to be staggered by how appalling this is?

[sadpapercourtesan]

My 17yo son was on a Cross Country train yesterday. The buffet car was open and several passengers were removing their masks to eat, so DS1 lowered his to eat a packet of crisps he had with him (it was a long journey and he did need to eat)

Train conductor came through and told him to put it back on, because passengers may only remove their masks to eat food purchased in the buffet car!

WTAF?!

I think this is actually worth a polite email to their customer services to clarify the rules.

It's the train companies right to decide if people can eat food that was purchased elsewhere on the train but I think they are being daft to insist upon it, it's customary to buy food at the station or take food from home to eat on a train after all. It's not appalling though, many things are but that isn't serious enough to be appalling.

Its no different to going to any venue that sells food and being asked not to consume food you didn’t buy on the premises

A train is a means of transport not a mobile cafe or restaurant. What next? Can’t have a picnic in any park that has a cafe?

Thats rubbish, what a stupid rule. I assume being hungry he was eating them one after the other, not kind of vaguely wafting the packet in front of him as an excuse to not wear a mask?

Then again I don't eat crisps on trains as it is horrendous for misophonia sufferers, I try and stick to less crunchy food. But not the point here.

YANBU for the actual incident.

YABU for your overreaction.

Eating is eating regardless where you bought it. I wouldn’t have been happy with that either.

Hmmm with type one diabetics in the family (insulin dependant and HAVE to be able to eat) I wonder if they would be exempt from this, or forced to buy overpriced onboard good/collapse?

It's all about the money... same with lots of the covid rules... yanbu

I think 'staggered' is a little over the top.

But yes - a bizarre reaction from the guard.

perhaps he was confused and not happy about having to go down the train keeping passengers in line..

Seems crazy to me - I take my own booze on trains - I guess I could stick a straw up and under my mask

Whats the big deal? Put it back on, wait until he walks off and remove it again. Not even threadworthy.

Was he sat in the buffet car?

Presumably they are applying more stringent hygiene rules in the buffet cart. You are being daft.

Whilst the post title is OTT, the point being made is completely valid. We are going to have to put up with an excess of this sort of ‘jobsworth’ behaviour in the coming weeks.

@Fruitsaladjelly

Was he sat in the buffet car?

It's been a long time since you could sit in the buffet car on a train. Many of them just have a trolley service now - where there is a buffet car, it's a takeaway (sometimes there at seat service if you go First Class).

Appalling and discusting

YAnBU, but your reaction is OTT
The guard was wrong, no they cannot enforce only buffet purchased food, either you can eat or you can't end.....

But to be staggered by how appalling it is? YABU. You could have a lucrative career writing for the Mail

How are you on things that are HILARIOUS OP?

Well, that's not what I expected to read after clicking on that thread title.

Are you sure you're ok op?

All the Cross country trains I've been on have a trolley service, so I'm surprised that they have a buffet car as well. I've never bought anything from the trolley and have never been told not to eat my own food. Is this a new rule?

OTT reaction, but yes it is stupid. The virus can't detect where people bought their snacks from. Either there's a risk or there isn't.

Very annoying and stupid. Masks are a safety thing, so either everyone should have to wear them at all times on the train or no one. Financial reasons should not come into it, it makes a mockery of it all to allow those eating train bought food to remove them, but not others.

@trappedsincesundaymorn

All the Cross country trains I've been on have a trolley service, so I'm surprised that they have a buffet car as well. I've never bought anything from the trolley and have never been told not to eat my own food. Is this a new rule?

There's never been a rule stopping you eating your own food on trains. As you rightly say, most of them have trolleys now (GWR still have buffets) and it takes ages for the trolley to work its way through the train so it's quite possible not to see it at all during your journey. It's also common for it to run out of things, as they only take on new stock at certain larger stations.

Staggered and appalled? Behave yourself

I don’t think there’s any legislation to protect your right to munch on a bag of crisps on (privately owned) public transport. They’re perfectly within their rights to restrict food consumption to their own if they want to although in the real world they’d be wise to advertise that fact although most people would just ignore it and eat when there was no guard around.

@Hangingover

But to be staggered by how appalling it is? YABU. You could have a lucrative career writing for the Mail

How are you on things that are HILARIOUS OP?

OP never wears a slightly low-cut top; she puts on a VERY busty display.

She doesn't give her partner a peck on the cheek in public; they pack on the PDA.

But I do agree with your underlying point OP. It's ridiculous.

Catering - Catering is now available on-board our services. To keep our customers and colleagues safe, catering will be provided from a static location at one end of the train. On-board colleagues will make regular announcements to let customers know when and where to find our catering trolley.

Customers are welcome to bring their own food on-board for their journey and face coverings can be removed only whilst food & drink is being consumed. If you are travelling with us in Wales, please note that under current guidelines the consumption of food and drink is banned on-board.

www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/coronavirus#face-covering-faqs

Whilst OP's reaction is a bit OTT, the Cross Country website makes it clear that the conductor was in the wrong.