Edward Cowling London UK wrote:
I was on the Victoria line tonight and to be honest it was crowded, but
the main problem wasn't the number of people, it's the amount they all
seem to carry with them these days.

Back pack culture ! Everyone seems to need a backpack and then of
course a laptop clutched under their armpit. All this carried high up
where there is no room anyway. Then when people get on or off all this
junk get stuck on other peoples similar loads and gets stuck.... they
get angry and snappy with each other, and it becomes unpleasant.

How much of this stuff is really needed ?

Plus of course we're using energy resources to move all this flotsam
around the city.

How about a campaign to encourage people for their own comfort and the
comfort of their fellow passengers, not to carry non essential baggage
at peak times ?



Just some notes (because I've lost track of who I agree and disagree
with):

Sometimes people have to take stuff with them, and one day it may be
you. What has "culture" got to do with it?

Backpacks are designed for carrying.

Suitcases are designed for stacking.

Backpacks can easily be carried up stairs and escalators and through
barriers, while suitcases cause blockages and delays.

Backpacks worn on the back are a real hazard and waste of space when
they are not actually being carried as such, eg when standing in a
train.

Taking off a large backpack takes a few seconds and a little bit of
space, which the people complaining often aren't prepared to give.

Some people are perfectly capable of carrying their backpack as long as
they don't take it off. Once it's at their feet, they have no means of
getting it back on their back other than maybe dragging it to a bench,
which don't exist on many modern platforms (eg JLE, DLR), which may
tempt some smaller people to keep them on in the train.