'Pluggers' are the commuters plaguing our trains and the London Underground

Plugging can prevent people from boarding trains (Picture: Getty Images)

You’ve woken up at 6am and queue to get on your train,coffee in hand,only for someone to get on before you and block the doorway.

There’s plenty of people still waiting to get on,and plenty of space behind them,but instead of moving further into the train,they force everyone to walk around them.

You hear the inevitable announcement from the train guard for people to move down inside the carriages to create space,but they pay it no mind.

Now there’s a name for these obnoxious travellers: ‘pluggers’.

It’s a perfectly innocent term coined by Metro,to describe passengers who refuse to move inside the train and down the carriage,creating an unnecessary bottle neck by the doors.

One disgruntled Londoner took to Reddit to share their frustration,questioning ‘why is it so hard for some people to just “move down the carriage?”.’

‘The increasing number of people that don’t follow basic public transport courtesy is staggering,’ they wrote on the London subreddit. ‘Especially when it’s rush hour time,you still see those who block the middle of the doors… or just stand in the carriage oblivious of so much space [further] down that could let others breathe,or better,[give] a chance for more to board.

‘Is it really that hard? And it’s not like they aren’t told … that stuff is being actively repeated on PSAs!’

Boarding a train when people stand in front of the doors can be very tricky (Picture: flickr Editorial/Getty Images)

One commuter,May,26,finds plugging equally annoying. ‘Being only 5ft 3,I find asserting myself on a busy Tube hard enough as it is,’ she tells Metro. ‘When people refuse to fill the carriage properly,I often end up having to stand on tiptoes to reach the overhead bar.

‘Not only is it uncomfortable,it means I have to subject everyone to my smelly armpits. But if they refuse to move down and let me grab one of the poles (clearly intended for people my size),then that’s on them.

‘Why anyone struggles to understand basic train carriage etiquette I’ll never know.’

Caitlin Teal,56,also feels strongly about this behaviour. ‘There are two trains per hour I can catch to get home,and they’re always rammed,’ she tells Metro. ‘But what’s infuriating is when I can see a clear aisle in the middle of the carriage,but a big crowd by the door.

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‘We’ve all had a long day,just move a metre down and make someone else’s journey a bit easier. Consideration for fellow passengers has disappeared at this point.’

Others on social media branded plugging ‘selfish’ and ‘not very intelligent’,accusing people of being ‘oblivious to anything outside of themselves’.

@ryankeane98 It makes me cry #tfl #london #thetube

♬ AMONG US – SILLYBALOO

It’s a behaviour officials at Transport for London are familiar with,and acknowledge can be a problem.

‘Everyone deserves to travel comfortably and safely,and we ask all customers to move down inside the carriage,so that as many people as possible can board,’ Mark Evers TfL customer insight,strategy and experience lead tells Metro.

‘Standing in the doorway can slow down boarding and make carriages feel more crowded than they really are.’

Why do people do it?

Some people did confess to doing this,but gave justifications for their actions.

Tom Rees,27,tells Metro he won’t move down the carriage if he’s getting off at the next stop or two,because it becomes very difficult to get out.

‘People just stare at you when you ask them to move out the way to get off,and this can mean that by the time you make it to the door,the next wave of passengers are already boarding the train,’ he says.

‘It’s so irritating,so I’d rather stand by the door and have people push past me,so I can have a smooth exit. It makes my life easier,and I’m not the only one that does this.’

Others said they were worried they wouldn’t have anywhere to hold onto for stability.

‘I’m short,if I move too far down inside I have nothing to hold on to,’ explained one Redditor. ‘I cannot reach the over head bars. And I’m not getting squished in the face by other people shoulders,armpits or rucksacks.

‘I will,however,move out of the way for you to move down inside the carriage.’

Refusing to move down inside the carriage can make commuting much more difficult for others (Picture: Tejas Sandhu/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

‘I once ended up in an area without anything to hold on to,and I ended up falling into someone. That and if I know I’m getting off at the next stop,there is no point for me to move to the middle of the carriage,’ someone else agreed.

What can you do about plugging?

‘For those getting on trains it’s really annoying because they have to push their way through,and despite this,people aren’t bothered,’ Laura Windsor,the Queen of Etiquette,tells Metro.

‘If you’re guilty of this,just move down,it’s helpful.’

While it may seem a little daunting to address strangers in public,Laura says there’s only one simple and obvious solution to stopping the ‘plugging’ problem.

‘You say “please could you move down the carriage,thank you”,’ she explains. ‘You don’t need to mention why they need to move because a) it’s obvious and b) no one needs an explanation.’

One Redditor built on this answer,saying: ‘I used to be really specific. “Hey,you with the red coat would you mind moving down?”. Otherwise people just think you’re talking to everyone else.’

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‘If I see the middle of the carriage is free,I just “excuse me” my way to that space,’ another passenger added. ‘And yes,those people will look at me like I said I s**t on their grandmother’s lawn.’

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Laura also suggested a campaign to prevent this behaviour,but Mark at TfL points out the TravelKind campaign already exists,and asked people to take notice of the values of a mindful passenger.

‘It encourages customers to be considerate of one another — whether that’s moving down inside the carriage,taking off backpacks on busy services,offering a seat and extra space to those who need it,or using headphones when streaming content,’ he explains.

‘These small behaviours help keep services moving smoothly and create more space for everyone.’

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