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Original poster

Eating on Trains

293 replies

likepebblesonabeach · 07/06/2024 14:42

I travel on the train daily to work, 30 mins each way. I've just came back from a 3 hour train journey and was shocked that a family of 4 got on with fish and chips. The whole carriage was stinking of fish and chips and the majority of passengers were on the train the whole journey so had to put up with this for 3 hours.
AIBU that if you travel on public transport you should be aware of those around you?

OP posts:
spriots · 07/06/2024 22:15

yumyumyumy · 07/06/2024 22:07

I love hard boiled eggs but it's a no no on public transport. They can be quite pungent and stinky especially if you aren't keen.

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I find this fascinating because I can't smell them at all!

They would never have been on a list of stinky food for me

TheHateIsNotGood · 07/06/2024 22:14

I think it's quite sweet really; a famished family of 4 getting on a train at the end of the day (presumably) tucking into fish and chips.

If I were seated nearby, overcome by the smell, I'd be asking for a chip or two to compensate.

LivingDeadGirlUK · 07/06/2024 22:14

This is one of those 'whats ok if rich people do it but scummy if poor people do it' things.

Perfectly acceptable to pay £300 for a first class ticket and be served a full English at your table but heaven forbid someone has a bacon sandwich in stsndard class!

WiddlinDiddlin · 07/06/2024 22:10

LNER serve bacon rolls, chickpea curry wraps, cheese and onion sandwiches, various stinky crisps..

Loads of the tourist attraction train services, you can pay for a Fish and Chips train ride where the entire point is to eat fish and chips on the train!

I think eating food on the train is generally accepted by train companies as ok.

yumyumyumy · 07/06/2024 22:07

ZiriForGood · 07/06/2024 21:53

I thought that one of the big differences between trains and city transport is that it is actually allowed and expected to eat on the board including hot meals, both from the dining car and from the train station's takeaways.

Btw, what is the issue with hard boiled eggs?

I love hard boiled eggs but it's a no no on public transport. They can be quite pungent and stinky especially if you aren't keen.

PuttingDownRoots · 07/06/2024 22:06

Fish and chip train

https://kwvr.co.uk/events/haworth-haddock/

Not a public service admittedly...

WiddlinDiddlin · 07/06/2024 22:05

AgentProvocateur · 07/06/2024 15:10

I got on an emirates flight last week (ie, one you get a hot meal on) and a family sat down and they all had a Macdonald’s meal. So inconsiderate.

How is what must have been a cold McDonalds more stinky than the hot meal that would be served on the plane?

ZiriForGood · 07/06/2024 21:53

I thought that one of the big differences between trains and city transport is that it is actually allowed and expected to eat on the board including hot meals, both from the dining car and from the train station's takeaways.

Btw, what is the issue with hard boiled eggs?

ButWhatAboutTheBees · 07/06/2024 21:45

It could be argued that the public spirited option is to suck up your own discomfort at food smells in acknowledgement that some people are on very long train rides and need to eat during them....

Octavia64 · 07/06/2024 21:37

No fish and chips on LNER

www.lner.co.uk/globalassets/lner2586-dine-menu-april-2024-final.pdf

Original poster
likepebblesonabeach · 07/06/2024 21:22

mitogoshi · 07/06/2024 17:54

They serve fish and chips on some train lines so I'm pretty sure they expect you to eat it.

I'm genuinely interested as to what train operator serves fried fish and chips onboard

OP posts:
Nightowl1234 · 07/06/2024 20:54

Amsx · 07/06/2024 14:55

Some absolute wrong un ate 3 boiled eggs on a train I was on recently. Pulled them out of a bag he had in his pocket, peeled them and ate them.

Was disgusting. The bloke opposite called him a barbarian.

Haha brilliant! How did the Barbarian respond?

SwingTheMonkey · 07/06/2024 20:51

MidnightMeltdown · 07/06/2024 20:46

I'm afraid that's the price of public transport.

Personally I find it more annoying when people are loud, playing music, or something noisy on an iPad for the whole carriage to hear.

Absolutely!

On a recent train journey, a woman had a very loud conversation for more than an hour, which included details of her sex life, for all around to hear.

Ap42 · 07/06/2024 20:48

I mean, at most I would have a sandwich on a train, but not fish and chips, that smell lingers!
I was on a long haul flight some years ago, and another passenger started painting her nails... stunk the plane out! So inconsiderate.

MidnightMeltdown · 07/06/2024 20:46

I'm afraid that's the price of public transport.

Personally I find it more annoying when people are loud, playing music, or something noisy on an iPad for the whole carriage to hear.

EverythingYouDoIsaBalloon · 07/06/2024 20:43

Okay so you got 100s of different passengers on public transport - so who gets to decide what is considered considerate or inconsiderate? As I said, if it bothers someone so much then the other alternative is to use your own transport. You can't dictate what others can or can't do on public transport.

Dictate, no. Hold an opinion, yes.

If people were more public-spirited instead of espousing the cult of the individual, there would be fewer conversations like this, though. Because, as this thread demonstrates, there are some foods that are more or less universally deemed as too antisocial to eat on a train, so if more people were considerate of others the world (or at least trains) would arguably be a nicer place for everyone.

Babysharkdodododododoo · 07/06/2024 20:41

Lol these threads always go the same way, I can just picture it now, someone 'sobbing and shaking ' because someone ate a cheesy Dorito 3 carriages down and they couldn't bear it.

cardibach · 07/06/2024 20:38

DiscoBeat · 07/06/2024 19:54

Not sitting almost touching, or directly opposite - I would just feel uncomfortable with it.

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Why though? I really don’t understand the issue. And ‘almost touching’? Eh?

Noonecares245 · 07/06/2024 20:38

KarenOH · 07/06/2024 20:28

So basically people can do what they want and if you don’t like it, get a car? Makes total sense.

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No let's board the public transport and make everyone else my follow my rules - makes sense eh

RainbowColouredRainbows · 07/06/2024 20:38

But who gets to decide what is appropriate and what is not? This thread is proof that people react to different smells differently.
I love the smell of McDonald's but the smell of the sour cream pringles makes me gag. I don't think pizza has got a particularly strong smell. I can only smell cheese, so how would that be less sociable than someone having a cheese toastie from the catering cart?

SwingTheMonkey · 07/06/2024 20:38

Octavia64 · 07/06/2024 15:14

I am travelling long distance by train tomorrow.

I am absolutely taking a packed lunch to eat on the train and will be buying multiple cups of tea and coffee. I expect most other passengers will do likewise.

(I don't like the smell of hot food on a train although I have been guilty of getting a maccies for the train after a late night out but to be honest on the last train home nobody cares about the smell of hot food it's the vomit that bothers them)

Same here!

We’ll have a packed lunch. My kids will likely want to eat all the way there. We’ve tried to be considerate with sandwich fillings but hell no am I taking my kids on a long train journey with no food!

Someone ate kimchi on a train I was on the other day - it was a tad smelly but didn’t affect me in any great way.

EverythingYouDoIsaBalloon · 07/06/2024 20:36

So basically people can do what they want and if you don’t like it, get a car? Makes total sense.

I suspect pp is one of those that exhorts people who don't like listening to their neighbours' kids screaming 24/7 to 'move to the middle of nowhere'.

Swordandpanda · 07/06/2024 20:34

I used to commute on the 6.45am Hounslow to Hammersmith tube. An impeccably dressed man in his 30s would board with 4 cans of special brew and drink them all in the 25 minute journey. It didn’t bother me but I always wondered what his job could be.

leafybrew · 07/06/2024 20:29

Amsx · 07/06/2024 14:55

Some absolute wrong un ate 3 boiled eggs on a train I was on recently. Pulled them out of a bag he had in his pocket, peeled them and ate them.

Was disgusting. The bloke opposite called him a barbarian.

That is actually gross!!😮

I think I’d prefer fish and chips 😝

KarenOH · 07/06/2024 20:28

Noonecares245 · 07/06/2024 14:52

There is nothing wrong with it whatsoever. If it bothers you so much, consider driving in your own car.

So basically people can do what they want and if you don’t like it, get a car? Makes total sense.

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