Member

Some of the rail companies have done research on public attitudes to littering and what constitutes litter. In 2024, Northern Rail carried out research on the behavioural science of littering on trains. We know that train companies have to work hard to keep the carriages clear; there are tens of thousands of people who travel every day. When I used to travel up and down every day on Avanti trains, there was sometimes an extra assistant who would get on at Manchester and get off at Crewe or Stoke going down, and going back, get on at Stoke or Crewe and stay on to Manchester. They would have enormous clear plastic bags. The amount of rubbish they would collect through the train by the time they got to Manchester was absolutely mind-blowing. The trouble is that on the late trains going home, such as the 10 pm train that I got back, there is no one like that. If you walk through that train in Manchester at about 12.30 am or 12.45 am, you are literally walking through litter. It is everywhere: uneaten food on the seats and on the floor. That is the issue.