A lot of conversations I overhear on trains these days sound like a sketch from Little Britain. Perhaps it's just me...
No, it's not just you, and you don't sound like a snob - just someone who is fed up with the increasing number of people who don't know - or just don't care about - how to behave in public. I mean, just when did it become acceptable for people to use audio devices without ear or headphones?
Back in the day, I remember now and again travelling to London on an early morning Saturday train which was always the Lancashire Pullman stock. The interiors were classy and the seats were extremely comfortable (they had a lot of chrome tubing, similar to those in the APT) and in those days Weekend First was £3. Always seemed to have a whole carriage to myself and after leaving Crewe - you could usually leave your bags under the table unattended without fear that some desperado would steal them - I would go to the buffet for a coffee and cheese toastie. I can even recall little sachets of branded Pullman cologne in the toilets. These days I think... how many of those little 'joys' of rail travel have we now lost?
Obviously you can't, and shouldn't, expect to have a whole carriage to yourself, but even on busier trains - in both First and Second - people generally knew how to behave themselves without having to be told.
Halcyon days, the likes of which I'm afraid we won't see again.
Premium Standard? - yes, worth every penny.