One of the biggest complaints about our
trains is the disgusting state that most of them seem to find themselves in.
There are repeated assurances that they are regularly cleaned but you have to
wonder if perhaps the hoovers are set to blow rather than suck.
So, yes it's easy to blame the cleaning
regime, and the age of the trains. But unfortunately some of the blame must
rest with certain passengers. It is almost the norm now for some people to put
their feet on the seat opposite, with no regard to the state of their shoes.
Interesting, sort of, to note that airline style seating where nobody sits
opposite, doesn’t fray nearly so quickly. And then litter rarely seems to find
its way into the bin with half eaten sandwiches left lying around. Half
finished drinks abandoned on a seat can often be found, leaking everywhere –
more often then not next to an empty bin.
And this isn't behaviour that is limited to a
particular age group either. People of an age that you would expect to know
better are equally guilty of this. Last week a lady well past retirement age
had both feet firmly planted on the seat opposite. When she got off, the
remains of her partly eaten snack were evenly distributed everywhere but the
bin, the wrappers strewn across the floor.
Having said that I remember a time when a train pulled into Colchester
and the chap in front of me got on to see a young lad with his feet on the
seats. He politely asked the lad if the leather jacket in the rack was his.
When told that it was, he calmly took it down, wiped the seat with it and then
put it back in the rack. This was met with an open mouthed look of amazement
from said youth and a round of applause from other passengers. Now I can't
really recommend this approach as sadly not all will see the error of their
ways quite so calmly and fisticuffs may ensue. I've seen that too.
But to return to my original point. No amount of cleaning, even with the hoovers
on the correct setting, will remove the stains from chewing gum that has become
part of the fabric. Yes the seat edges
are frayed but could that be down to a regular visit from a pair of size 9s
last seen tramping across a building site / office / playing field? (Delete as
appropriate)....
Published in The Gazette 'On The Rails' 5th February 2015
Published in The Gazette 'On The Rails' 5th February 2015
