Antisocial behaviour on trains

[Krokodil]

Fantastic way to inflame a situation...

I'm quite happy to just sit and not move the train in that case. I still get paid.

 

[ChrisC]

I don't see whats wrong with phoning family to say when youll be home, in a non-quiet coach.

I don’t see any problem at all with that. A quick call lasting no longer than a minute, using the phone discretely in a traditional way, would not annoy me. It’s people who hold an unnecessary conversation for a whole journey, shouting with speaker on at full volume, that’s not acceptable. To me it’s just inconsiderate rudeness and bad manners to do this but many people don’t see it that way these days. I’m probably just old fashioned but I have never used my phone with the speaker on in a public place. In fact unless it‘s very important I rarely use my phone at all inside a public building or on transport. Even when my mum was alive and was suffering from dementia, if she rang me when I was on a train or bus, I would talk quietly and try to end the call as quickly as possible.

 

[Jonny]

Vestibules should really be used for making phone calls, or the front/back part of the train depending on the stock.

That used to happen more, but it's just more etiquette that's gone out the window. I can never go even a 5-10 minute journey (particularly if departing from a main terminus) without having to put up with someone's phone call nearby and it's usually nothing that couldn't be done via SMS. Fair enough if someone gets an unexpected call and answers it.

You can't be sure that the SMS has gone from the phone to the person. So you need to call.

Also the whole thing about phone calls just shows how subjective 'antisocial behaviour' really is. If you have only a short time with no advance planning, then you would definitely need to use a phone.

 

[Meerkat]

You can't be sure that the SMS has gone from the phone to the person. So you need to call.

Also the whole thing about phone calls just shows how subjective 'antisocial behaviour' really is. If you have only a short time with no advance planning, then you would definitely need to use a phone.

The troublesome calls aren’t the practical ones. It’s bored people making calls to fill the time, with lots of excitable exclamations.
Just can’t understand people speaking loudly let alone speakerphone. I actively don’t want strangers hearing my conversations and no way would I risk the whole coach laughing at stuff my friends might abuse me with!!

 

[Edsmith]

The troublesome calls aren’t the practical ones. It’s bored people making calls to fill the time, with lots of excitable exclamations.
Just can’t understand people speaking loudly let alone speakerphone. I actively don’t want strangers hearing my conversations and no way would I risk the whole coach laughing at stuff my friends might abuse me with!!

Exactly, a young lady sitting near me on a train the other day and by the time she got off I knew virtually every detail of her work and social life.

 

[ScottGallagher]

I saw a video on a Scotrail train a while ago with an incident at Hyndland with rival teens fighting which spilled on the platform but the conductor sorted them out! Thats Glasgow for you!

 

[Kite159]

Saw someone on a bike cycle down a busy platform without a care in the world and managed to do a wheelie to ride onto the train (which had 10 minutes to go before departure). And to top it off, they didn't even have a ticket (boarding at a staffed station with open ticket office)

Some people are just lazy, far too hard to get off and push a bike along the platform.

 

[DJ_K666]

7. Music, sound, advertising and carrying on a trade (1) Except with written permission from an Operator no person on the railway shall, to the annoyance of any person: (i) sing; or (ii) use any instrument, article or equipment for the production or reproduction of sound.

Life imprisonment though, work in progress!

That's the public address system out of thd window then.

 

[willnotadmit]

I have to say I believe it's getting worse. I don't feel safe getting the train home late at night anymore. I had to call the police due to an altercation tonight (not involving me, thankfully).

 

[MrJeeves]

That's the public address system out of thd window then.

Appreciate the humour, but for clarity...

Except with written permission from an Operator

I would argue that anyone using the PA most likely has permission from the operator!

 

[gazzaa2]

You can't be sure that the SMS has gone from the phone to the person. So you need to call.

Also the whole thing about phone calls just shows how subjective 'antisocial behaviour' really is. If you have only a short time with no advance planning, then you would definitely need to use a phone.

As long as it's kept brief it's fair enough if you need to contact someone, otherwise go to the vestibule.

 

[Bletchleyite]

So I've now been given a gobful of abuse by a woman on a train for politely asking if she'd turn the rubbish she was playing out on full volume down a little (not even off) so I couldn't hear it over the music from my earphones.

Apparently I victimise lone women and am selfish, and should take a taxi next time if I don't want to listen to her rubbish. (Swearing edited out )

The lunatics truly have taken over the asylum.

 

[trainophile]

So I've now been given a gobful of abuse by a woman on a train for politely asking if she'd turn the rubbish she was playing out on full volume down a little (not even off) so I couldn't hear it over the music from my earphones.

Apparently I victimise lone women and am selfish, and should take a taxi next time if I don't want to listen to her rubbish. (Swearing edited out )

The lunatics truly have taken over the asylum.

Did you not get any support from fellow passengers? Some people are a total law unto themselves. I bet she's not got many friends.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Did you not get any support from fellow passengers? Some people are a total law unto themselves. I bet she's not got many friends.

Unfortunately not, but there were only a few. When I have asked in the past I generally have though.

 

[trainophile]

I'd have moved to another carriage, if there weren't many passengers.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I'd have moved to another carriage, if there weren't many passengers.

I don't see why I should, it is the default not to play music and as it was to my annoyance she was breaking the law. I made a polite request, she did turn it down, then she gave me a gobful just before she got off (coward!)

ASB should not be tolerated, that just breeds more ASB.

 

[Skimpot flyer]

I was on a London Overground train from Queens Park to Watford a couple of years ago, and had to endure some woman have a long conversation on speakerphone with her friend, about why she had to let the office junior go.
I quote
‘Yeah, I mean everyone knows when you use a phrase like “there’s another issue” you don’t spell it without a comma between the ‘e’ and the ‘s’
(I kid you not)

 

[Bletchleyite]

Another train, and another phone being played out loud.

I have had issues with Merseyrail's rentathug approach to ASB but it may just be the only way to fix this. But a start would be signage and announcements making it clear that it's an offence and prosecutions may take place (even if they probably mostly won't).

 

[Basher]

I'm guilty. traveling on a LNER 1st class a couple of weeks ago. I'm a little deaf and I was listening to a Dads Army through my bluetooth on my hearing aids. Another passenger came up to me and politely asked me to turn the volume down, well I look a little surprised, then realized I had lost my bluetooth connection to my hearing aids. bbbbb things

 

[Bletchleyite]

I'm guilty. traveling on a LNER 1st class a couple of weeks ago. I'm a little deaf and I was listening to a Dads Army through my bluetooth on my hearing aids. Another passenger came up to me and politely asked me to turn the volume down, well I look a little surprised, then realized I had lost my bluetooth connection to my hearing aids. bbbbb things

And that's fine in your circumstances of course. The response to a polite request to turn it down is a polite apology and turning it down like you did. Not a gobful of abuse.

 

[Krokodil]

I was on a London Overground train from Queens Park to Watford a couple of years ago, and had to endure some woman have a long conversation on speakerphone with her friend, about why she had to let the office junior go.
I quote
‘Yeah, I mean everyone knows when you use a phrase like “there’s another issue” you don’t spell it without a comma between the ‘e’ and the ‘s’
(I kid you not)

I'd have joined in the conversation to put them off: "it's called an apostrophe" etc.

 

[Basher]

And that's fine in your circumstances of course. The response to a polite request to turn it down is a polite apology and turning it down like you did. Not a gobful of abuse.

When I explained laughter was heard around.

 

[WesternBiker]

I don't see why I should, it is the default not to play music and as it was to my annoyance she was breaking the law. I made a polite request, she did turn it down, then she gave me a gobful just before she got off (coward!)

ASB should not be tolerated, that just breeds more ASB.

I would have done exactly what you did, and have always done so - politely, of course - especially commuting into the office. A colleague of mine once said that one day I'd arrive at the office with a black eye. I'd say 50% of the time I get an apology, and 50% some sort of abuse.

I have had support in the past, but only after I acted first...

 

[Capybara]

It's against Railway Byelaws : https://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/media/1058/railway-byelaws.pdf
RAILWAY BYELAWS Made under Section 219 of the Transport Act 2000 by the Strategic Rail Authority (the “Authority”) and confirmed under Schedule 20 of the Transport Act 2000 by the Secretary of State for Transport on 22 June 2005 for regulating the use and working of, and travel on or by means of, railway assets, the maintenance of order on railway assets and the conduct of all persons while on railway assets (the “Byelaws”).

7. Music, sound, advertising and carrying on a trade (1) Except with written permission from an Operator no person on the railway shall, to the annoyance of any person: (i) sing; or (ii) use any instrument, article or equipment for the production or reproduction of sound.

As a regular train traveller I didn't know this until very recently when an announcement on an LNER train explained it, pointing out that it applied throughout the train and not just in designated quiet areas. Perhaps if that was done more often then there would be fewer problems.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I would have done exactly what you did, and have always done so - politely, of course - especially commuting into the office. A colleague of mine once said that one day I'd arrive at the office with a black eye. I'd say 50% of the time I get an apology, and 50% some sort of abuse.

I have had support in the past, but only after I acted first...

It was absolutely excruciatingly polite. I'm almost certain the wording was along the lines of "I'm sorry, but would you mind just turning that down a little so I won't hear it over my music from my headphones"? And I did thank her when she turned it down. I also stood well back from her as I'm aware my height and build can make me look quite intimidating. I didn't even ask for it to be turned off, only turned down so I couldn't hear it over my own music from my earphones - she had it on full volume (perhaps had hearing problems herself and didn't realise, though most likely just a selfish, nasty person).

I was quite taken aback when she approached me just before getting off and had a go. Normally if you're going to get abuse from someone over something like that it's at the time of asking.

I was slightly pleased to get a comeback on her though - among all the abuse I got "You're a nasty person* who likes to intimidate women to get what you want, I bet you wouldn't say that to a man or if my husband was there", which was replied to with "Well, actually, I asked a lad to turn his down the other week, and unlike you he did so without being rude about it". (He did pull a funny face, but he did turn it down!)

* May have contained swearing in that bit, I can't recall.

As a regular train traveller I didn't know this until very recently when an announcement on an LNER train explained it, pointing out that it applied throughout the train and not just in designated quiet areas. Perhaps if that was done more often then there would be fewer problems.

I certainly think there should be signage and announcements about it, yes. I think some people think it's only not acceptable in the quiet coach, though I've also had people do it there! Good on LNER if they've made it part of the standard script. I seem to recall Stagecoach buses have signage about it though.

I simply don't understand why people don't get headphones. I know some devices no longer have a socket, but Bluetooth headphones are now very cheap, you don't have to go for Airpods, Sennheisers or Beats. If nothing else, the audio from headphones (even cheap ones) is of far higher quality than any phone speaker!

 

[BJames]

First time in a while I've had to tell someone to turn their video down today. At full volume was scrolling through his feed, I politely enquired whether he had headphones as it was super loud and couldn't hear myself think - to his credit, he stopped immediately with an apology and no complaint - genuinely don't think he realised how loud it was, perhaps just wasn't thinking. Shame that some are so quick to snap back when they're clearly in the wrong.

 

[Merle Haggard]

In my (fairly frequent) travels, I've noticed anecdotally that 350/2s on Birminghams seem particularly to attract this behaviour, perhaps because of their open-ness; people boarding notice that many of the people already on board are making noise, so it's fair enough for them to also do so. By contract, TPE, EMR Intercity and Avanti trains seem, in my experience, to be very quiet indeed.

 

[Bletchleyite]

In my (fairly frequent) travels, I've noticed anecdotally that 350/2s on Birminghams seem particularly to attract this behaviour, perhaps because of their open-ness; people boarding notice that many of the people already on board are making noise, so it's fair enough for them to also do so. By contract, TPE, EMR Intercity and Avanti trains seem, in my experience, to be very quiet indeed.

There is a big difference between peak and off peak on WMT. In the peak south of Northampton, and on for example Chiltern, ALL coaches are quiet, nay, silent coaches, and woe (or tutting and murmured disapproval - but quiet disapproval ) betide anyone who might do otherwise. Whereas off peak things can be quite noisy, particularly on the Birminghams.

I'm not of course asking for silence, if I was this woman may have been justified in suggesting I should take a <censored> taxi if I want that. I just don't think levels of noise that can be heard above reasonably loud (but not leaky) music being played through earphones is really acceptable behaviour.

 

[Huntergreed]

Some of the worst offenders up here are, in my experience, parents with very young children who have no issue whatsoever with blasting out nursery rhymes/games to keep their kids quiet (quite ironic, make the device very loud to keep the child quiet. Kind of defeats the purpose!)

If you try to challenge them, they often attempt to guilt trip you with “oh but it’ll upset the kids” or “you really want to ruin their day” or some trivial excuse along those lines.

Indeed I would say the standard of behaviour from children is getting exceedingly poorer as time goes on. On a forum meal we had in Newcastle last week, we witnessed some very poor behaviour from some children (including getting a pencil thrown at me and a balloon popped right next to us) with little to no attempts to curtail this made by parents.

That said, I’ve generally had quite good luck on Avanti in that the quiet coach is generally observed (and is relatively “quiet”, both in loading and volume, compared to the rest of the train). As far as I can tell, this seems to be much worse on the ECML!

 

[Krokodil]

That said, I’ve generally had quite good luck on Avanti in that the quiet coach is generally observed (and is relatively “quiet”, both in loading and volume, compared to the rest of the train)

On Voyagers the Quiet Coach also contains the wheelchair space. Two issues result. Firstly you do get the odd occurrence where a wheelchair user occupies their space and due to their disabilities may create a lot of noise. Secondly (and much more commonly) a family with a pushchair will occupy the space and the rest of the carriage has to put up with screaming kids.