Mayor backs caller's 'bums, not bags' train plea

Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram has backed a disabled passenger's call to keep bags off train seats.

He was taking listeners' questions on BBC Radio Merseyside's Hot Seat when Norma, from Crosby, raised the issue.

Norma, who uses a three-wheeled walking aid, said she needed to find a seat quickly because trains could jerk as they set off.

"Bags don't have a ticket or a pass... "seats are for bums, not bags," she said, to which Rotheram replied that she was "absolutely right".

Norma said she and her husband regularly travelled by train and praised their accessibility.

But she said bags were often left on seats when she needed to sit down.

She said the issue was about "good manners and consideration for other people", adding that passengers quickly moved their bags when she went to sit on them.

Rotheram said he had seen people put suitcases on adjoining seats during journeys to London, apparently to stop others sitting beside them.

He said good manners came from people's upbringing, and credited his mother with teaching him to be considerate.

Norma also said bikes should "have bums on their seats and not go for a day out on the train".

Rotheram said four teenagers with bicycles had recently "caused chaos" on a train towards Ormskirk by deliberately blocking the aisles.

He said they threatened him after he challenged and photographed them.

However, Rotheram said cycles were part of many passengers' wider journeys and the region's trains had been made bike-friendly to encourage public transport and active travel.

Presenter Tony Snell said Norma's "bums, not bags" phrase could make a "fantastic advertising campaign".

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