Northern Trains staff outline the worst passenger habits - including people vaping on board services

Train and station staff who work for rail company Northern Trains have revealed their worst passenger habits. The list of top annoying things customers using services do includes vaping on trains and allowing dogs to sit on seats.

Tricia Williams, chief operating officer at Northern, said: “We welcome around one million customers on-board our trains each and every day and the overwhelming majority are polite, considerate and respectful of others.

"However, it’s no wonder given the numbers involved that our train crew and station staff encounter the occasional bad-mannered individual from time to time. What doesn’t surprise me is that the things that bug my colleagues are those which have a negative impact on other customers. They have our customers’ backs.

“To anyone guilty of any of the ‘traits’ included in this list, I would ask you to think of others when using our services. I know my team would appreciate it.”

Listed below are some of the actions that made this list. These are all bad habits Northern staff have seen in passengers.

• People putting their feet, bags and pets on seats – feet and bags are an ‘old-school’ problem that prevent others from being able to sit down, but more recently, people encouraging their dogs (in particular) onto seats presents a hygiene problem and/or worse for people with severe allergies
• Playing music through loudspeakers instead of using headphones – not everyone shares your taste in music
• Vaping on-board – just like cigarettes, this is not allowed on-board trains in England and hasn’t been since 2014
• People who leave their rubbish behind – Northern employs 500 train presentation officers but putting your rubbish in the bins provided will allow them to focus on the tougher elements of train cleanliness 
• People sitting in priority seats that don’t give way to fellow passengers who are more in-need – not all disabilities are visible, please be considerate of others
• Making contact with the train (knocking on windows etc) as it’s about to depart - this represents a serious safety risk, particularly if the person is under the influence of alcohol
• People not giving way to passengers getting off the train before trying to board – this is a simple action that will make the process easier and quicker for all
• Fare evading – conductors and revenue officers have seen it all before (and heard every excuse); passengers have a duty to buy a ticket before they travel