Improve train travel for all: bring in separate carriages for families | Lucy Jones
Our European colleagues have cottoned on to this transport no-brainer. I call on our rail minister, Paul Maynard, to follow suit
It was the goldfish joke that broke me. “Please do not flush nappies, sanitary towels, paper towels, gum, old phones, unpaid bills, junk mail, your ex’s sweater, hopes, dreams or goldfish down this toilet,” said the voice on the Virgin Trains public address.
I’d been on a couple of different trains with different operators that day, each for a few hours, with my six-month-old child, whose nappy I’d attempted to change in the stinky toilet, wipes clamped in my teeth, swaying to and fro, head beaded with sweat. I’d been asked to fold up her buggy earlier in the day, which I’d done with one hand, breastfed her on the floor outside a loo and tried to stop her rolling out of the train while clearing up various toys, sterilised bottles and manky fruit I’d spilled over the vestibule floor, where we were sitting. I was, shall we say, having something of a sense of humour failure.
A family-friendly carriage was trialled last summer by Chiltern Railways. Other passengers said it was easier for them, too, without children running up and down
Related: Help! How can I stop my children from swearing? | Emma Brockes
Source: Guardian Transport
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