Though the bane of train conductors every since the first crude horse-drawn trains probably, putting one's soiled shoes on seats across the way has always been a no-no.

conductors ususally however just give you a frown and a finger wagging no-no and not prosecute as a criminal offense.

But lo and behold in meerie ole England there seems to be a crackdown on 'feet on seats' on at least one train franchise - Merseyrail, which operates trains on Merseyside (Chester-Liverpool region)

So far 240 people, according to the Guardian, have been prosecuted in courts for the offense of putting feet (or shoes) on seats and more than 600 others will face magistrates.

But when an absolute discharge was recently granted to a student by a magistrate, who like other magistrates have criticized the prosecutions as "too draconian and overloading the court system. The chairman of the magistrates bench said "A fixed penalty system would be more appropriate." Merseyrail officials were indignant:

saying the discharge was "short sighted and ill advised" and babbling on that "In describing the action as 'draconian' the magistrates showed a complete lack of understanding of what we are trying to achieve, which is a world-class public transportation network, free from anitsocial behaviour." Mersyrail spokesfolk said there would be no change in its policy.

Editorial Comment:

You don't begin to build a 'world-class' rail network by cracking down on feet on seat - though i'm not opposed to that, but by actually providing comfortable trains and clean trains

I've written Mersyrail and similar ilk like the ones around Leeds and am always appalled at the crude types of trains compare to the Continent:

tiny seats often marred with graffiti and ripped or torn - more than once i literally fell off my seat as the seat slid down to the floor when i sat in it - always test the integrity of the seat before plopping down

these trains are inevitably a garbage pile - drinks cans, newspapers and wrappers, etc. lying about

recently on one seriousl crowded train i found standing room by the door only to find after exiting that i'd been standing in vomit wrapped in a newspaper that had oozed onto my shoes

these trains are often seriously overcrowded - standing room not even being possible at times

that trains are cancelled a lot - 80% running may be par for these type trains - due to staff shortage.

In short feet on seat is just a fly in the overall ointment of providing a world-class operation.

Feet (without shoes i guess) on seats - is it or should it be a criminal offense or just a fine like parking or nothing at all?

In a country in which so many people still seem to be obsessed with class it is hard to imagine there are so many people without any.

You wonder if they put their feet on the furnitrure at home, too.

I travel on Leeds trains and the quality is far improved from the poverty trap period of the 2004s before this great Labour government privatised the railways and gave us nice new carriages with bolted down seat to wipe our shoes on.

I think I'm getting confused here but then so is the magistrate who seems to live in some PC world where clearly unacceptable behaviour is acceptable because it is done by a young pretty woman who leads a brownie group.

For information on brownie groups I suggest Google

Yuk. My Class don't 'do' trains ;-)

Joke! ;-)

To be fair to the judge, I think he felt that the whole case had been a misuse of court time as he felt the standard fixed penalty fine would be a better way of dealing with it.

Without condoning the woman's actions, it would appear that guards on Merseyrail, as elsewhere, are far more willing to take action against a young woman than they might be against for example, a group of young hoodies with boots on seats.

Conductors have never said ANYTHING to anyone about having their feet on the seats on any of the trains we've ridden from Maidenhead to Paddington. On 90% of the trains we've taken on our route, no staffer ever puts a foot into the compartments to see if people even have tickets, much less see that they're behaving with common courtesy. The first class compartments are full of loud, cider drinking and fast food eating teen-agers from Slough and other stops along the route who have never paid for a first class ticket in their lives. Not only do they put their feet up on the seats, they leave all their trash behind them as well. They also all seem to have those ultra-annoying new mobile phones that play their favorite rappers from those tinny but piercing speakers.

First Great Western staff have admitted to us that they are afraid to do anything about the young drunks riding the rails on week-end nights. On Friday and Saturday nights, the MH train station now has to keep police on duty to break up fights (about two weeks ago, the police had to close off an entire street near the train station to quell drunken fighting).

Which is why, whenever possible, we prefer to take the train to London from Windsor. Thankfully, the Windsor to Waterloo trains are staffed and they actually have the guts to check tickets and enforce rules.

That's pathetic, I suppose Maidenhead is a bad area?

Train related tangent.

A friend of mine was dozing on the Sick Train (last train out of London to Brighton) when his wallet and phone were snatched from the table in front of him by a group of teenagers.

A neighbouring passenger woke him up to avert him of this, he ran up the train, caught up with the kids, gave them a right pasting, got his stuff back, the Transport police arrived, kids complaining that they had been hit and wanted to press charges.

Packed train...NOT ONE WITNESS

>..caught up with the kids, gave them a right pasting, got his stuff back, the Transport police arrived, kids complaining that they had been hit and wanted to press charges.

Packed train...NOT ONE WITNESS<

He's lucky. In the US there wouldn't have been any witnesses to his being shot and left to bleed to death.

Lucky he's not living in the States you mean.

All hand guns being illegal in the UK, it appears knives are the way forward.

<<< But when an absolute discharge was recently granted to a student by a magistrate, who like other magistrates have criticized the prosecutions as "too draconian and overloading the court system. >>>

Now THIS is an example of class in action.

If the person had been a member of the underclass with a hoodie, Asbo & a pit bull then people would have been applauding Merseyrail for taking them to court, but as it's a sweet little female studying to be a teacher she shouldn't have been "persecuted".

Wow, the few times I took this route I must have been lucky.. My ticket was checked while on the train and again after I got off. They were checking for people who didn't have a ticket.