By Jon Yuill BBC News Online's rail commuters' champion

When I'm not gazing out into the flat Essex landscape, wondering where it's all going to end, I often catch myself sneaking a glance at my fellow commuters and asking, is this a microcosm of "normal" life, or are commuters made of different material?

WHO IS JON YUILL? Elected: Jon Yuill was voted BBC News Online's rail commuters' champion by users of the site Voice: His role is to speak up for the commuter Commute: Married with three children, Jon commutes by train between Witham (Essex) and London

There's the young city worker, with his tie always at half-mast as if to emphasise how "dreadfully busy" he is, even though he's been standing on the platform for at least 15 minutes.

He's even been known to produce an electric razor and start shaving in the carriage. Oh, and his laces are undone.

Perhaps he sleeps under the platform.

Then, there's the mysterious passenger whom I have never seen, who occupies the rear seat I tend to favour. How do I know he/she has been there? Because, bizarrely, the seat is always covered with short, white hair, as if Gandalf has had an onboard haircut.

Or maybe they have a cat with alopecia.

Just lately, I have also been contemplating violence, or Train-Rage�. I'm not just talking about the kind of treatment I'd like to mete out to the mobile-babbling baboons who use the train as an extension of their office.

Statistics out this week show episodes of reported violent transport-related crime have risen 14% on last year. Violence, or at least the threat of it, is a common concern for commuters.

By definition, we tend to travel the normal commuter hours. But occasionally, when work calls for staying late, the return home can be a concern. Anxiety levels rise even more when the trip home coincides with closing time.

Mostly, the average drunk is obnoxious but harmless. But when you get three or four of the younger variety, larking about and egging each other on, it can get very intimidating. This was bought home to me recently with the horrific case of the gang of "steamers" who terrified passengers in east London.

Safety, if not comfort, in numbers

After the rush hour, trains can be very sparsely populated. Before you know it, you're the only one in the carriage.

Increasingly, train staff are finding themselves on the frontline against these marauding yobs. Newer rolling stock is at last being fitted with CCTV, but I maintain you can't beat the presence of the uniformed transport cop.

Without them, ironically it seems the best protection could be the otherwise ghastly mobile phone.

Perhaps you have suffered instances of this kind, or have some suggestions to prevent it.

IT'S NOT ONLY violence that's on the up, graffiti too is increasing according to the British Transport Police.

How, or indeed why, anyone should risk their lives spraying unintelligible symbols is beyond me. Perhaps being made to clean it off them would be a good deterrent. In the rain. With their tongues. In winter.

FINALLY, I WAS only recently waxing lyrical about the new Desiro trains and their air-conditioning. Well, the other day, the inevitable happened. The train hadn't been sounding too good the entire journey, when, Radcliffe-like, it finally gave up the ghost and sat in the baking sun. Unlike Paula, we managed to get going again, but it was just starting to get very claustrophobic, as there are no opening windows.

�one� (as I like to refer to the train company to differentiate it from the number) have to make sure contingency plans exist for trapped passengers in such conditions.

Add your comments to this story using the form below:

Three years ago I was the target of some 'fun' by three twenty-something men on an early-evening train home from London. I was terrified for nearly 30 minutes while they went through my bag, threatened me with physical and sexual violence and wasn't allowed to leave my seat. They didn't steal anything or hurt me, but I've never felt so scared or vulnerable in my life. Since then, my attitude to fellow-passengers has changed. If someone sits uncomfortably close to me, I'll tell them to move. If I'm going to be left alone in a carriage or with only men, I'll change carriages. If anyone behaves in a threatening manner near me and I feel uncomfortable, I'll ask them to stop and explain why. Once, some men were being aggressive to a teenage girl who was clearly upset, and I pulled the communication cord. I don't have train rage - I just have the right to a safe journey.
Sara R, London, UK

Bit harsh on Poor Old Paula, but altogether a pretty spot on story about train "life"
Luke Butler,

"...when, Radcliffe-like, it finally gave up the ghost and sat in the baking sun. Unlike Paula, we managed to get going again." That is cruel and unsympathetic. You should be ashamed of a comment like that!
Colin, Scotland

Perhaps one method of reducing the number of drunks on board is to STOP serving alcohol, it's not exactly rocket science. Some companies seem to place no restriction on the amount of alcohol sold to passengers, with the inevitable consequence of some passengers drinking for several hours, and unsurprisingly ending up drunk and disorderly and (as I have found much to my disgust) harassing mostly female passengers. Of course when this happens there is never a guard around to deal with it.
Catherine, Cambridge, England

I too, travel with "One" from Colchester to London every day and I would have to agree with everything that Jon has said. I, as a young woman, would not dream of travelling after the rush hour because it is simply not safe. He is right, usually they are harmless, but occasionally it is just rude and unpleasant especially after a long day at work. I would like to appeal to "One" to take these things into consideration especially as the poor service makes it impossible to go out after work.
Natasha Nair, England

Simple question: why can't the train companies pay for private security staff on these late night "booze" trains? Surly these companies make enough profit to be able to provide such a simple service to their long-suffering customers? I recently encountered a group of 16-17 year old lads, drinking from pint glasses (stolen form a local pub?) smoking and letting of fire extinguishers on a journey back to Clapham. One unfortunate passenger was sprayed in the face with the extinguisher and then physically threatened by this group. Passengers waiting at a station where also targeted as they train arrived and departed by the every lasting fire extinguisher.
Roger W, England

Last year, while travelling on a train via Cardiff, during the football league play-offs, my two-year-old daughter and I had to walk through a carriage of Wolverhampton Wanderers supporters, who were singing very loudly, if not particularly obscenely. Upon seeing my daughter's shocked expression, one of the supporters stood up & stopped everyone singing until we had left the carriage, which I found quite touching, and contrary to the negative reports we normally see of football supporter's behaviour.
Nathan, UK

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