to think that tube travel is hellish enough without having to endure mobile phone users

YANBU. I was so glad to read that today! It's trying enough listening to people's inane chatter on trains, let alone the tube.

Hoooray!

That is good news. Mind you I'm a massive grump and I even hate sitting next to people wearing headphones because you can always hear a bit of their music...

Why can't everyone just sit in silence with a good book, eh?

Thank God for that!
I hate it when two people who know each other get on and then proceed to TALK TO ONE ANOTHER!
I really think I would have commited murder if I had to listen to inane mobile phone conversations too.

I am not this grumpy in the rest of my life!

Ha ha, yes I totally agree, I thought the same when I read this this morning. Where I live on the Central line, quite a bit of my journey is in the open so I am subjected to enough annoying mobile phone conversation, and usually can't wait for the signal to disappear once we go underground. I too am an avid reader and hate it when people near me (or not so near, but they apparently seem to think that everyone in the carriage is interested in their boring chatter) have long conversations... even when I travel in with my husband he usually reads his paper and I have my head in a book

It'll happend sooner or later - Company I work for has developed a radio antenna for mobiles basestations (the bit your handset 'talks to') that you can hold in the palm of your hand so it makes deployment much cheaper and easier to do.

There is just no need for phone covarage everwhere on earth. I get 5 bars of signal in the middle of Bodmin Moor. Bodmin Moor! Is there no peace?

I think I need more sleep. I thought the OP said time travel.

I was wondering what I was missing.

I don't live in London so don't travel by tube, but I do hate people who talk/mobile on buses. Let me read in peace!!

Wasn't there was talk once of being able to use mobiles on planes too - noooo! One of the last few places where we can escape it. We all managed for centuries without mobiles, I'm sure the universe won't suddenly implode if people can't use their mobile for an hour

Hooray hooray hooray!

Mind you, the tube journeys I do are so crowded that no-one would be physically able to hold their phone to their ear anyway, as our arms are all pinned to our sides or hanging on desperately.

They should be banned on all public transport. Why should bus users have to endure them but not on the tube?

YANBU. Thank God for that. It would be horrific.

i got the tube overland last week and it was so annoying, everyone telling someone that they are on their way home. FGS

Who ever wanted this anyway? Ghastly idea. What is this obsession with being in touch with everyone,everywhere, anytime?

at last, more people like me! Thought I was the only one. nowahimean aniturnroundansed2er like.......

Thank goodness this hasn't happened. I try to avoid making phone calls on public transport although if I do I am very discrete!

Slightly separate note but the other week I was on a train and did make a very discrete call to DP to tell him about a job interview I had just had. I'm certain that my call was not intrusive and it didn't raise any eyebrows because I was considerate of others around me. To completely contrast my call, a girl opposite me picked up her phone and started to screech into it. Everyone was glaring and I had to eventually tell DP I would call him back as I couldn't hear him and had no desire to shout.

She then proceeded to make two other phone calls, talking about how she would have to quit one of her jobs in the town I was going to (gutted to hear that as it meant I was stuck with her until that stop!), speak to her father about how hard done by she was that she had been up since 6am to start work at the 'awful' hour of 9am and then tell her boyfriend how pleased she was that he didn't think she was arrogant and that she would 'be sick on his face'. This was all whilst kicking me. By kicking me I mean my legs by the way, not my chair!

Sorry - totally off topic but it got me thinking and now I'm furious again!

I was sat beside a woman on the very crowded train home from work who was talking loudly on her phone about her visit to the std clinic. She had a chlamidea and didn't know which one had given her it and the nurse said she had to tell the blokes she'd shaged but didn't get all their numbers. She finished the call saying she had to go because the nosy b*stards on the train were listening in.

After that i now only text when on public transport!

@ kaj. I can't believe people would discuss that!!! I had a guy on the train a few weeks ago ringing up his entire family one by one to tell them he had got into Veterinary College.
I rang my Mum up once when in Paris and instead of saying "hello im on the train!" i said "hello im on The Seine!!"

The best responce I have ever seen to a loud mouth phone user on the trains was this:

One young man on a train chatting really loudy, everyone in the carridge could hear him, not only that he was one of those people that repeated both sides of the conversation so we could basically could here the whole convo. So he was saying (one man remember) "hi darling how are you?, You're well!, Excellent good to hear, i am also fine. What are we having for dinner tonight?.... you want a takeaway! Oh lovely that sounds great, when do you want to go?, about 8 that sounds good to me....

You get the idea! Both side of the convo from a mouth of one man.
So these two women on the train, decided to go and sit either side of him..... ring one another, and have the same chat with each other. Again stating both sides of it! Once the man realised what was going on he went bright red and soon hung up.
The whole train was laughing and hopfully the man in question was never that annoying again.

DH came home last night and the first thing he told me about was some old twunt on the train who was SHOUTING down his phone, obviously talking to a family member, admonishing them for having the audacity to suggest a different destination for this summers holiday!

Then when he shut the hell up finished his call prompty fell fast asleep and snored so loudly the whole carriage could hear him!

Some people are very rude and I would have been compelled to tell the man to shut up.

Its just the same as listening to everybody else talking though ..plenty of people have loud conversations on the bus

can't see a problem with it really

I'm glad they're not doing this, I get quite anxious on public transport and this is made a million times worse by things like people having a loud conversation on the phone. That said, I'd be quite happy if they could provide a service on the tube where you could text but not actually make a phone call since it can be annoying to stand around waiting for someone at the tube station or if you know someone is waiting for you and the train is stuck in a tunnel. Wifi but no phone signal would be perfect really.


howlonguntiltheweekend: I admire your self control, I'm pretty sure I would have tried to beat her to death with her phone (unless you are on bail for GBH charges in which case I'll happily stump up a few quid to help you out with your legal costs).

I am amazed that so many people here have a problem with it. And I speak as someone who does a lot of commuting, but herself feels no need to use phone much on public transport. But why get annoyed with others? Can't you just tune them out?

The one thing about mobiles/trains that bothers me is where people (and it is always the older gereration) are textign or fiddling with mobile, but have not switched off the button-press bleep. So all I hear is bleep-bleeeep-bleeep-bleep-bleep-bleeeeeeeep.

Is it rude to ask very very politely if they need me to show them how to disable bleep?!

usualsuspect: People tend to talk much more loudly when they're on the phone though, people having a face to face conversation on the bus at the same level they'd use on the phone is even more annoying than people talking on the phone.