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Any way of changing gender of ScotRail Bargain Berth?

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jamesontheroad

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Hello. I'm already 99% certain I understand the rules affect this, but I thought I would ask in case there's any scenario I've overlooked.

The question is, is there any way of changing the gender of a Bargain Berth ticket on Scotrail? That involves changing the name as well, which I understand is impossible because they're non-transferrable. But is there any way it can be done? I can't travel now, and my girlfriend will have to go on my behalf.

Many thanks for any help.
 
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LexyBoy

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False beard? :D

I guess the only way to know for sure is to ring up ScotRail and explain - but I fear you may have correctly guessed the response. They're usually pretty good IME so you might be in luck.
 

jamesontheroad

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False beard? :D

I'm sure my girlfriend would give it a go; I'm more worried about her sharing a cabin with some of the strange men I've had to share cabins with in the last few years :)

Sadly Scotrail telesales are having none of it. I know that Gumtree actively remove adverts for train tickets, and that the T&Cs state it is non-transferrable, but I will try and find someone to take it off my hands.
 

stuart

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Quite frankly, I don't see how the "same sex" policy is sustainable in this day and age. As a straight guy I'd feel far safer sharing with a lesbian female than a gay guy! Maybe they need to start asking for orientation rather than just gender - or of course come into the 21st century and recognise that sharing a sleeping space with a stranger is really not on, whatever gender or orientation you have.

To come back to the original dilemma, it probably depends a lot on how busy the service is on the night - I'm sure your GF turning up at the station and explaining the problem to the on-train staff (who in my experience are always as helpful as circumstances allow them to be) would meet with a sympathetic response and a reallocation of cabin space if there is any scope to do so. When and from where are you/she travelling?
 

calc7

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Quite frankly, I don't see how the "same sex" policy is sustainable in this day and age. As a straight guy I'd feel far safer sharing with a lesbian female than a gay guy! Maybe they need to start asking for orientation rather than just gender - or of course come into the 21st century and recognise that sharing a sleeping space with a stranger is really not on, whatever gender or orientation you have.

Forgive my asking - how would sharing with a gay man be "unsafe"?
 

Deerfold

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Quite frankly, I don't see how the "same sex" policy is sustainable in this day and age. As a straight guy I'd feel far safer sharing with a lesbian female than a gay guy! Maybe they need to start asking for orientation rather than just gender - or of course come into the 21st century and recognise that sharing a sleeping space with a stranger is really not on, whatever gender or orientation you have.

Perhaps you should tell Youth Hostels that? I've spent hundreds of nights sharing with random people of all genders.

Still safely here.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Forgive my asking - how would sharing with a gay man be "unsafe"?

Have you not met any. They're *terrifying* lol

Or possibly, often indistinguishable from anyone else.
 

radamfi

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Forgive my asking - how would sharing with a gay man be "unsafe"?

Perhaps the 'logic' is that you should share with someone who you are not sexually attracted to. So, by that theory, a straight woman would prefer to share with a gay man rather than a lesbian as the gay man is unlikely to rape her. I'm not sure many straight women would agree with that!
 

hairyhandedfool

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Forgive my asking - how would sharing with a gay man be "unsafe"?

In all seriousness, I have worked with two people I know to be gay, one I would trust with my life, the other I wouldn't want to sleep within 10miles of. It should be noted however, that there seem to be more reported incidents between people of different genders, than of the same gender. The only ways the risk could be reduced to it's maximum potential are:

a) Single occupancy cabins (which reduces capacity and therefore revenue).
b) Don't run the service.

Given those options, I think same gender occupancy would be preferable.
 

Squaddie

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As a straight guy I'd feel far safer sharing with a lesbian female than a gay guy!
You seem to believe you're so attractive that no gay man could resist you, and that gay men are so untrustworthy that they would not be able to keep their desires under control.
 

hairyhandedfool

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Perhaps the 'logic' is that you should share with someone who you are not sexually attracted to. So, by that theory, a straight woman would prefer to share with a gay man rather than a lesbian as the gay man is unlikely to rape her. I'm not sure many straight women would agree with that!

A better logic (when travelling alone) would be:

Heterosexual Woman > Heterosexual Woman
Heterosexual Man > Heterosexual Man
Homosexual Woman > Homosexual Man
Homosexual Man > Homosexual Woman
Bi-sexual person > Single Occupancy*

A Heterosexual woman could fancy a man as much as a Heterosexual man could fancy a woman.

*You might have difficulty charging single occupancy rates based on sexual preference.
 

maniacmartin

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Perhaps the 'logic' is that you should share with someone who you are not sexually attracted to.

Surely you mean it the other way around: "you should share with someone who is not sexually attracted to your gender"?

I can't see single occupancy berths being introduced any time soon because the price of tickets would have to be increased quite substantially to make up for the loss of capacity.

We have a historic norm for keeping these things same-gender regardless of sexual orientation in toilets, changing rooms and various other places across the country, and one that will probably exist for many years to come.

One problem with asking for a passenger's sexual orientation is that they could always lie anyway - "You can trust me with the young woman, I'm not interested in her type anyway ;)". This is arguably worse than the current situation, as the average female is generally less strong and thus able to defend themselves from an average male.
 

Paule23

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This is my first post to this forum and I must say I am amazed there is a discussion about the safety of being in a compartment with gay people. Can anyone honestly say they have suffered from sexual harassment by someone of their own sex? I'd be very surprised if the answer is yes
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Sorry, just realise it's not the thread that's a problem rather one or two statements within it.

On the thread subject I think you have little hope apart from the false beard ploy!
 
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maniacmartin

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This is my first post to this forum and I must say I am amazed there is a discussion about the safety of being in a compartment with gay people. Can anyone honestly say they have suffered from sexual harassment by someone of their own sex? I'd be very surprised if the answer is yes.

I think the discussion has been more light-humoured argument based on the notion that people are more likely to harass people who they are sexually interested in. This probably holds true for any sexuality. I don't think any of the comments were seriously alleging that gays are more likely to harass.

On the thread subject, perhaps she needs to adopt a gruff voice too ;)
 

Peter Mugridge

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I can't see single occupancy berths being introduced any time soon because the price of tickets would have to be increased quite substantially to make up for the loss of capacity.

They do have a single occupancy supplement though don't they?


As for booking by orientation - forget it; too many people will lie at the point of booking and then try it on with who they are put in with.
 

tannedfrog

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Forgive my asking - how would sharing with a gay man be "unsafe"?
It wouldn't, he just likes the idea of a lesbian stripping off next to him

I would have thought the main problem of sharing with strangers is that people tend to snore and you can't do much about it if you don't know the person :(
 

reb0118

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How about a system that allows you to share with someone of the opposite sex who is "up for it"

You should be able to fill out a wee questionnaire like a sort of mini dating site and the booking system will match you up (northbound the sleeper could divert via Gretna Green for a shotgun wedding if required)

Using overnight trains in the former Soviet Union can be quite fun as there is no segregation and berths are allocated in strict numerical order. It is a few years ago now but I always remember Tatyana a beautiful Eurasian woman from beyond the Urals...................;)
 

bnm

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And I remember an InterRail 4 berth couchette journey to Barcelona many years ago where I and my mate ended up sharing with Dagmar from Dresden and her friend from Berlin.

We got on famously. So much so that I dated Dagmar for 18 months after meeting her on the sleeper to Barcelona!
 

Butts

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How about a system that allows you to share with someone of the opposite sex who is "up for it"

You should be able to fill out a wee questionnaire like a sort of mini dating site and the booking system will match you up (northbound the sleeper could divert via Gretna Green for a shotgun wedding if required)

Using overnight trains in the former Soviet Union can be quite fun as there is no segregation and berths are allocated in strict numerical order. It is a few years ago now but I always remember Tatyana a beautiful Eurasian woman from beyond the Urals...................;)

Is that the self-inflating "Tatanya" with moving parts ;)
 

185

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Heterosexual Woman > Heterosexual Woman
Heterosexual Man > Heterosexual Man
Homosexual Woman > Homosexual Man
Homosexual Man > Homosexual Woman
Bi-sexual person > Locked away


I'm hearing a lot about sex on this sleeper. Sounds fun, where do I book????

Simple answer. End sharing, completely. Adjust the trains so that there is access to your bunk and then pull a lockable cover over it, like in the US.
 

ng1980

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Quite frankly, I don't see how the "same sex" policy is sustainable in this day and age. As a straight guy I'd feel far safer sharing with a lesbian female than a gay guy! Maybe they need to start asking for orientation rather than just gender - or of course come into the 21st century and recognise that sharing a sleeping space with a stranger is really not on, whatever gender or orientation you have.

To come back to the original dilemma, it probably depends a lot on how busy the service is on the night - I'm sure your GF turning up at the station and explaining the problem to the on-train staff (who in my experience are always as helpful as circumstances allow them to be) would meet with a sympathetic response and a reallocation of cabin space if there is any scope to do so. When and from where are you/she travelling?

So, any and every gay man wants to have sex with you to the extent that you feel unsafe? Either you flatter yourself a lot or you really are hot totty! Please attach face and body pics so we can judge! Thank you! :D

As a straight guy I'd feel far safer sharing with a lesbian female than a gay guy!
...
come into the 21st century

You honestly wrote these two phrases in consecutive sentences and didn't feel as if they didn't quite fit?

Bi-sexual person > Single Occupancy*
*You might have difficulty charging single occupancy rates based on sexual preference.

Yes, I'll have to pretend I'm bi! Hope that they don't ask me to sleep with a woman to prove it!

How about a system that allows you to share with someone of the opposite sex who is "up for it"

You should be able to fill out a wee questionnaire like a sort of mini dating site and the booking system will match you up

Reservations desk assistant: "Sir, we have listed the top 100 fetishes in alphabetical order, please tick the ones you are most interested in. We have a few people up for master/slave stuff in carriage A, spanking seems to be popular tonight in carriage B, but we also have reservations for foot licking in carriage C. Currently carriage D is looking a little vanilla, but we're hoping to change that!"

That really would send the Daily Mail into overdrive!
 

34D

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How about a system that allows you to share with someone of the opposite sex who is "up for it"

I think with free tickets for the ladies, this would actually be a workable system.

I'm hearing a lot about sex on this sleeper. Sounds fun, where do I book????

Bring your own. Or get a single berth, pull a lady (or gentleman) in the lounge car, then retire to your single berth.

Note - two people sleeping on the same bunk (no matter how hot she is) is just not happening due to lack of room.
 

jopsuk

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Quite frankly, I don't see how the "same sex" policy is sustainable in this day and age. As a straight guy I'd feel far safer sharing with a lesbian female than a gay guy! Maybe they need to start asking for orientation rather than just gender - or of course come into the 21st century and recognise that sharing a sleeping space with a stranger is really not on, whatever gender or orientation you have.

Quite right. "sexuality" and "gender" are not binary states (and are quite distinct concepts). Do transgender people have to book depending upon how they describe themselves or what's between their legs?

As an alternative to the two person cabins, would more open carriages with beds be possible? The Youth Hostel "shared dorm" concept is regarded as a bit safer due to weight of numbers. Go beyond the continental "couchette" idea and have "dorm carriages", perhaps with curtains for each berth?
 

34D

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As an alternative to the two person cabins, would more open carriages with beds be possible? The Youth Hostel "shared dorm" concept is regarded as a bit safer due to weight of numbers. Go beyond the continental "couchette" idea and have "dorm carriages", perhaps with curtains for each berth?

Now this is an ideal I like. Kind of the same idea as airline 'pods'. If people were arranged herringbone, it should be possible to fit more people in.

How do sleepers abroad function?

Would your dorm be multi-gender and multi-sexuality?
 

LexyBoy

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I'm suprised to see several posts proposing an end to sharing. Across Europe couchettes are mixed gender and I've not known any issues - sharing a cabin with a handful of random (sometimes very random) people is part of the fun. Of course 2-berth compartments are different, but having only individual compartments on what is already a hugely unprofitable service can't be sustainable.

On a side note, does anyone know why shared berths only happen on the Scottish sleepers and not to Cornwall? Is it just the greater demand for the former?
 

PaulLothian

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I'm suprised to see several posts proposing an end to sharing. Across Europe couchettes are mixed gender and I've not known any issues - sharing a cabin with a handful of random (sometimes very random) people is part of the fun.

I think for some people there is safety in numbers. My wife and I travelled by rail to Greece in the early 70s using 6-berth couchettes, and (apart from a couple of snorers) never had any problems.

The funniest night was when a group of 4 Yugoslavian ladies travelled with us on their way back from a shopping trip to Trieste, insisting on showing everyone the frilly undies they had been buying.
 

ainsworth74

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As above I'd rather share a couchette with five other people than share a berth with one other person. Perhaps it's not totally logical but I know which I'd prefer.
 

dvboy

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As a gay man, I would feel safer sharing with a lesbian than another gay man.

No, seriously, so many posts that completely missed Stuart's point.

Stuart was not suggesting at all that he would feel safer sharing, with a lesbian than a gay man - read the rest of his post...
come into the 21st century and recognise that sharing a sleeping space with a stranger is really not on, whatever gender or orientation you have
 
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