Luggage on seats, and on crowded trains.

[PhilipF]

Why do people place their baggage next to them, yet there are passengers standing?

We travel extensively by rail, in this country, but perhaps more so in Europe.
Our suitcases are more or less standard size, that we tug along the street on their little wheels.

Whenever we board a train, and have our bags, the first thing we look for is what we term the "baggery", usually easy to find mostly at the end of a carriage, though I have found some in the centre. Otherwise often we can fit them between seats, usually behind one of the tables.

Over head racks are most often not deep enough to take a suitcase, though I did manage to get mine on one once - not a good idea if people are sat underneath:roll:

Suppose one excuse might be that people are afraid another passenger will walk off with their bag when they leave the train - in other words pinch it. Would this be enough reason to block up a seat, when there are standing passengers. Not in my opinion.

I realize train managers have a difficult job, but why not politely put a request over the PA requesting customers not to do so?

 

[CC 72100]

Why do people place their baggage next to them, yet there are passengers standing?

Because certain people are, quite frankly, selfish.

For example, on a train on Friday the older couple at the table on the other side of the carriage of me decided that their bags were too important to go in the rack and left them on the seats at the other side of the table. They even had one of them still there when we left Bristol - by now the train was actually full and standing.

I'll be the first to confess that on lightly loaded service I'll leave my bag next to me (it's just easier for getting things in and out), but would never do so on a busy one.
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Over head racks are most often not deep enough to take a suitcase, though I did manage to get mine on one once - not a good idea if people are sat underneath:roll:

Interestingly enough my weekend bag will fit in the overhead rack of XCs HSTs but not their voyagers. Hence why I always book tickets on the former. (+ lots of other reasons, but I won't go into that!)

 

[Parallel]

I'll be the first to confess that on lightly loaded service I'll leave my bag next to me (it's just easier for getting things in and out), but would never do so on a busy one.

Me too, once the train gets busier, I have my bag on my lap instead. I used to have it in the overhead rack but I'm really forgetful and I left my bag on the rack before and then had to go to Newport to get it back, (though it was an excuse to go on the Cardiff Valley lines and to Cardiff Bay, so it worked out okay in the end )

 

[fowler9]

Selfishness and or fear of theft. Was on a Thalys recently and there was an announcement about where to put your luggage in I think 4 languages.

 

[westv]

Why do people place their baggage next to them, yet there are passengers standing?

Why are some people incapable of asking "Is that seat free?"

 

[1e10]

I don't like leaving my suitcase out of sight. As I know when I'll be travelling and with XC, I book via their website so I can reserve a seat next to the luggage rack. I do often sit in a window seat and leave my backpack on the isle seat but will move if the train becomes busy. I often move it onto my lap during station calls for others to sit there if they wish (being by the luggage rack, someone else may want an eye ball on their case too).

People who leave bags on a seat with the intention to of trying to keep a pair of seats or an entire table seat to themselves should feel embarrassed. Mostly grown adults I find that are afraid of having someone else sitting next to them.

 

[The Ham]

Why are some people incapable of asking "Is that seat free?"

Quite, I often travel on a train which gets busier as it goes up the line. Now as I'm only on it for 5 stops I just place my bag on the chair next to me, however as soon as someone asks I move it to my lap.

 

[AM9]

Last weekend, my SO and I travelled back from Gatwick to St Albans on a 377. We had one case each plus hand luggage. The hand luggage fitted onto the overhead rack but there was nowhere to store the cases, in view or not. The train was not heavily loaded so we managed to squeeze one case under a table opposite the two seats that we were sitting at and the slimmer of the cases I kept close to me in the gangway.
I didn't feel good about the space that they used but both cases were well within the size given in the CoC and on a service that passes two airports, there was no provision for cases, so what are passengers expected to do?

 

[86246]

I remember a First Great Western train manager announcing a few years back for people to remove luggage from seats otherwise he would charge the full single fare. That might have got a few people worried.

 

[Rick1984]

trying to find somewhere to put your bag on a class 444 or 450 isn't an easy task.

one thing that annoys me is people putting small cases at bottom of rack. pure laziness.
that space should be left for heavy bags.
on a Gatwick express service I had to move someone's bag to get my own in and they said 'I'm watching you!' as though as going to run off with it!

 

[ryan125hst]

I have to admit that I am guilty of putting my bags on another seat and the train was fairly full at the time (there were people standing, although I think there were a few spare seats).

I do have my reasons however: I was heading home for the weekend for the first time after moving to Sheffield for Uni. I had my laptop with me, not something I had planned to do originally, but flatmate was burgled the day before, so I didn't want to leave it in my room. As well as this, I had a suitcase full of clothes and a shoulder bag with uni work in.

I put the suitcase in front of the seat by the window, but this left me with no room to get my legs in owing to the tight seat pitch. However, the suitcase was too large for the overhead luggage rack. I then put my laptop and shoulder bag on the window seat and set on the aisle seat. I did feel a bit guilty for doing this but what other option did I have? I rushed down to the station (I was delayed for several reasons) and missed my intended train by minutes, my bags were heavy and I was full of cold. I certainly couldn't have stood up all the way home, even if it was just for 40 mins.

The issue here is the lack of decent luggage space on trains. I was shocked at how luggage unfriendly the Pacers are. They might be used on secondary routes, but these feed into the main lines, so surely having luggage space is important?

Ryan

 

[185143]

I got told off for sitting on someone's small suitcase on a seat on a full and standing Voyager once. I have a valid ticket, bag doesn't end of argument.

Someone did once have the nerve to say to me once that they had a ticket for their bag, which they did as I saw it so they were entitled to put it there. I said that having a ticket does not mean you are guaranteed a seat. His response 'exactly, so stand!'

 

[yorksrob]

I got told off for sitting on someone's small suitcase on a seat on a full and standing Voyager once. I have a valid ticket, bag doesn't end of argument.

Someone did once have the nerve to say to me once that they had a ticket for their bag, which they did as I saw it so they were entitled to put it there. I said that having a ticket does not mean you are guaranteed a seat. His response 'exactly, so stand!'

I hope the guard to put him in his place ?

 

[IanD]

I was on a train from Norwich to Lowestoft, sitting by the window in a two seat. Had my bag on the other as I was troughing on the food therein but ready to move it if necessary. Old couple got on - skinny woman and huge old bloke in manky, stained jogging bottoms - obviously the Norfolk branch of the Emmerdale Dingles. Anyway, she sat on the aisle seat of an empty pair of seats opposite, he asked me to move my bag. I suggested he sit on the empty seat next to his wife. Only time I've ever refused to move my bag when requested. Maybe I should have moved it but I wasn't married to the bloke so why should I have to put up with his fat arris hanging over my seat when there's a perfectly usable seat next to the person he's travelling with?!

 

[EM2]

I wonder how many people realise that a decent-sized bag can slide under most modern train seats?

 

[Class83]

In general, if the train is busy then I agree that it's poor form to leave your bag on the seat next to you, though when there are seats available it's convenient to have it beside you.

The design of some trains doesn't help, Virgin are particularly bad (I think XC voyagers now have extra luggage space) but overhead racks should be designed to hold IATA compliant cabin bags and intercity stock in particular should have larger racks for cases. The Eurostars racks are great but helped by the fact that most passengers are end to end and theft is less likely where customs are involved.

 

[westv]

I wonder how many people realise that a decent-sized bag can slide under most modern train seats?

As long as it's not put under the seat in front of me preventing me stretching my legs out on trains with airline style seats with space to do so!

 

[AM9]

So just what is a passenger supposed to do if they have CoC permitted luggage, there is no dedicated luggage storage provision and there is a significant number of passengers aboard?

 

[thenorthern]

Its not just luggage that "blocks seats" I have had people refuse to allow other passengers to sit next to them for many strange reasons the most common reasons I have seen are: because they are working on their laptop or on paperwork and need to use the other seat, their clothing is hanging up from the luggage rack over the seat, their religion prevents them sitting next to someone the opposite gender, they don't want other passengers next to them, they want to fall asleep or they are "waiting for their friend".

All of these are poor excuses for not allowing someone to sit next to them which is why many conductors I have noticed now charge people the twice the full fare because they are using up two seats rather than one.

 

[AM9]

Its not just luggage that "blocks seats" I have had people refuse to allow other passengers to sit next to them for many strange reasons the most common reasons I have seen are: because they are working on their laptop or on paperwork and need to use the other seat, their clothing is hanging up from the luggage rack over the seat, their religion prevents them sitting next to someone the opposite gender, they don't want other passengers next to them, they want to fall asleep or they are "waiting for their friend".

All of these are poor excuses for not allowing someone to sit next to them which is why many conductors I have noticed now charge people the twice the full fare because they are using up two seats rather than one.

In my commuting days, I would just ignore them and sit down.

 

[Mugby]

I remember a First Great Western train manager announcing a few years back for people to remove luggage from seats otherwise he would charge the full single fare. That might have got a few people worried.

This should be a standard announcement on all busy trains, much more useful than some of the rubbish we have to listen to!

The sheer volume of luggage carried by many passengers nowadays continually amazes me.
I often get the impression that some people are moving house by train!

 

[fowler9]

I think the conductor is in a difficult situation. I was on a freezing cold 156 a couple of years back and commented to the conductor in a friendly way about how cold it was. (It was someone I knew from regular travel). They said they had called their manager about it already and been told that customers had paid to travel and nothing more. Based on that there isn't much they can do to make people give up seats. No back up at all.

 

[AM9]

This should be a standard announcement on all busy trains, much more useful than some of the rubbish we have to listen to!

The sheer volume of luggage carried by many passengers nowadays continually amazes me.
I often get the impression that some people are moving house by train!

That may be, but the train that I was on had NO dedicated space for luggage, I didn't notice anybody else's luggage and we both had a single suitcase, say 250mm x 450mm x 600mm each. It is not allowed to store luggage in door openings, they wouldn't fit in the overhead racks, there were no back to back slots and consequently there were no spaces under seats deep enough.
If a TM or RPO came along and didn't like them being where they were, what would they have suggested/insisted?

 

[Class83]

Its not just luggage that "blocks seats" I have had people refuse to allow other passengers to sit next to them for many strange reasons the most common reasons I have seen are: because thy are working on their laptop or on paperwork and need to use the other seat, their clothing is hanging up from the luggage rack over the seat, their religion prevents them sitting next to someone the opposite gender, they don't want other passengers next to them, they want to fall asleep or they are "waiting for their friend".

All of these are poor excuses for not allowing someone to sit next to them which is why many conductors I have noticed now charge people the twice the full fare because they are using up two seats rather than one.

I'll quite happily ask people to move their stuff off an empty seat, never had any off these excuses used on me, but if they had I suspect their bag/papers would have found a new home in the gangway.

 

[thenorthern]

I'll quite happily ask people to move their stuff off an empty seat, never had any off these excuses used on me, but if they had I suspect their bag/papers would have found a new home in the gangway.

I normally ask them to move their items but there is usually a "huff" and a moan before this happens. When the reason they are using two seats is not because of physical items buy preference normally I get asked to "go find a seat somewhere else" which normally involves me finding the guard instead.

 

[Strathclyder]

Even if the train is not crush-loaded, I put my luggage underneath the seats. Always have done.

 

[Saint66]

If on a long distance service, I will always make sure to fit my 'proper' luggage back onto the overhead rack, even if that means squeezing it a little, while I will put my 'personal' bag between my legs, there's no way I'd put my bag on a seat, especially on a busy service.

If I'm commuting from St Albans to St Pancras, which I've often had to do with large luggage, I will just stand in the vestibule to save on taking up other people's potential seats, it's much easier and much more polite.

My East Coast service from KX was cancelled on Monday, and I was heading back up to Leeds after my first weekend away from Uni, and so I therefore had to jump on the service before. Obviously because of the cancellation it was extra busy, but the amount of people placing bags on seats really quite annoyed me.... Thankfully I found a seat in the end. (So much for having a reservation on another service...)

 

[Chouette]

Being a lady, most of my clothes don't come with sufficient (or any) pockets, so if I'm to carry a ticket, my phone, my purse, perhaps my lunch, or something to read, all of that has to go in my handbag, which I do tend to leave next to me if the train isn't busy, so that I have space on my lap for my lunch or my reading matter. If the train's filling up and I'm in my own little daydream, I'd really prefer people to say something. I don't bite, and I'm likely to be completely oblivious to anyone who just stands there and looks daggers at me.

 

[fowler9]

Being a lady, most of my clothes don't come with sufficient (or any) pockets, so if I'm to carry a ticket, my phone, my purse, perhaps my lunch, or something to read, all of that has to go in my handbag, which I do tend to leave next to me if the train isn't busy, so that I have space on my lap for my lunch or my reading matter. If the train's filling up and I'm in my own little daydream, I'd really prefer people to say something. I don't bite, and I'm likely to be completely oblivious to anyone who just stands there and looks daggers at me.

Spot on. I normally sit by the window and put my bag next to me. I'll never knowingly stop someone else from sitting down. It really doesn't bother me. The bad eggs are the ones who sit by the aisle and put their bag by the window. Proper odd bods. They would obviously rather someone stand than have to sit next to someone.

 

[muz379]

If the train isn't busy then I will keep my bag on the seat next to me . If it fills up then depending on what size bag I have and how long my journey is I will either put it on my lap or on the overhead rack

Cant stand people who sit there with a small bag on the seat next to them when the train is mentally busy , I do sympathize when it is obvious that the seat is being occupied by luggage because of a lack of space for luggage . But if someone is sat there with a small bag which will fit in the rack or on their lap then I will ask them to move it if I am standing and there are no other free seats .