LONDON -- British transport officials often get a tough time of it. Us Brits tend to be a fairly grouchy bunch at the best of times, and we're definitely not at our friendliest when we're crammed nose-to-armpit on a crowded rush hour train during the morning commute.
Any transport-related woes tend to get bottled up and unleashed at train companies/employees whenever there's a delay or a strike, and this puts a fair amount of strain on the public's relationship with rail staff.
Enter BobTheConductor, a Reddit user on a mission to break down the occasionally frosty barriers between rail staff staff and passengers. BobTheConductor started a Reddit AMA Monday evening, introducing himself as a train conductor and writing, "I thought this might be fun and might give people a different perspective of train running/the railway in general."
The jokes started flying in early, but Bob handled them like a pro.
He wasn't even phased by the inevitable train puns.
Having immediately got the thread on-side, Bob started to answer questions as they poured in from all angles.
Here's what he had to say about the following rail-themed topics...
On that "Can the guard contact the driver" message.
On sitting in first class.
On wayward youths.
On riding up front in the cabin.
On the best scenic train routes.
On unusual passengers.
On ticket barriers and toilet stowaways.
On not becoming a tyrant.
Thanks Bob.