Weird Things You See People Do on the Railway

[whhistle]

1: Over complicate things.
Ask when trains leave York for Huddersfield. Then ask when the last train will leave Kings Cross to York. Two separate questions.
Why not just ask what time they have to leave Kings Cross to make the last train for Huddersfield?

2: Tap their card in a specific way.
Seen loads of people turning their card to specifically tap it with the numbers on the bottom, as if they think it won't work with the numbers facing up.

3: Expect doors to open automatically.
Many times watched someone waiting at a door while everyone else is boarding. Once or twice the person even walks to another door.

4: Push the door open button before it's lit.
It reminds me of those people who flash at traffic lights hoping they'll change, or people who twist the little knob underneath the pedestrian button thinking it changes the lights quicker...

I had another but can't remember it right now.

 

[Highlandspring]

4: Push the door open button before it's lit.
It reminds me of those people who flash at traffic lights hoping they'll change, or people who twist the little knob underneath the pedestrian button thinking it changes the lights quicker...

Then when the doors are released and the button lights they just stand there gormlessly waiting. I see this all the time and it drives me mad.

 

[RichJF]

Insist on sitting on coaches 8-12 then walk forward to coaches 1-2 at 8 coach platforms, despite the station exits being in the middle of the platforms & being no quicker than getting off elsewhere.
Also seen a couple of people regularly walk all the way up the platform to the front of the train, only for them to walk all the way to the back through the train & sit in the rear coach!

 

[J-P_L]

Boarding: Seeing people queue up in an orderly fashion at a door on coach B (IC225) waiting for people to get off before boarding. Meanwhile the door next to it into coach C is still closed! Cue angry looks when someone walks to the door, opens it and beats them into coach B!

"Is this the train to York?": Asking the guard if the train is going to York when a Northern 142 is the train stood at the platform.

VTEC Coach Boards: Watching people walking the length of the platform to the board that says Coach B at Darlington to then see them running back down when it turns out they are travelling on a Cross Country train. I don't know how big the "Travelling on Virgin Trains?" and "on Virgin Trains services only" message needs to be for people to notice it.

 

[Thebaz]

People have developed all kinds of funny card-tapping techniques. Some of them like that stand there and rub their cards on the reader like they're polishing a piece of silver. My personal technique is to hold my Oyster card well away from the card reader until the person in front of me has cleared the barrier lest I tap them through accidentally and leave myself stranded wrong-side.

 

[StoneRoad]

Oh, I agree about the buttons and queuing to get on / off trains. It does drive you mad !

My pet peeve is people who squash yucky rubbish down the side of the seat - or leave lying on the seat next to them - when there is a bin just across the aisle, or behind them.

 

[PeterC]

1: Over complicate things.
Ask when trains leave York for Huddersfield. Then ask when the lasttrain will leave Kings Cross to York. Two separate questions.
Why not just ask what time they have to leave Kings Cross to make the last train for Huddersfield?

2: Tap their card in a specific way.
Seen loads of people turning their card to specifically tap it with the numbers on the bottom, as if they think it won't work with the numbers facing up.

3: Expect doors to open automatically.
Many times watched someone waiting at a door while everyone else is boarding. Once or twice the person even walks to another door.

4: Push the door open button before it's lit.
It reminds me of those people who flash at traffic lights hoping they'll change, or people who twist the little knob underneath the pedestrian button thinking it changes the lights quicker...

I had another but can't remember it right now.

1. A problem in any area where you deal with the public. Some people seem to deliberately ask the wrong question so that they can then complain about the inconvenience.

2. Not helped by the press regularly referring to "swiping" cards instead of tapping them.

3. Mea culpa on the rare occasion when I am on a class 165 instead of S stock.

4. I don't know if this has been standardised now but I can recall on some trains the doors would open if the button was already held down when the light came on while on others the press has to be made after the light comes on.

 

[LowLevel]

My standard reply when asked 'where is this train going?' is to politely reply 'where are you going, it's a much easier question' with a friendly smile. This has taken some practice to achieve given I'm usually asked the question whilst stood beneath a board explaining exactly to where the train will be going.

Single syllable 'York?' without so much as a hello or please on occasion gets a cheeky reply depending on my mood. We have one guard who without fail goes for a handshake and says 'no, I'm Bob, but I'm pleased to meet you!'.

 

[Bletchleyite]

3: Expect doors to open automatically.
Many times watched someone waiting at a door while everyone else is boarding. Once or twice the person even walks to another door.

The buttons on 142s are so badly placed that I've seen (or prevented, if quick enough) people missing their stop on countless occasions. The mind boggles as to why they don't put a big sticker on the door leaf with an arrow pointing to it.

 

[pdeaves]

Single syllable 'York?' without so much as a hello or please on occasion gets a cheeky reply depending on my mood. We have one guard who without fail goes for a handshake and says 'no, I'm Bob, but I'm pleased to meet you!'.

I had an incident when I was in my teens and the 'local-ish' service around parts of Yorkshire was a 31 and some coaches. We boarded at Sheffield and closed the doors. Someone burst in at the last moment and said 'Doncaster'. I said 'no, this is Sheffield' so he got off as the train started moving.

 

[skyhigh]

"Is this the train to York?": Asking the guard if the train is going to York when a Northern 142 is the train stood at the platform.

It's not that unreasonable, 142s do go to York...

4. I don't know if this has been standardised now but I can recall on some trains the doors would open if the button was already held down when the light came on while on others the press has to be made after the light comes on.

It definitely works on 185s, so I'd imagine it's common to Desiros at least.

 

[Bantamzen]

Weird things that people do.....

Board a the rear carriage of busy train in the peaks 2 minutes before departure, then proceed to walk the entire length of the train looking apparently for at least a set of 2/4/6 empty seats (passing several empty seats in the process), often ending standing in the front carriage along with the other 25 people who've just done the same just before them....

 

[J-P_L]

It's not that unreasonable, 142s do go to York...

True.. should have said “from Middlesbrough”. That’s a journey I wouldn’t wish on anyone!

 

[stut]

Go on a long journey with no books, magazines, newspapers, content loaded on mobile devices or any form of entertainment, and repeatedly announce to their travel companion how bored they are. (Obviously, this doesn't apply to self-entertaining window-gazers...)

Expect every train to have a buffet on board, even commuter services where you can see from one end of the train to the other.

Insist that the train stops at x station (usually an interchange station on the edge of a city) despite not being marked on the departures board, it's "just hidden" so you use other trains (always amusing when someone headed for Finsbury Park gets carried to Biggleswade...)

Think that the centre aisle is the best place to store a bag/briefcase on a commuter train, and get all huffy when someone accidentally steps on it when walking past.

People who are capable of operating smartphones and driving cars getting all flustered when faced with having to press a big button that says "LOCK" in order to lock a toilet door.

Buy food from Pumpkin.

Get really annoyed when there's a ticket inspector on board because they've bought a ticket you know. Also, get really annoyed when there's not a ticket inspect because they might as well not have bought a ticket (as if that's the only reason you would get one).

 

[plymothian]

Queue to enter one door of a full carriage because it's nearer the entrance/exit and complain the train is always full when there's a practically empty carriage at the other end.

 

[aar0]

It definitely works on 185s, so I'd imagine it's common to Desiros at least.

Not on 444/450s that I've noticed. Pressing before it illuminates achieves nothing except to show your fellow passengers that you're ready for the doors to be unlocked, but also that you don't fully understand how the buttons work

 

[hexagon789]

I don't know if this has been standardised now but I can recall on some trains the doors would open if the button was already held down when the light came on while on others the press has to be made after the light comes on.

Works on 156s regardless of whether the lights on. Hold the open button down and as soon as the door is released by the guard it'll open but you have to keep the button depressed.

 

[hexagon789]

People who step into a train and stand right in the open doorway despite there being plenty of seats and room to stand on the opposite side of the vestibule. Half the time they're on the wrong side for their stop anyway and regardless they just cause holdups for other passengers trying to squeeze past them to board.

 

[transmanche]

4: Push the door open button before it's lit.

Although on trams, being able to push the door button before the 'opening sequence' starts appears to be normal. It's effectively a 'request to open' and the button flashes to acknowledge the request.

Seems like a logical thing to do - something that the railway could emulate.

 

[hexagon789]

Although on trams, being able to push the door button before the 'opening sequence' starts appears to be normal. It's effectively a 'request to open' and the button flashes to acknowledge the request.

Seems like a logical thing to do - something that the railway could emulate.

I'm sure there are some classes of trains which will do this, push the open button once and as soon as the doors are released it'll open.

 

[StoneRoad]

Just thought of another one - people that seem unable to flush the toilet after them (whether on the train or in buildings)

 

[hexagon789]

Just thought of another one - people that seem unable to flush the toilet after them (whether on the train or in buildings)

That annoys me too, perhaps though some people are worried about confusing the flush with the open door or call-to-aid buttons?

 

[jamesthegill]

Works on 156s regardless of whether the lights on. Hold the open button down and as soon as the door is released by the guard it'll open but you have to keep the button depressed.

Same with the 313s.

 

[Chris M]

4. I don't know if this has been standardised now but I can recall on some trains the doors would open if the button was already held down when the light came on while on others the press has to be made after the light comes on.

This is a manufacturer-specific thing. I forget which way round it is, but on either Siemens or Bombardier you can hold the button down and it will open as soon as the doors are released. On the other, it will not register any presses that began before the doors are released.

Although on trams, being able to push the door button before the 'opening sequence' starts appears to be normal. It's effectively a 'request to open' and the button flashes to acknowledge the request.

Seems like a logical thing to do - something that the railway could emulate.

I've certainly seen this on a couple of tram networks - Croydon and Nottingham perhaps? In Croydon, all stops were technically request stops when the system first opened and pressing the door button was the request to stop like ringing the bell on a bus.

 

[Wombat]

Not "weird" as such, but I've noticed that as a species we're bewilderingly inefficient at getting on and off trains and through barriers. The amount of dithering and faffing about still amazes me after many years of commuting. I think we should have "efficient passenger" and "inefficient passenger" services and barriers, with a stringent assessment process to officially certify each passenger's efficiency. Inefficient passengers can be consigned to their allotted rubbish services, where they can faff about as much as they like. An exemption can be made for disabled passengers, as the certified efficient passengers should be sufficiently efficient to accommodate them.

Actually, let's do the same thing for cash machines and supermarket checkouts too, as I suspect it's the same culprits.

 

[hexagon789]

Not "weird" as such, but I've noticed that as a species we're bewilderingly inefficient at getting on and off trains and through barriers. The amount of dithering and faffing about still amazes me after many years of commuting. I think we should have "efficient passenger" and "inefficient passenger" services and barriers, with a stringent assessment process to officially certify each passenger's efficiency. Inefficient passengers can be consigned to their allotted rubbish services, where they can faff about as much as they like. An exemption can be made for disabled passengers, as the certified efficient passengers should be sufficiently efficient to accommodate them.

Actually, let's do the same thing for cash machines and supermarket checkouts too, as I suspect it's the same culprits.

I agree wholeheartedly with you there, mate. The numbers of times gaffers stop dead at the barrier and then get their ticket out gets on my nerves as well as holding up the flow.

 

[telstarbox]

5. Join a forum and obsess over minute details which don't affect typical passengers.

 

[WessexEclectic]

Ask the driver of 2R43 when stood at signal SY8 in the Barnt Green area... (youtube maybe able to help!)

 

[ArchieWoodbine]

It's a simple one, but I can't understand why people walk out onto the platform and then all cluster around the entrance. Do they not see the swathes of empty space along the platform and think "I'll have a better chance of getting a seat if I stand there"? I image they're the same sort who go to a beach, pitch up within a stones throw of the carpark and then complain about how busy it is.

I suppose it's understandable given how increasingly rare they are, but I've seen plenty of people flummoxed by Mk.3 doors when trying to alight. Of particular irritation are people who get their gargantuan suitcases assembled early and put themselves in a prime position by the door; only to declare as the train pulls in that they can't manage these doors and need someone else to squeeze by and open it for them.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I'm sure there are some classes of trains which will do this, push the open button once and as soon as the doors are released it'll open.

Swiss Stadler FLIRTs do that, never seen it in the UK, I guess the concern is that people will press it, forget about it, lean on the door then when it opens fall out.

It has a secondary purpose in that pressing it requests a stop at a request stop.

Will be interesting to see if the UK FLIRTs have that feature, I expect not. I don't think the DB AG ones do.