I've come up with a new term - "NESTing" - and perhaps it should be the target for all Train Operating Companies.
There's often complaints about overcrowding of trains, but definitions of this vary and people's acceptance levels sharply contrast. One element looks for a bay of four seats with a table for their group of two people, and feels that the train is too full for comfort when they can't find what they're looking for. The next group feels that groups travelling together should be able to sit together rather than having to break up. And at the other extreme, there are people who feel that as long as they can get on the train and stand in comfort, that's OK. So I propose the NEST standard.
Nearly All Seats Taken. There shouldn't be a need for people to stand in my view (I'll make an exception in the case of short journeys stretches of less than 10 minutes). But neither should there be an assumption that all travellers have plenty of room to spread out, nor that the seat beside you is designed not for another person but for your bags.
Travelling Southbound from Westbury to Portsmouth Harbour yesterday morning, our 2 car class 158 was nesting all the way. Excellent, though I think the weather and forecast and Bristol-centric sports program yesterday helped keep it down below the overcrowding level. I understand that the reverse service that was due to call in Westbury at around 11 was already full beyond capacity before it reached Southampton, and I wonder how the 2 car 158 did on its return - so there IS a need to run services at below the nesting level at times - nesting should be peak!
The train described arrived in Westbury
