Why do some passengers not get how annoying it is to play music and videos out loud?

[Flying Snail]

I do find it odd that Merseyrail don't enforce it, though. To me it is a LOT more annoying than feet on the seat frame which they seem obsessed about. Indeed I find it hugely more annoying than even vaping.

Have you asked them? Either Merseyrail or the on-board personnel.

If the one TOC that actually has suitable staff regularly patrol their trains that can't or won't enforce this then there is no chance for the rest.

 

[al78]

I got a gobful of abuse the last time I asked for someone to turn a device down.

There is your problem, there is nothing effective you can do in response to that and they know it. You are tramlined by civility, they are not.

 

[John Luxton]

Perhaps I am rather old school but the only place I play music out loud is either at home or when driving. To listen to music or anything else whilst out in public just never enters my concience. Just something I don't do, never have. I won't even talk to anyone on my mobile other than to tell them to call later when I have left the train / bus / ferry or I will call them back.

However, apart from music the other thing that annoys me are people who carry out mobile phone converstation with the speaker turned up.

No so long ago I was on a Merseyrail train and some chap in a seating bay near me decides to conduct some phone banking on his mobile, I could hear everything including his password being given out.

I was thinking who would do that in a public place? Anyway his call was short as he started his conversation just before as the train rolled into Birkenhead Park a minute later he was cut off as the train went into the tunnel!

 

[Towers]

What would help massively would be a prominent campaign incorporating both pre-recorded PIS announcements and very overt stickers inside trains.

It’s very apparent that in today’s society there is frequently a need to make things unavoidably obvious - quiet zone signage is a very good example, many people have no idea that they’re sat in one. I can think of internal signage on both GWR & SWR as instances of it being far too subtle and easily missed. Even First Class is frequently not as obvious as it could be, beyond a few stickers on internal doors (not especially useful when the doors open as they’re approached!) and the antimacassars. All too often there seems to be an assumption that people will look for it signage, the reality being that many people are blissfully ignorant unless you wave something in their face!

The addition of clear signage is a massive help in encouraging others to point out rules, as well as making the ‘offenders’ themselves more aware of their wrongdoing of course!

 

[Flying Snail]

Yes, its a big problem now. I find it a bigger problem on long distance coach services like the overnight Megabus services. I guess people think it accepted now as people are too scared to say anything.

I'm surprised the drivers put up with it, I certainly didn't. Not on daytime services and I had no tolerance for any noise on night time runs where most passengers are sleeping or trying to, on one occasion I just took the phone off the offender and he was very lucky it was still on the bus by the end of the journey.

Secondly, it can be a cultural issue, some people use voice notes and video calls to connect with family back home.

Perhaps the assumption that nobody else can understand the language makes having a loud 2 way speakerphone conversation more likely, the other logical assumption as to why certain demographics seem more likely to engage in this behaviour would probably be considered controversial.

 

[al78]

Simply because standards of behaviour and awareness continue to fall. No-one expects to be challenged about their behaviour. It manifests in all areas of society.

I agree. I am also of the increasing opinion that there is a significant subset of people for whom fundamental life functions such as respiration consume so much cognitive resources, there is little left over for things like situational awareness, so it is binned at every opportunity. I can come up with (to me) ridiculous examples of thoughtlessness that go way beyond inflicting noise on everyone around.

... on one occasion I just took the phone off the offender and he was very lucky it was still on the bus by the end of the journey.

I think you were very lucky he didn't turn violent. How good are you at self defence?

 

[Flying Snail]

I think you were very lucky he didn't turn violent. How good are you at self defence?

No, he was a pathetic little pipsqueak that I'd already spoken to twice about playing music on the bus.

I've dealt with far more intimidating people over the years including several threats of violence, one assault and a few other colourful incidents, they were all over fare dodging.

Most people that were told to stop playing stuff out loud or shouting into phones complied, if reluctantly.

 

[CaptainHaddock]

What would help massively would be a prominent campaign incorporating both pre-recorded PIS announcements and very overt stickers inside trains.

Er....so your solution to there being too much annoying noise on trains is to demand yet another announcement, creating even more annoying noise which will drive people to turn up their music to drown out the annoying announcements?

 

[Trainfan2019]

Another early morning train, another passenger (an adult, not a teenager doing it for annoyance) playing multiple music tracks and streaming videos out loud instead of using ear buds. It really should be obvious how annoying it is to others, and just about everyone with a phone also has ear buds or head phones. Just what is it that they fail to understand?

I know exactly what you mean and totally agree with you.

External noises bother me a lot because of my Asperger's. Not every noise though. Music/ videos playing out loud on a train really irritates me and I feel panicky.

I've come to the conclusion that there's so many people who have no respect for others and just do what they want.

In the calm room at Crewe station, there's been several occasions over the summer where noise got unbearable so I had to leave. On the train I usually put headphones in to block sound out or move to another carriage. There's been times when I've moved carriages 3 times on the same journey just to get away from noise.

 

[lachlan]

I know exactly what you mean and totally agree with you.

External noises bother me a lot because of my Asperger's. Not every noise though. Music/ videos playing out loud on a train really irritates me and I feel panicky.

I've come to the conclusion that there's so many people who have no respect for others and just do what they want.

In the calm room at Crewe station, there's been several occasions over the summer where noise got unbearable so I had to leave. On the train I usually put headphones in to block sound out or move to another carriage. There's been times when I've moved carriages 3 times on the same journey just to get away from noise.

I do think rail companies should be doing something about it from an accesibility perspective. It's unpleasant and unfairly impacts neurodiverse people who may struggle to otherwise ignore it. It also blocks out announcements which some people rely on.

The question is who should this be raised with where something may actually be done about it.

I have asked other passengers to mute their phones in the past with varying degrees of success.

 

[Halwynd]

It's anti-social behaviour.

As we know, Merseyrail issue fines to those putting their feet on seats - the same should apply with noise nuisance onboard.

This problem has been growing for quite a while but TOC senior management have failed to act.

 

[NewarkRed]

Need guards to be more visible and police it. Not sat in the back cab.

Need Control teams to respond to anti Social behaviour instead of saying “I’ll log it”

 

[Deepgreen]

There is your problem, there is nothing effective you can do in response to that and they know it. You are tramlined by civility, they are not.

Yes, it is a problem, but the last time that happened to me I removed the abuser (who was obviously 'on' something) from the train at the next station, which he very definitely was not expecting from a passenger sitting in first class! Not a course of action open to everyone, though, I know.

 

[Johnny Lewis]

On a recent journey, I was the only other passenger in First Class with a middle-aged woman sat a few seats away from me. Annoyingly, I had forgotten to bring my headphones on this journey. She was repeatedly listening to loud videos on her phone, so, after enduring it for about an hour, I - politely - asked her could she please stop doing so, which she agreed to. Ten minutes later, she started up again, so this time I wasn't quite so polite (although I didn't swear at her).
By this time, the crew and conductor had noticed - I'd already tipped the conductor off about her behaviour and he said he'd keep an eye on her, but hadn't bothered to do so.
Rather to my surprise, the crew told me - in no uncertain terms - to sit down, then struck up conversation with the woman, chatting away to her like a long-lost friend. Essentially this made it feel like it was me who was in the wrong and not her (although it did stop her from listening to any more videos).
As there was only one First Class carriage on the train, I didn't really have the option to move.
It rather ruined the rest of the journey for me.
Lesson learned - always make sure you have headphones with you for a long journey.

 

[Krokodil]

Agree. Even Merseyrail's rentathugs seem to ignore it - they really should be policing it.

You'd think that they'd go down hard on it, as they do with anything else.

It's already an offence. I agree, it needs to be enforced. The legislation is there to do it.

He's aware of that, his gripe was that the "to the annoyance of any other person" condition allows people to claim "no one minded" or leaves staff powerless to act unless someone actually complains.

As a guard I work on the basis that I am included in "any other person" and ask people to turn the sound off if I can hear it.

 

[MrToad]

I always find that in each carriage there is usually one person or groups of people who make more noise than the rest of the carriage put together. Screaming/noisy children I accept as they do not have a volume button, but its those who stream a TV programme or play a game at what sounds like full volume. I cannot recall the last time I heard a guard ask them to turn it down/off.

 

[bramling]

On a recent journey, I was the only other passenger in First Class with a middle-aged woman sat a few seats away from me. Annoyingly, I had forgotten to bring my headphones on this journey. She was repeatedly listening to loud videos on her phone, so, after enduring it for about an hour, I - politely - asked her could she please stop doing so, which she agreed to. Ten minutes later, she started up again, so this time I wasn't quite so polite (although I didn't swear at her).
By this time, the crew and conductor had noticed - I'd already tipped the conductor off about her behaviour and he said he'd keep an eye on her, but hadn't bothered to do so.
Rather to my surprise, the crew told me - in no uncertain terms - to sit down, then struck up conversation with the woman, chatting away to her like a long-lost friend. Essentially this made it feel like it was me who was in the wrong and not her (although it did stop her from listening to any more videos).
As there was only one First Class carriage on the train, I didn't really have the option to move.
It rather ruined the rest of the journey for me.
Lesson learned - always make sure you have headphones with you for a long journey.

That probably does merit a complaint. It’s one thing staff taking the line of “regrettably we don’t get involved in these sorts of issues as it can cause us to be at risk of being assaulted”, but going so far as to tacitly encourage it isn’t on.

It can be the case that off-duty staff can be some of the worst offenders, which is quite surprising really as most staff more than anyone tend to value peace and quiet.

 

[Peter0124]

I always find that in each carriage there is usually one person or groups of people who make more noise than the rest of the carriage put together. Screaming/noisy children I accept as they do not have a volume button, but its those who stream a TV programme or play a game at what sounds like full volume. I cannot recall the last time I heard a guard ask them to turn it down/off.

Or when parents play entertainment shows for their kids out of the speaker of their ipad rather than buying their kids headphones to listen to it with.

 

[TUC]

Enforced by whom though? The same people that aren't enforcing other bylaws presumably.

A minor thing the rail companies could do is put up posters and scrolling messages on internal screens stating the illegality of playing sounds on board.



They might be fine to you, or you may want them to be fine because you are one of those regularly making them. I don't find people loudly talking into a phone for an extended time to be fine, it is annoying and intrusive to those near and that's not even considering people using speakerphone or video calls.

Short calls at low volume are one thing but long loud calls which is all too common are not and I see no reason why they should be, it is inevitably just gossipy drivel that is of next to no importance at all and can be done somewhere else when it is not going to disturb others.

I didn't mean calls where people have their speaker on. There's no good reason for that. If they just have the phone to their ear, that's fine,

 

[Y Ddraig Coch]

Maybe they are doing it to drown out the near constant auto announcements these days which are worse than music being played loud ( I am joking ....ish)

 

[Krokodil]

The question is how? If staff are reluctant to tackle fare dodgers for fear of an unscheduled trip to hospital, why would they be any more willing to confront someone playing music out loud? The risk of aggressive retaliation is still there.

There's less conflict involved in asking someone to stop playing music than there is in trying to get money out of them.

What would help massively would be a prominent campaign incorporating both pre-recorded PIS announcements

Great, deal with noise pollution by adding to it.

Perhaps the assumption that nobody else can understand the language makes having a loud 2 way speakerphone conversation more likely

In my experience there are plenty of English speakers who will subject others to their incredibly dull phone conversations. One still can't understand what the other party is saying because the sound from a phone loudspeaker is poor quality.

Rather to my surprise, the crew told me - in no uncertain terms - to sit down, then struck up conversation with the woman, chatting away to her like a long-lost friend. Essentially this made it feel like it was me who was in the wrong and not her (although it did stop her from listening to any more videos).

I would have put in a complaint about that.

 

[CaptainHaddock]

I thought I might have imagined it but a quick Google search revealed I didn't...but in 2008 Chiltern Trains revealed they were trialling a form of rubber coating on one of their coaches that would block a mobile phone signal.

BBC NEWS | England | Train company 'may block mobiles'

news.bbc.co.uk

Unfortunately I can't find out whether anything came if it, but if it were possible wouldn't it be great if there was a genuinely quiet coach where people actually couldn't play music on their phones even if they tried to?!!!

 

[lachlan]

I thought I might have imagined it but a quick Google search revealed I didn't...but in 2008 Chiltern Trains revealed they were trialling a form of rubber coating on one of their coaches that would block a mobile phone signal.

BBC NEWS | England | Train company 'may block mobiles'

news.bbc.co.uk

Unfortunately I can't find out whether anything came if it, but if it were possible wouldn't it be great if there was a genuinely quiet coach where people actually couldn't play music on their phones even if they tried to?!!!

Nowadays some trains have repeaters to improve the signal inside carriages. How times change!

 

[Flying Snail]

I didn't mean calls where people have their speaker on. There's no good reason for that. If they just have the phone to their ear, that's fine,

And I was referring to people with the phone to their ear, if they are being loud it is not fine, it is imposing on everyone else around them.

 

[yorksrob]

I thought I might have imagined it but a quick Google search revealed I didn't...but in 2008 Chiltern Trains revealed they were trialling a form of rubber coating on one of their coaches that would block a mobile phone signal.

I guess that's called using protection from noise pollution

 

[Towers]

Great, deal with noise pollution by adding to it.

An occasional stern auto announcement is enormously preferable to YouTube/TikTok/Chanice and Chelsea’s inane conversation/etc at full speaker volume for an extended period, I’d happily take the former if it helps prevent the latter.

 

[Peter0124]

I thought I might have imagined it but a quick Google search revealed I didn't...but in 2008 Chiltern Trains revealed they were trialling a form of rubber coating on one of their coaches that would block a mobile phone signal.

BBC NEWS | England | Train company 'may block mobiles'

news.bbc.co.uk

Unfortunately I can't find out whether anything came if it, but if it were possible wouldn't it be great if there was a genuinely quiet coach where people actually couldn't play music on their phones even if they tried to?!!!

I disagree with this cause those of us who wanna work on a laptop or watch youtube with earphones in wouldn't be able to in that particular carriage

Also it still wouldn't completely fix the problem as you could just play downloaded content on your phone even without signal.

 

[AndrewP]

I just don't get this - earbuds and headphones have never been cheaper. You don't need Bose or Beats - Poundland ones work!

It's also not just a problem with the young or on trains - I was in an airport lounge and an elderly lady started a video call on speaker while everyone else, including several younger people, were quietly working or using headphones. I was so tempted to ask if everyone was invited to join her public call but she ended it when she realised everyone was looking at her!

 

[CaptainHaddock]

I disagree with this cause those of us who wanna work on a laptop or watch youtube with earphones in wouldn't be able to in that particular carriage

Also it still wouldn't completely fix the problem as you could just play downloaded content on your phone even without signal.

Which is why you would only have it on one or two coaches rather than the whole train, giving all of us a choice.

As for downloaded content, I was under the impression that all audio and video content on phones is streamed these days?

 

[SquireBev]

As for downloaded content, I was under the impression that all audio and video content on phones is streamed these days?

Not necessarily - you could be re-watching videos you've taken yourself, for instance, and most streaming services have the option to download music so you can keep listening even without a signal.