a "stay away" aura that I get left alone. That does however become a problem in social situations.
 

Busaholic

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At Gatwick you can easily spot people who aren't used to UK railways because they'll be accompanied to the TVM by someone in a purple London Transport Hi-Vis jacket to be sold the most expensive possible ticket to London. Then on the way back they'll be accompanied by gateline staff to a bank of Southern RPIs ready and waiting to give them a penalty fare for using Oyster because Gatwick isn't part of the London Transport system....

And just to ensure they never entertain the idea of coming back to this country.
 

Beebman

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A few times over the years just before departure time when trains have been full and standing I've seen railway staff being asked if they could please arrange for "extra carriages to be added from the sidings"... :roll:
 

andrewkeith5

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And just to ensure they never entertain the idea of coming back to this country.

Quite. I often wonder whether anyone at all is proud of the unique ability of the British to comprehensively rip-off all visitors whilst simultaneously making everything as complicated as possible for them!
 

GatwickDepress

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That's not the sign of a noob, that's the sign of someone who's really really tired.............ahem...............ahem........
Ah yes. Wimbledon, a couple of weeks ago after a long night... my travelcard wasn't working in the barriers, so I wait five minutes for the gateline staff to finish with another customer.

"Excuse me, my ticket doesn't work in the barrier."

He turns slowly, pointing at the open wide gate right next to the barrier I was trying... :oops:
 

Bob Ames

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Groups of passengers that, after asking me the location of the station exit, then proceed to follow me all over the freakin' station!

Passengers that ask me a series of questions and then ask, "What's a Pendolino?" (er, it's that big red and grey thing behind you)
 

TUC

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Groups of passengers that, after asking me the location of the station exit, then proceed to follow me all over the freakin' station!

Passengers that ask me a series of questions and then ask, "What's a Pendolino?" (er, it's that big red and grey thing behind you)
To be fair, if a passenger (even one who has travelled on other types of train before) hears a reference to a 'Pendolino service' why should they necessarily know what it is referring to?'
 
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