Great Western Coffee Shop

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/10998241/Plucking-a-chicken-on-the-tube-and-other-things-not-to-do-on-public-transport.html

Actually, after reading that Telegraph article, I'd tend to agree that all nine of the 'offences' listed are, err, rather offensive.  ;) :D ;D

The Australian version ...

"passengers shaving their heads, exposing their breasts and falling asleep on strangers' shoulders"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2798817/are-disgusting-commuters-social-media-photos-man-shaving-head-woman-examining-breasts-train.html

I was about to add a poll about what you think it's reasonable for people to do on a train ... but then I fear that might upset any members who regularly shave on the 07:04 from Maidenhead if the majority tell them they find it disgusting!

You mean I have to shave before I leave home from now on?  :P ::) ::)

Slightly more seriously.. I've only fallen asleep on someones shoulder once and that was because someone had fallen asleep on my shoulder and they were heavier than me  ;D

My favourite was watching an elderly chap shell a bucket of prawns on the Bakerloo line in the morning.  He had 3 buckets - one of prawns, and then one for shells and one for 'usable' bits.  This was clearly not a one-off practice.

I'd love to know what restaurant he was doing that for...

Someone has fallen asleep on me before...


And I don't think I told this story on here, but the article just reminded me:


I bought Egg and Chips on Toast from the travelling chef after I discovered she had run out of cheese... ::) The lady sat opposite to me said "Did you have to do that? not everyone wants the smell of food filling up the train" I responded by passing her a menu and said the food was well worth a try. Within 10 minutes she'd ordered Burger and Chips ;D

But really? I don't get whats wrong with the hot food especially on INTERCITY services. I really don't. Especially purchased from the Travelling Chef / Pullman?! Yes sometimes I get the fast food thing and agree slightly there, but if the person hasn't eaten anything for a few hours and skipped lunch etc. Then is it that unreasonable?

I'd take sitting next to someone eating a Burger King / McDonalds any day of the week over a guy eating prawns and tuna which stunk all of First Class out to the point I didn't want to sit in there anymore!

It does seem perverse to sell food on the train ... then object to people eating it.   I bought a bacon panini on the London to Aberdeen HST the other week - from the buffet, only place to eat it was back at my seat. But then ...

There are big objections to people eating and drinking on buses (perhaps they're filled with a different type of air?)

Garages sell alcohol to drivers ... and there's discouragement from drinking and driving.

Can you eat food on a rail replacement bus service?


Working on the train is fine, isn't it?  ;D

From The BBC (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-45317372)


They sell the most delicious curries at a station outlet in King's Cross and offer you them as takeaway.   What a yummy meal on the way to Cambridge - and no need for a buffet or restaurant car!

There's a big problem with the food on trains debate. There is an enormous range of foods that someone somewhere might find offensive or unpleasant. Some people dislike spicy food smells or garlic, some don't like egg, others the greasy smell of much cooked fast food.

However for a lot of people, the train ride in their day may be the only opportunity they have to  grab a bite on the way to or from work or a meeting. I would much rather that the complaints concentrated  on the litter/mess that the thoughtless minority of on-train diners and snackers leave behind, and the rest of us were a little more tolerant of people who eat!

Sorry, I have little time for those that say they can't make time to eat.....get up a tad earlier for breakfast, leave a little more time to catch your train etc....most do it when out for an evening meal. It's convenience & lazyness in the mojority of ocassions. Something to do while sitting on a train.

I do it too....but will only scoff food (cold usually) that doesn't smell the coach out. That's easy to select too, oddly enough.#

Add 'consideration for your fellow passengers' to that list. Very few do.=, when buying food.

Add 'mind your own business' to that list too. Who are you to tell others how they should live their life and when and where they should eat.

Eating food on a train is not an offence. Only allowing what one person deems to be bland isn't on.

Live and let live.

Consideration for your fellow human beings trumps that....

Scratching your (bare) arse in public isn't illegal, but I hope you'd refrain?

I guess you would choose not to sit in Coach F (or L) on any one of GWR's Pullman services then? Whilst I detest the smell of frying (burnt) bacon, I will not begrudge my fellow passengers their full English.

Not at all....you sit there specifically to eat. Everyone. Similar to eating in a restaurant. It's what you do there

Having a bare arse in public could certainly be illegal. Scratched or unscratched. Besides which, false equivalence.

And how does one determine who of their fellow passengers might be bothered by you eating a food they deem nasally offensive? So many  variables, so many foods.

If you have a problem with what others are eating then you move.

 

And the smells that permeate adjacent carriages? Are they not just as offensive to your delicate olfactory sense as that from food consumed in a regular carriage?  ::)

Tell you what I don't like since I quit smoking 8 years ago. Someone who smells of tobacco sitting near me. I don't make a big deal out of it though. I just understand that it's public transport, accessible to all, and provided nothing illegal is being done, I live and let live.

Oooooooooooooooooooooos gonna scratch it?  ;)

I don't think many would agree with you.

If you don't like *that* equivalence, how about watching/listening to video/music either without headphones or so loud that headphones still leak the sound? Perfect equivalence. You reckon that this is acceptable & would suggest those affected move?

It's an equivalence of sorts but it's also 'whataboutery'. Shifting the argument to another topic. Consuming food on a train isn't illegal. It doesn't and shouldn't require meeting some 'consideration' threshold. People eat because they have to, not because they are inconsiderate.

Playing videos or listening to music without headphones can be illegal on a train. So it is in fact a false equivalence.

Railway Byelaw 7:


No need to move in that instance. Request they stop and/or report. The law is on your side.

Unless on a journey of several hours, they don't *have* to eat at that precise moment, unless a medical condition (diabetes for example) requires it. It's just convenient (to them) to while away some time) while inconveniencing others. I am only referring to smelly (usually hot) convenience food, however. There's plenty that isn't, and I manage it easily.

This would be fine if everyone simply used a train to go back and forth between a  9 to 5 job and home, without having any evening activities (such as community transport group meetings!) to go to after work, and at work they never have to travel to meetings by train. Many of us do not have such a lifestyle, not that I am complaining as I have a challenging job and some out of work interests that enrich my life. It would have an adverse impact on my health if I had to wait until I get home at 10pm before I could eat on a day when I am out and about on work and non-work activity. My 35 - 45 minute commute on the North Downs Line, or any journey between either Guildford or Reading and London are ideal times to "fuel" on busy days.

As others have said - why on earth ban eating on trains when there is quite an industry selling passengers food at stations of any substantial size?

Another article from The BBC (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-45343836)

An update from Australia - in the Daily Mail (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6675881/Disgusting-moment-commuter-takes-trims-TOE-NAILS-train-Melbourne.html)