TurbostarFan
On Moderation
Isn't that why some stations have platform staff?
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Passengers blocking doorways
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Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
While they might act if they see something untoward e.g. a bike in a vestibule, what happens on board the train is not their primary responsibility.
bramling
Veteran Member
Generally passengers enforcing rules is a bad thing as it tends to lead to people enforcing either what they think is correct (often not the case), or making something up that just happens to suit their own wants.
Likewise I tend to be cautious about many things I read on here where people claim to have done things - for the simple reason that if they tried some of these antics with some people or in some areas they’d likely be winding up in A&E.
bramling
Veteran Member
In many cases they aren’t allowed on busy services - many TOCs have varying restrictions particularly at peak times. Where things are perhaps more awkward is when a service is unexpectedly busy - like for example on a Saturday at this time of year with hoards of crowds going shopping. Why should someone on their way to work taking their bike on a normally quiet service have to make way for a load of people going on a one-off Christmas shopping frenzy?
notlob.divad
Established Member
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When the 319s started working the Liverpool - Manchester route. I took one with a large suitcase on my way to Derby. I got on and asked the guard where the best place to store my bag. He said there was no luggage racks, and agreed that given it was an airport train it wass rather stupid. I gather nothing has changed since.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Arguably Northern has taken the wrong sets - the 3+2-seated all-facing "CityMetro" 319s are mostly what they have taken, whereas the 2+2 "Thameslink Cityflyer" sets have a better seating arrangement, lots of standing space and extra luggage racks due to connecting Gatwick and Luton.
SignallerJohn
Member
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> Be aware of how close your stop is
> Get out your seat 5 minutes prior
> Ask the person “excuse me can I get by”
> Leave train
> Get out your seat 5 minutes prior
> Ask the person “excuse me can I get by”
> Leave train
TurbostarFan
On Moderation
I meant things which spill over onto the platform like a passenger throwing someone else's items off the train. Far better to contact the BTP and let them deal if necessary in my opinion!
EssexGonzo
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Exactly this.
To which I'd add to point no 3: Ask in a genuinely nice way rather than a haughty, disapproving, passively aggressive manner! I doubt that a passenger with a large suitcase or bike has singled you out for the sole purpose of making your day worse so a little courtesy often gets things off on the right foot.
There are far bigger issues than this - some people need to get a life rather than resort to the rule book to solve some of life's little wrinkles.
Some people don't like asking other people to move anything. They won't sit down because they can't summon up the courage to ask someone to move their bag from a seat. They're presumably scared of being told to **** off and then looking silly and weak.
I have had someone refuse to move a bag because they were getting off at the next stop and I could sit then. At the time, I didn't say anything more or grab the bag and move it, because I didn't really fancy sitting next to someone who would likely start moaning to me. Instead I stood 'over them' in the aisle and simply made it hard for them to get up and alight instead. It was quite obvious what I thought of them.
I've heard people tell someone to use another door when it comes to a bike blocking the door or aisle, because there are always rude and arrogant people in life - and many will use trains.
I am not sure someone should have to get up five minutes before arrival though, simply to work out the best route to the door to overcome obstacles!
DarloRich
Veteran Member
Shall we get a grip? This is a massive overreaction to a tiny issue.
It wont get pinched
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
In the UK there by and large isn't a luggage theft issue from trains. In mainland Europe however...
I suspect the increase in ticket barriers may help by reducing the number of non-passengers on stations.
Theft of passenger property as a whole, certainly is an issue on our trains.
Is it a non passenger issue? Surely the easiest way to steal some luggage is to be on the train with the luggage then be off the train with the luggage, through the gate line with your luggage then away however you wish to do that, with the luggage. As you rightly say there isn’t a huge problem with this in the uk though it does happen.
I am sure it does happen, which means people want the bag next to them and it will be very hard to convince them otherwise. Even a big heavy case can often find itself on a seat. I bet we've all seen the table of four used as a luggage rack with bags on the seats and table, with the owners set up on the other side.
Isn't it a bit like the widely ignored rule that cars should not be parked on pavements? In practice (such as in my street) if people observed it the roadway would be blocked for through traffic (let alone emergency vehicles or bin lorries).
This is probably worthy of a whole separate thread, but when it comes to parking on a road I do find it amazing that some people can be so arrogant as to think that they can park on a pavement and block wheelchairs and buggies, and hinder the visually impaired, because parking on the road might block emergency vehicles.
If you can't park on the road because it causes an obstruction, you can't park on the pavement EITHER. You simply can NOT park there. It doesn't matter one bit if the road is full and you have to park down the road and walk back to your house. There's no expectation that you can park right outside your house, unless you have a private space, a driveway, garage etc.
But people park like ****s all the time and get angry that they can't park outside their home, or that someone else parked in 'their' space.
Like on trains, a lack of enforcement, just encourages people to keep doing it.
I have been guilty of bringing a standard bicycle on a train and standing in the doorway with it, usually when boarding an unfamiliar train, can't immediately find the carriage with the cycle storage (e.g. the North Downs line), and am reluctant to walk along the train looking for it in case it departs without me. I have always managed to put the bicycle in the least obstructive place possible next to the door on the non-platform side, and have never had any issue with blocking access or exit. Since a bicycle is an awkward object to be transporting on a train I use my folding bike if I am planning to combine transport modes.
A bit of initiative needs to be used. In plenty of places the pavement is wide enough to put two wheels on it without obstructing it for wheelchairs or buggies. If people couldn't put two wheels on the pavement then in many areas it would be very difficult or impossible for residents to have visitors, unless they have enough land to accommodate multiple cars, or could insist that their friends or relatives only visited by public transport or bicycle.
BurtonM
Member
It's an extremely regular occurrence to find doors on 185s completely blocked with luggage, because the provisions for luggage are paltry at best, and half the passengers won't use it as they don't want to lift their cases etc. You used to get bikes blocking the doors too when people wouldn't get out of the cycle storage, but since the implementation of that cycle policy, I won't travel with them any more so I don't know if this is still the case.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Yes, but then you have to buy a ticket to steal a bag, which isn't necessarily going to be worth the price of the ticket. Rifling through first would be too obvious.
I believe you need to leave at least 1.5 metres room. If that's the case, and assuming there aren't protruding bushes or anything, then it's probably not going to be a problem to park a little on the pavement.
Parking is definitely a problem, but it doesn't excuse inconsiderate parking. Long walks are a part of life these days, given so many people have multiple cars and many properties (around me) are multiple occupancy, or people rent out a room etc.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
FWIW, in London, where pavement parking is generally illegal, you often get marked-out pavement bays in situations where it is wide enough like this.
see that on the continent a lot. They even have a road sign with a car half on and half off, and a line on the pavement so you dont block the pavement for wheelchairs/prams etc.
We use that sign here too.
krus_aragon
Established Member
In which case you're there with your bike, and can considerately move it if is an obstruction at any time. I don't believe that your behaviour is being questioned on this thread, but the issue of unattended cycles and luggage is.
(I myself have spent some train journeys on a 150 stood near the doorway with my bike, moving it to the doorway opposite the platform at each station. And on a rush-hour 158, I've known cyclists stood at the doors with their bikes to disembark at each station to allow other passengers past.)
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
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