What are you not allowed to do on the train?

[whole diary]

[grahame]

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

As a Canadian woman is spotted de-feathering a bird on the metro, what else should one never do on the tube, train or bus?

[Chris from Nailsea]

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

[grahame]

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!

[johoare]

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? 

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 

[NickB]

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...

[thetrout]

Someone has fallen asleep on me before...

During Glastonbury Festival I was on an Up HST^▸ (High Speed Train) heading for London which called at Castle Cary Lips sealed

I was just being served my lunch from the Travelling Chef when the festival goers herded into First Class and it was inevitable there was not going to be sufficient seating space. A group of girls decided to take up residence in Coach K so I stood u
p allow one to sit in the window seat. Sat down again. Then she decided she wanted to sit facing the other way. So up I get again, seats exchanged and thetrout reseated. By I'd say around Westbury/Pewsey, the girl now sat next to me had fallen asleep on my shoulder/arm...

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

• Don't eat hot food

Irritating smells are not welcome on public transport. The smell of food is the worst and most easily preventable. Fellow travellers will either want your food or suffer the stench of something they hate. They will resent you every moment that you are sticking Burger King chips into your face.

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

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!

[grahame]

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^▸ (High Speed Train) 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?

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...

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

[grahame]

From The BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

Anti-social commuters: Your tales of bad travel etiquette

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!

[eightonedee]

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!

[ChrisB]

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.

[JayMac]

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.

[ChrisB]

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

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

[PhilWakely]

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.

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

[ChrisB]

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

[JayMac]

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.