Passengers trying to board before passengers can alight...

[harz99]

Just this week I was trying to get off a 185, which has not only an audible alarm, but flashing colour coded lights around the buttons to show the doors are released, and the whole collection of people standing closer to the door ALL just stood there!

I guess theres no accounting for every passenger!

Sheep! Or they are waiting for somebody outside (like me) to press the dirty exterior door open button.

 

[sheff1]

I expect that saying anything to another person would just result in you being showered with abuse.

I don't know. I once asked people to stand back and let me off at a London Terminal and they parted looking rather surprised.

Maybe, that is because ...

I'm pretty sure it's illegal to talk to a stranger in SE England. Or at least it seems that way. :P

 

[al78]

Why? Why does that really matter? Do we live in a world where minutes mean so very much that everyone needs to sit nearest to their exit and barge over bridges?

There are 42 million minutes in the average life, losing 2 because you didn't get to the footbridge first isn't the end of the world.

Yes five minutes can easily matter, the most obvious that springs to mind is a tight connection with the train arriving late, necessitating a dash to another platform or missing the connection and having to wait considerably longer for the next train. In that case five minutes can easily turn into 45 minutes or longer, which is not trivial.

Delays are not linear, a couple of minutes hold up at one point in a journey does not mean the whole journey will only be delayed by a couple of minutes.

 

[Murph]

I am surprised that posts on this thread refer to "shoulder action" and "accidentally" stepping on toes.

Do people not think that communicating verbally is preferable?

It depends on circumstances, and the recipient of the verbal communication needs to be both listening and considerate of others.

From personal experience of arriving into Liverpool St at approx 1700, and trying to go against the tide, the city types coming towards me were both not listening and entirely unconcerned about others. I quite literally had to forcibly shove my way out of the train, and through the crowd to get to the concourse. Once I realised that basically none of them gave a damn about others, I simply braced myself very firmly against the flow, moved my 30kg+ semi-rigid large holdall in front of myself (to use it pretty much as a snow-plow), and quite slowly moved forwards with force.

I didn't take any pleasure from using force, but I had repeatedly tried being nice about it, with basically zero success. There was no question about them not seeing me, or being aware of my intended direction, as I'm tall, large, and have a very strong and penetrating voice in such situations. I had been standing against the inside of the doors well before the train came to a stand, and had luggage in hand, able to move the moment the doors opened. They simply didn't give a damn about me trying to extract myself from the arriving train and then from the platform, so I stopped giving a damn about them!

It's possible that the odd cellphone and filofax (yes, it was a good while ago) went flying. And, I made sure that I never again made the mistake of arriving into a London commuter terminus at 1700-ish with heavy luggage.

 

[londiscape]

I'm pretty sure it's illegal to talk to a stranger in SE England. Or at least it seems that way. :P

As a former country lad who set up in the smoke many years ago, I'll second that - any attempt to talk to another person on public transport in London either gets ignored, or you get looked at as if you were a nutcase. Unfortunately 'head down and barge' seems to be the most effective method.

Can't imagine how intimidating that must be for visitors to the capital who may be accustomed to more civilised behaviour.

 

[YorkshireBear]

Communicating verbally is always my first point of call. But after that you do what is needed. People may remember my previous signature, which for some reason offended a few people so it had to be removed (although see current signature .

It is getting worse too.

 

[Murph]

As a former country lad who set up in the smoke many years ago, I'll second that - any attempt to talk to another person on public transport in London either gets ignored, or you get looked at as if you were a nutcase. Unfortunately 'head down and barge' seems to be the most effective method.

Can't imagine how intimidating that must be for visitors to the capital who may be accustomed to more civilised behaviour.

In my case, as the visitor, I wasn't intimidated. Ultimately it was the rude, self-absorbed, and annoying city types that were intimidated, once they used up my entire supply of patience. They fairly quickly converted me from relaxed+happy holidaymaker into big+angry Scotsman, to their own detriment!

 

[londiscape]

In my case, as the visitor, I wasn't intimidated. Ultimately it was the rude, self-absorbed, and annoying city types that were intimidated, once they used up my entire supply of patience. They fairly quickly converted me from relaxed+happy holidaymaker into big+angry Scotsman, to their own detriment!

Well done sir! *salute*

One must fight fire with fire, so to speak, in situations such as this. Shame it's necessary, though. Bu99er all to do with the railways, it seems to be normal city behaviour.

 

[reb0118]

It depends on circumstances, and the recipient of the verbal communication needs to be both listening and considerate of others.

I didn't take any pleasure from using force, but I had repeatedly tried being nice about it, with basically zero success. There was no question about them not seeing me, or being aware of my intended direction, as I'm tall, large, and have a very strong and penetrating voice in such situations. I had been standing against the inside of the doors well before the train came to a stand, and had luggage in hand, able to move the moment the doors opened. They simply didn't give a damn about me trying to extract myself from the arriving train and then from the platform, so I stopped giving a damn about them!

It's possible that the odd cellphone and filofax (yes, it was a good while ago) went flying. And, I made sure that I never again made the mistake of arriving into a London commuter terminus at 1700-ish with heavy luggage.

I have found being loud and Scottish helps. Ex (not very good) rugby player too!

big+angry Scotsman,

I see you have beaten me to it!

Another bug bear of mine it that when a train spills out onto the concourse the arriving passengers just spread out to take up all available room with no consideration for persons heading in the opposite direction. If they drove a car how they walked there would be carnage on the roads. I have suggested hiring retired RSMs to generally shout at passengers moving through stations to keep them on the straight and narrow.

"By the F**kin' left"

 

[A-driver]

Another bug bear of mine it that when a train spills out onto the concourse the arriving passengers just spread out to take up all available room with no consideration for persons heading in the opposite direction. If they drove a car how they walked there would be carnage on the roads. I have suggested hiring retired RSMs to generally shout at passengers moving through stations to keep them on the straight and narrow.

"By the F**kin' left"

Try being a driver and arriving in a London terminal at half 8 in the morning with a 5-7 min turnaround to get the train out again in service or empty. You can be stuck in the front cab waiting to be able to step onto the platform for the best part of 5mins, walking against the flow to the country end of the train is almost impossible!

 

[Flamingo]

Verbal works for me. Loud shouts of "Coming through"!

 

[AndyLandy]

Verbal works for me. Loud shouts of "Coming through"!

I once wrote something about bus etiquette. One of my rather tongue-in-cheek remarks was along the lines of:

"It's ok to barge past people, as long as you keep saying 'excuse me' and 'sorry' as you force your way down the bus."

 

[Midlandman]

Chester station, last Saturday night, arriving on the 1844 from Llandudno, crowds of people obviously off clubbing (Warrington? Manchester?) being held back from the platform edge by G4S staff as we ran in. As soon as the train stopped the security men vanished and the mob just rushed for the doors, where, of course, their way was blocked by quite a few people waiting to get off. Definite 'shoulder action' ensued but only after someone had shouted 'let us off first, please' to be greeted by some half wit demanding to be let through 'because he had a baby'. So we looked and he did. He was stood, with a baby in the very middle of a mass of people who were halfway off their faces already, knocking him from side to side but still apparently convinced that the people trying to get off would part magically so he, alone, could get on.

As for doors, I must confess to a slight error earlier in that day. Most, if not all Northern trains that I use regularly have the 'Open' button at the top. I arrived at Colwyn Bay on an ATW Class 175. We stopped, the buttons lit up and I pressed. After a few seconds, the woman behind me sighed, reached beneath my arm and pressed the other button. Thus did I discover that ATW 175s (and some, but NOT all ATW158s, from personal observations) have the 'Open' button at the bottom.

 

[duncanp]

Another bug bear of mine it that when a train spills out onto the concourse the arriving passengers just spread out to take up all available room with no consideration for persons heading in the opposite direction. If they drove a car how they walked there would be carnage on the roads. I have suggested hiring retired RSMs to generally shout at passengers moving through stations to keep them on the straight and narrow.
"By the F**kin' left"

This is also a bugbear of mine, being a daily commuter through Kings Cross tube station. London Underground put up signs saying "Keep Left" on the stairs and passageways, but it is amazing how many people don't care, don't realise or think that the rules don't apply to them. Particularly bad when a FCC commuter train arrives in the morning and I am met by a wall of people coming down the stairs into the station just as I am trying to exit.

I usually say "which part of 'Keep Left' don't you understand?"

 

[Flamingo]

I once wrote something about bus etiquette. One of my rather tongue-in-cheek remarks was along the lines of:

"It's ok to barge past people, as long as you keep saying 'excuse me' and 'sorry' as you force your way down the bus."

Steel toecaps also help...

 

[Deerfold]

LU's got a new poster campaign launching - with poems on and then a caption.

One of them says:

The "Pushy Type" who jumps aboard,
Right ahead of the travelling horde,
Refuses to let others out,
(Even though they scream and shout)
Is someone who deserves our pity,
For not knowing how to travel in our city.


Please let passengers off the train first to avoid delays.

 

[talltim]

This is also a bugbear of mine, being a daily commuter through Kings Cross tube station. London Underground put up signs saying "Keep Left" on the stairs and passageways, but it is amazing how many people don't care, don't realise or think that the rules don't apply to them. Particularly bad when a FCC commuter train arrives in the morning and I am met by a wall of people coming down the stairs into the station just as I am trying to exit.

I usually say "which part of 'Keep Left' don't you understand?"

My left or your's?

 

[dannypye9999]

not sure if Its been mentioned but really annoys me when people stand in the doorway on empty trains then start fighting with their life for a seat when it starts getting crowded.

 

[Deerfold]

not sure if Its been mentioned but really annoys me when people stand in the doorway on empty trains then start fighting with their life for a seat when it starts getting crowded.

Can't say I've ever seen that. Where does that happen?

 

[Cletus]

This is also a bugbear of mine, being a daily commuter through Kings Cross tube station. London Underground put up signs saying "Keep Left" on the stairs and passageways, but it is amazing how many people don't care, don't realise or think that the rules don't apply to them. Particularly bad when a FCC commuter train arrives in the morning and I am met by a wall of people coming down the stairs into the station just as I am trying to exit.

I usually say "which part of 'Keep Left' don't you understand?"

Those 'keep left' signs are very small and far between aren't they though? And all in English I think which doesn't help.

 

[jon0844]

Some stations have much larger stickers now to say keep left or keep right.

I've said to a few people that I can't actually go any further to the left, but it's always been met with abuse back so now I just bite my lip!

 

[tannedfrog]

The rule is to keep right on the underground!

 

[Deerfold]

The rule is to keep right on the underground!

Not where the signs say to keep left!

 

[jon0844]

Indeed.

Usually the left or right signs are down to common sense, such as where the escalators are or a way to avoid people crossing each other.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Indeed.

Usually the left or right signs are down to common sense, such as where the escalators are or a way to avoid people crossing each other.

At Baker Street and Paddington the signs and escalators / barriers are arranged in such a way that it is impossible to avoid the streams of people crossing each other:

Baker Street, southern exit: signs say keep right across the bridge but the barriers at the exit are set up for a keep left flow. Things get very messy there at busy times!

Paddington: the signs say keep left but the escalators to the Bakerloo are set up for a keep right flow. The barriers match the keep left flow at this location. The result is utter chaos at the top of the escalators.

There are probably a lot more such inconsistencies across the system that result in flows of people making conflicting movements.

 

[455driver]

From personal experience of arriving into Liverpool St at approx 1700, and trying to go against the tide, the city types coming towards me were both not listening and entirely unconcerned about others. I quite literally had to forcibly shove my way out of the train, and through the crowd to get to the concourse. Once I realised that basically none of them gave a damn about others, I simply braced myself very firmly against the flow, moved my 30kg+ semi-rigid large holdall in front of myself (to use it pretty much as a snow-plow), and quite slowly moved forwards with force.

Which is exactly what us drivers have to do with our kitbags when changing ends during the morning rush hour.

 

[bezzer]

This is also a bugbear of mine, being a daily commuter through Kings Cross tube station. London Underground put up signs saying "Keep Left" on the stairs and passageways, but it is amazing how many people don't care, don't realise or think that the rules don't apply to them. Particularly bad when a FCC commuter train arrives in the morning and I am met by a wall of people coming down the stairs into the station just as I am trying to exit.

I usually say "which part of 'Keep Left' don't you understand?"

Even worse is Stratford Station, London when every 5 minutes throughout the day you get a booming voice shouting over the Tannoy

'FOR YOUR SAFETY, PLEASE KEEP LEFT ON STAIRS AND SUBWAYS'

followed by an even louder voice saying

'STRATFORD IS A NO SMOKING STATION. PLEASE EXTINGUISH YOUR CIGARETTES IMMEDIATELY'

Funnily enough people walk up and down stairs on the left and the right, and the other day following the smoking announcement someone immediately lit up!!!

When you have a 20 minute turnaround at Stratford and you do the journey 3 times as a driver (hearing the message over 10 times) it is very, VERY annoying!!!:mad::mad:

Must be hell if you actually work there!

 

[reb0118]

I blame it on the French.