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Original poster

Public transport / crowded trains

48 replies

BunnytheBee · 05/03/2020 16:19

I commute by train every day. It is a relatively short journey (about 25 mins) but the trains can be quite crowded. There are usually full seats and people standing all the way down the carriage and in the areas where the doors are. Often, at each station, people jusy pile on.

Apart from the train journey, I don’t much mind coming into the office, and would prefer to work in the office than at home.

Does anyone else have this issue? Any tips! It wouldn’t be so bad if people did basic things like wash their hands and cover their mouths when they cough (or stay at home if unwell?!) but many don’t seem to.

Help.

OP posts:
Original poster
BunnytheBee · 06/03/2020 19:15

Meanwhile DH thinks I’m a nag for asking him to wash his hands before making tea (when we have just come from said crowded train journey)

Isn’t it normal to do this now??

(“Nag” presumably because this is not the first time I have asked when he has done the same thing)

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Sugarmirror · 06/03/2020 20:28

Absolutely not. Basic hand hygiene in an epidemic is not ‘nagging’. Basic hand hygiene outside of an epidemic is not ‘nagging’. Which is a horribly sexist term anyway

Original poster
BunnytheBee · 06/03/2020 20:35

When I say “tea” I mean the drink, not as in a Northern dinner BTW but he’s still touching stuff in the kitchen 😬

OP posts:
bugbhaer · 06/03/2020 20:55

But I'm not an expert - just a scientist who thinks the less people...

Fewer!

Sugarmirror · 06/03/2020 20:58

I think washing your hands when coming home is probably a pretty much basic now...why would you not?

IllustriousToad · 06/03/2020 21:06

I have to do a similar commute in the train every day in rush hour, and have a serious underlying illness which has a very high mortality rate (wish I hadn't googled the stats Confused).... no idea what to do! Thinking about asking work if I can wfh more but no-one else is and work hasn't said anything yet other than follow official guidelines. Doesn't help that I'm fairly young and fit, and look perfectly well so no-one thinks there's anything wrong!

Original poster
BunnytheBee · 06/03/2020 21:28

@IllustriousToad I’d say speak to your employer if you can. They can’t ignore that you are higher risk. Is there anYthing else they can do? A friend told me today her employer is paying for people to have a parking space nearby so they don’t need to get public transport.

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IllustriousToad · 07/03/2020 00:52

Thanks @BunnytheBee, I don't think so. We only have one car which DH needs as he is a hospital doctor (yup, whole other world of issues there with coronavirus and my being at risk!). I also think that because work known DH is a dr, they won't take me that seriously anyway as they will just say I will catch it from (probably true). It's really difficult to know what to do, think I'm going to have to have a chat with them but I feel a bit silly being the first person to bring it up, especially as I keep quiet about my medical conditions as much as I can.

bluetongue · 07/03/2020 02:18

I catch a very crowded tram to work in an Australian city. It’s just as packed as always.

Unfortunately I have been that ‘coughing person’ the last couple of weeks. Every time I get a cold I get a terrible post viral cough. Ventolin helps to some extent but the cough is still there. I really try and cough as little as possible but some coughing is unavoidable.

Driving to work isn’t an option as city centre parking charges are extortionate Sad

katy1213 · 07/03/2020 02:29

Tube has been noticeably less busy the past few days.

ReeRi20 · 07/03/2020 10:49

I think you should ask to work from home @IllustriousToad if you think that would help. A communication has gone around our business saying managers should be more flexible about that. It’s not for them to say no because your DH is a doctor...

Driving to work isn’t an option as city centre parking charges are extortionate

This is my issue. I have an annual train pass too so I’d be paying both

FelineUK · 07/03/2020 23:17

I'm a London commuter too, having to take 2 tubes (Met/Jubilee) and then an overground to get to work. I generally start work at 9.30am anyway and have seen a reduction in commuters since middle of last week, in the mornings at least. Evenings still seem to be a problem being packed in like sardines so I am now trying to avoid busy carriages by waiting until the next train, or getting in the furthest carriage, and face the doors rather than a person.

I've seen a few people wearing masks, despite everyone being told masks are pointless - if drops can reach your mouth and nose, chances are the droplets will reach your eyes too, duh! I wear gloves and as soon as I get to work I remove them, wipe them over with antibacterial wipes, and then wash my hands, antibac wipe all the doors too. Same when I get home.

Right about guys.. I saw one last week sneeze, and then the hand he'd sneezed into was the same one he used to hold onto the hand pole by the door! Really?!! Yuk. Not all people are putting their hands over their mouths when they cough either!

Luckily I work in a very small office, just 4 of us with few visitors and could probably work from him but managers are not keen or proactive at all about this. I wonder if I could persuade them to let us leave earlier whilst this issue continues..

ReeRi2020 · 07/03/2020 23:23

I think if you can’t work from home or drive to work then changing hours is a good idea to avoid rush hour

Employers need to be flexible but I realise different jobs have different requirements eg if you work in a shop you probably need to be there when the ship is open(!) for example but some office jobs can be done around cor hours

Faffandahalf · 07/03/2020 23:26

I’m on the tube every day. Also absolutely impossible to work from home in my job so that’s that really.

I’ve got 2 different breakfast club drop offs to do so can’t faff changing my route/journey/transport situation.

There’s no antibac wipes in the 5 (probably 10 by now) nearest supermarkets so what else is there to do?

Just carry on travelling and working like normal and washing hands rigorously 🤷🏽‍♀️

Faffandahalf · 07/03/2020 23:28

I can’t change the hours of my job and I can’t not come in. That is impossible.
I’m not particular robust when it comes to being ill but what can I do realistically? (Not sure if I’m being rhetorical or not?!Smile)

nellodee · 07/03/2020 23:28

BunnyBee, I was listening to the radio earlier, and there was a government infomercial telling people that they should wash their hands for at least 20 seconds when you arrive at work and at home and before meals. Your husband definitely needs bringing up to speed.

KaptenKrusty · 07/03/2020 23:34

Don’t agree that the tube has been less busy? I just got home from a day out in soho - bars were rammed as usual, show I was at didn’t have an empty seat - tube carriages were full - I stood the whole way into town and home as there were no free seats - saw nobody wearing a mask.

Faffandahalf · 07/03/2020 23:38

Agree Tube has been just as busy for me (central line). This is at 7.45am. Home commute is earlier than rush hour but still as busy as it’s ever been

FelineUK · 08/03/2020 01:08

I take the Uxbridge to Baker St met line train getting off at Wembley and it's much quieter in the mornings; I then take the Jubilee line from Wembley to West Hampstead to then catch the overground, and WH was like a ghost town on Friday.

Maybe time to start buying disposable gloves if no wipes?

Original poster
BunnytheBee · 08/03/2020 08:03

I think if you have to get public transport at busy times then just try to not touch anything (like handrails etc). I would open the train door button with my elbow for example: don’t touch your face. Wash hands when you get to work and when you get home as PP said. Stand away from the crowded areas if you can. On my train people tend to congregate around the doors. Pay contactlessly if you’re using your card. I’m now leaving my shoes, coat and bag in the hall when I come in, rather than bringing handbag in the living room etc.

I use antibac gel as much as I can but don’t have an endless supply obviously.

How do disposable gloves help more so than just washing as soon as you can?

I honestly don’t get my DH with the handwashing. He has bought a mask and was the one to say we should stock up on food etc and he asked me for a hand san the other day. But then doesn’t get he should wash his hands when he comes in? TBH I would want him to do that even before the CV outbreak as you can pick up germs while you’re out.

I think maybe he forgot and then was being defensive because I asked him to and he felt like a child. But he should have washed his hands. He also puts his man bag (which is often on the train floor etc) on the kitchen worktop. I move it and disinfect obviously but its enough to drive me mad!

Maybe the public transport will quieten as more people WFH. I am WFH two days next week and have one day off so only travelling in 2 days and the trains will be less crowded if more people are doing that.

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Original poster
BunnytheBee · 08/03/2020 08:04

Also had to get DH a cloth and bowl of hot water last night as he was cleaning upstairs with disposable wipes, which I realise are selling out. I try not to use them much anyway for environmental reasons but like them for cleaning the toilet etc and can then just throw them away.

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VanCleefArpels · 08/03/2020 08:17

My son commutes from outer London suburbs to the City. He actually asked someone to cover their mouth while coughing on the packed train the other day. Ballsy move on the normally silent journey! Luckily someone else backed him up. He has spoken to employer about working from home opportunities but was told that junior staff won’t be given encrypted laptops (vital for his job). Senior staff already have these Hmm. So no alternative for the worker ants.....

Original poster
BunnytheBee · 08/03/2020 08:29

He actually asked someone to cover their mouth while coughing on the packed train the other day

Good for him! I have thought about doing the same. These basic things would help and like PP who mentioned people sneezing and then touching handrails...

The laptop thing is tough. Luckily where I work you can log on from any laptop anywhere. We are a firm of solicitors so that must be relatively secure but I have a friend at another firm where the system is like your son’s - they have to have a work laptop to work from home. However the issue i have is we only have one laptop so DH and I won’t both have access to one to work from home at the same time.

I suppose as long as some people are working from home then it’s making the journey less crowded for others but it’s not ideal at all.

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