Luggage on Trains
Discussion
Forgive me if this is old hat but this isn't a forum I usually follow.
I use suburban rail almost weekly, but long distance much less often.
I'm on a X Country train from Reading to Manchester and there are suitcases everywhere; in the aisles (surely not safe) and piled on seats, causing the inevitable arguments.
The cases are far too large for the overhead rack and the luggage areas at the ends of the carriages are pitifully small.
Is this normal? It's as if the designers and operators of long distance trains have forgotten that passengers travel with luggage.
I use suburban rail almost weekly, but long distance much less often.
I'm on a X Country train from Reading to Manchester and there are suitcases everywhere; in the aisles (surely not safe) and piled on seats, causing the inevitable arguments.
The cases are far too large for the overhead rack and the luggage areas at the ends of the carriages are pitifully small.
Is this normal? It's as if the designers and operators of long distance trains have forgotten that passengers travel with luggage.
Some operators do have limits, but how heavily they’re enforced I don’t know. Outside of sleeper trains and Avanti storing bikes in the driving cars I don’t think anyone really offers a checked luggage service.
Example: https://www.lumo.co.uk/plan-your-journey/onboard-l...
Example: https://www.lumo.co.uk/plan-your-journey/onboard-l...
The Gatwick express is a nightmare for this. It's a train that runs specifically to an airport, of course people are going to have f
king luggage on it, but some moron decided space for about 2 suitcases per carriage was fine. Compare it to the airport parking busses which have massive racks for luggage.
king luggage on it, but some moron decided space for about 2 suitcases per carriage was fine. Compare it to the airport parking busses which have massive racks for luggage.I use LNER fairly regularly to and from London and they won’t allow suitcases n aisles at all and I never see them on seats because it’s rare to see a seat unreserved.
I was on a train a couple of weeks ago and the train staff were pulling all the suitcases out of the luggage rack to restock them all so they would fit properly, was like watching Tetris live.
I was on a train a couple of weeks ago and the train staff were pulling all the suitcases out of the luggage rack to restock them all so they would fit properly, was like watching Tetris live.
Maybe a function of train size?
German intercity trains, although shockingly late and often cancelled, are huge, very, very long, and often double deckers. Most carriages have big luggage racks, plus there are bike storage areas.
Swiss trains if anything even bigger. Lots of luggage space, bike space, children’s areas, restaurant cars, etc, etc. can always get a seat.
Maybe UK trains are just too small not to be crammed full of fare paying passengers.
German intercity trains, although shockingly late and often cancelled, are huge, very, very long, and often double deckers. Most carriages have big luggage racks, plus there are bike storage areas.
Swiss trains if anything even bigger. Lots of luggage space, bike space, children’s areas, restaurant cars, etc, etc. can always get a seat.
Maybe UK trains are just too small not to be crammed full of fare paying passengers.
Some of London North Western trains have a yellow sticker every few feet to tell people not to place luggage in certain areas on the rack due to a poor design on the hangers, meaning luggage could easily fall off.
The result of this is people misinterpret it as no luggage at all and leave it strewn around the seats.... Then there are the do-gooders that must point the stickers out when you try to put a bag up there and do not accept they have it wrong.
The result of this is people misinterpret it as no luggage at all and leave it strewn around the seats.... Then there are the do-gooders that must point the stickers out when you try to put a bag up there and do not accept they have it wrong.
craig1912 said:
Crumpet said:
Obviously any self-respecting PHer is in 1st anyway so is unaware of these issues.
Makes no difference. First on the Gatwick trains gets you a white headrest cover on exactly the same seat and exactly the same luggage space (ie virtually none).Crumpet said:
craig1912 said:
Crumpet said:
Obviously any self-respecting PHer is in 1st anyway so is unaware of these issues.
Makes no difference. First on the Gatwick trains gets you a white headrest cover on exactly the same seat and exactly the same luggage space (ie virtually none).Trains are too short and narrow. Not a huge amount you can do about it without a few billion quid.
I don't get the obsession with packing hundreds of kilos worth of personal possessions to go on holiday. For a family of 4 for 4 weeks we manage with less than 30kg spread across one suitcase and a few underseat bags.
If it's a week or less we do without the suitcase.
I don't get the obsession with packing hundreds of kilos worth of personal possessions to go on holiday. For a family of 4 for 4 weeks we manage with less than 30kg spread across one suitcase and a few underseat bags.
If it's a week or less we do without the suitcase.
_Rodders_ said:
Trains are too short and narrow. Not a huge amount you can do about it without a few billion quid.
I don't get the obsession with packing hundreds of kilos worth of personal possessions to go on holiday. For a family of 4 for 4 weeks we manage with less than 30kg spread across one suitcase and a few underseat bags.
If it's a week or less we do without the suitcase.
Depends what you're doing for a holiday surely? Sitting on a beach for a week is probably fine with hand luggage only, aurora watching in Lapland is going to need a bit more stuff though.I don't get the obsession with packing hundreds of kilos worth of personal possessions to go on holiday. For a family of 4 for 4 weeks we manage with less than 30kg spread across one suitcase and a few underseat bags.
If it's a week or less we do without the suitcase.
It's not just UK trains - the French bi-level TGV sets can be extremely short of space to stow anything larger than a briefcase, and I've often seen piles of luggage stacked in the vestibules on these.
The Lumo Peterborough speeding incident a few years ago actually saw injuries caused by improperly stowed luggage flying about - because modern rolling stock doesn't have anywhere appropriate to put it.
This is because everything's been 'optimised' when the DfT makes the specs for new rolling stock. Baggage space isn't 'revenue earning', so is kept to a minimum and the incentive is to squeeze as many paying seats into as few units or coaches as possible.
Of course in the old days virtually every BR train or multiple unit had at least a guard's compartment, also equipped for carrying luggage, bicycles, prams and parcels. Most long-distance expresses had an entire dedicated luggage van (or the Driving Van Trailer on the old InterCity 225 sets), not to mention Parcel & Miscellaneous Vans, Utility Vans and other rolling stock that could be attached to trains ad-hoc or in anticipation of heavy demand for luggage or parcels. The stock that used to work what is now the Tyne Metro had large luggage compartments with drain holes so they could carry fish boxes from the ports, and the guard vans of Western Region expresses heading between South Wales and London used to carry shipments of fresh river-caught salmon to go straight to West End restaurants.
None of that flexibility, utility or passenger convenience or care is possible now, sadly. No profit in it.
I used to get trains too and from Southampton Central quite regularly, and for all its many faults the BR-era slam-door stock had enough dedicated baggage space to cope with people bringing multiple huge suitcases and trunks when heading to meet cruise ships at the docks. I dread to think what happens now on South West Trains when three cruise ships are embarking on the same day and a thousand or so people, all carrying a couple of weeks' worth of cruise luggage, are cramming onto a Juniper-type electric unit.
I will also second the praise for accommodation on trains in central Europe - I took an intercity train in Austria in 2014 (I think it was) and as well as a good mix of airline-style and table-seating in Standard Class, it had a smattering of corridor compartments in Standard, most of First Class was compartments and there was a buffet/dining car with some sit-down table space, a small children's play/creche compartment, a couple of compartments set up for business groups to work in, a couple of family or group compartments (bookable for multiple people travelling together), decent-sized luggage racks in each coach plus a large bike/baggage van at one end.
The Lumo Peterborough speeding incident a few years ago actually saw injuries caused by improperly stowed luggage flying about - because modern rolling stock doesn't have anywhere appropriate to put it.
This is because everything's been 'optimised' when the DfT makes the specs for new rolling stock. Baggage space isn't 'revenue earning', so is kept to a minimum and the incentive is to squeeze as many paying seats into as few units or coaches as possible.
Of course in the old days virtually every BR train or multiple unit had at least a guard's compartment, also equipped for carrying luggage, bicycles, prams and parcels. Most long-distance expresses had an entire dedicated luggage van (or the Driving Van Trailer on the old InterCity 225 sets), not to mention Parcel & Miscellaneous Vans, Utility Vans and other rolling stock that could be attached to trains ad-hoc or in anticipation of heavy demand for luggage or parcels. The stock that used to work what is now the Tyne Metro had large luggage compartments with drain holes so they could carry fish boxes from the ports, and the guard vans of Western Region expresses heading between South Wales and London used to carry shipments of fresh river-caught salmon to go straight to West End restaurants.
None of that flexibility, utility or passenger convenience or care is possible now, sadly. No profit in it.
I used to get trains too and from Southampton Central quite regularly, and for all its many faults the BR-era slam-door stock had enough dedicated baggage space to cope with people bringing multiple huge suitcases and trunks when heading to meet cruise ships at the docks. I dread to think what happens now on South West Trains when three cruise ships are embarking on the same day and a thousand or so people, all carrying a couple of weeks' worth of cruise luggage, are cramming onto a Juniper-type electric unit.
I will also second the praise for accommodation on trains in central Europe - I took an intercity train in Austria in 2014 (I think it was) and as well as a good mix of airline-style and table-seating in Standard Class, it had a smattering of corridor compartments in Standard, most of First Class was compartments and there was a buffet/dining car with some sit-down table space, a small children's play/creche compartment, a couple of compartments set up for business groups to work in, a couple of family or group compartments (bookable for multiple people travelling together), decent-sized luggage racks in each coach plus a large bike/baggage van at one end.
Edited by 2xChevrons on Thursday 12th November 15:19
Do LNER use the storage on the DVTs any more, even for bikes? I’m pretty sure Scotrail policy on the HSTs is not to keep anything in the power cars, so yet more potential luggage space being used to cart fresh air around. Other than the Pendolino I’m struggling to think of any modern stock that actually has a baggage van. Worth saying that GatEx did have luggage vans in their “new” trains 20 years ago, but they were swapped with cast-offs from SouthWest trains, then replaced with generic commuter trains and the specialised airport units have now been largely scrapped.
_Rodders_ said:
I don't get the obsession with packing hundreds of kilos worth of personal possessions to go on holiday. For a family of 4 for 4 weeks we manage with less than 30kg spread across one suitcase and a few underseat bags.
If it's a week or less we do without the suitcase.
I’ve not seen anyone saying they are wanting to carry hundreds of kilos?? Wife and I generally have 40 between us for a two week holiday- so two cases that can’t be stored by the seat we sit in.If it's a week or less we do without the suitcase.
alangla said:
Do LNER use the storage on the DVTs any more, even for bikes? I m pretty sure Scotrail policy on the HSTs is not to keep anything in the power cars, so yet more potential luggage space being used to cart fresh air around. Other than the Pendolino I m struggling to think of any modern stock that actually has a baggage van. Worth saying that GatEx did have luggage vans in their new trains 20 years ago, but they were swapped with cast-offs from SouthWest trains, then replaced with generic commuter trains and the specialised airport units have now been largely scrapped.
I haven't noticed the remaining DVTs being used for baggage and bikes recently, but that doesn't mean they aren't. In 2019 I was at Kings Cross waiting for a Peterborough train and saw an IC225 arrive from Edinburgh. The DVT was leading, of course, and it seemed to be packed with the luggage (and laundry?) that students from various universities along the ECML were bringing home for Christmas - they formed an orderly crush to pick up their stuff.
That was the last time I noticed the DVTs being used as intended. Of course the point is that the modern replacements for the IC225s don't even have this in the design. Yet another way in which they are deficient in compared to the older stock (compare the comfort of a Mk3 or Mk4 chair to the Ryanair-spec ironing board on an Azuma, plus the ride quality which as gone from 'Mercedes' to 'Audi S-Line').
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