tsr
Established Member
Things not needed
- Coat Hooks. 1. They never align properly and 2. I have never seen anyone use them
- Reading lights on Electrostats. Never see anyone use them.
Can’t agree on either of those. Coat hooks are very useful but some passengers are conditioned not to expect them, if their regular train does not have them. If anything, it encourages people to take coats off in the winter months, which reduces people becoming too warm and therefore ill. Coats and scarves also get left behind far less frequently if they are on a hook next to the seat, instead of stowed at the back of a luggage rack.
As for the Electrostars, plenty of people use the reading lights, especially people who are used to the stock. If you walk down a train which has just worked a peak time service in the winter, when it’s dark during commuting hours, you will find loads which have been left turned on, after people have left the train.
Some Electrostar stock actually has luggage racks fitted with hooks and reading lights - I believe this was not intentional (just a function of different components being shoehorned into the various saloon designs), but it turned out that these are very clever features. Why? People can put big bulky coats or bags-for-life on the hooks by the racks, and you can use the reading lights to see more clearly inside a bag inside which you have lost something.