What are you not allowed to do on the train?

[whole diary]

[JayMac]

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

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.

[TaplowGreen]

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

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

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.

 

Oooooooooooooooooooooos gonna scratch it? 

[ChrisB]

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?

[JayMac]

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:

7. Music, sound, advertising and carrying on a trade
(1) Except with written permission from an Operator no person on the railway shall, to the annoyance of any person:
(i) sing; or
(ii) use any instrument, article or equipment for the production or reproduction of sound.

<snip>

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

[ChrisB]

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.

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.

[eightonedee]

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?

[grahame]

Another article from The BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

Commuters applying make-up is a major source of irritation to BBC News readers who wrote in about irksome train etiquette. But what's the problem, and is it really anyone's business how passengers spend their travel time?

No-one likes being stuck on the train next to the man shouting into his mobile or opposite the woman eating raw fish.

But is applying a full face of slap between Peterborough and London King's Cross really on a par?

[grahame]

The Australian version ...

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

An update from Australia - in the Daily Mail

Commuters boarding a train on Wednesday were shocked to discover a man clipping his toenails in the middle of a carriage - and leaving the discarded nails on the floor.

Video footage shows the man strip off his shoe and sock on the Melbourne train before trimming his nails with a clipper. 

The passenger bends over to get closer to his foot before walking off and leaving the trimmings for someone else to clean up.