Great Western Coffee Shop

First Class travellers are a minority who uses valuable resources, so let's remove facilities for them.  Cyclists slow trains down, so let's not carry cycles on trains any more. Only a minority of people use catering services on trains, so let's withdraw all of those.  Proportionalty only a small proportion of rail travellers use wheelchairs, prams or pushchairs, so let's take away the specialised facilities provided for them.  Dogs should not be allowed on trains as only a few people take them. Luggage is a nuisance and most people take just the equivalnet of "cabin baggage", so in the interest of a streamlined system everyone should be limited to a single bag of modest size.  Only people who have travelled before should be allowed to travel, as newcomers tend to slow things down by asking questions, clustering at doors and not spreading along the platform (they also leave HST doors open!).  Anyone who reads "The Sun" should not be allowed to travel by train, as Sun readers are a minority ...

I AM posting "tongue in cheek" in "The Lighter Side".  Let's celebrate the diversity of people who can and want to use the rail service and welome everyone from the person with the pet aardvark to the left handed unicyclist!

I can unicycle and I'm left handed, unfortunately I do not have a pet Aardvark. Am I excluded? ;D

An excellent response, however, to some of the narrow minded posts in recent days. (Having said that, I hope I'm not guilty of 'minority' bashing!)

Quite right too !

(http://i33.tinypic.com/soydcp.jpg)

Absolutely agree Grahame.

The general aim of any supporter of rail should be to get as many people as possible travelling. 

More passengers = more people on our side when threatened with cuts/fare increases etc.
 

Yep, ban them all from trains, buses, roads, pavements, gutters, schools, hospitals, well everywhere in fact. A minority of each minority behaves badly, so they'll only have themselves to blame. Even the well behaved ones get in the way of the righteous majority, whose time is so much more precious.  :D

I would never expect a left handed unicylist to have a pet aardvark ... those are two very different types of people.   That's why I used them in a "from" and "to" comparison  ;D

Why shouldn't you expect left handed unicyclists to have pet aardvarks? Yet another minority prejudice. :P ;) ;D

I had no idea aardvarks were so ugly...with apologies to all those of you out there who keep them as pets and no doubt hold them in great affection...

I have practical experience on the subject of passengers delaying trains...it's waaaaaaay easier to keep to time running empty coaching stock than a train that's actually in service  ;)

The Japanese may have a solution to this perennial problem:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DfDOlUXEBo

Background info:

http://www.switched.com/2008/06/23/new-concept-train-doesnt-stop-to-pick-up-passengers/

Anyone in coffeshop-land able to translate Japan's answer to Digital Doris?

You have hurt Aarnold my pet Aardvark deeply !!

So just ban all passengers

Hmmm this doesn't stack up:

Cotswold line trains cart air around all day, and yet they're the least punctual! ;D :P

So perhaps banning passengers is overrated as an option...