‘Dumpers’ are the rude train commuters hated by both staff and other passengers

Are you guilty of being a ‘dumper’? (Picture: Getty Images)

With the average Brit’s train commute taking over an hour each day, eating or drinking en route is fairly common — and largely accepted as long as there’s no smelly food involved.

But what people do with their coffee cups or crisp packets when they’re finished is where conflict starts to arise.

More than a quarter (27%) of those surveyed by yfood earlier this year said they’re irritated by litter being left on board, making it one of the top transport ‘icks’ nationwide, just behind bare beating and double bagging.

There’s no shortage of people sharing their frustration at these passengers — who Metro has dubbed ‘dumpers’ — online either.

In one recent Reddit post, someone who’d not long moved to the UK asked whether discarding litter on trains was as normalised as it seemed here, prompting hundreds of angry comments.

‘I always [pick up after myself], but consistently get on to find a table full of rubbish,’ wrote Alarmed_Crazy488 ‘It’s common but it’s nuts.’

More than 3.7m Brits admit they’ve left rubbish on the public transport network over the past year (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

‘Disgusted at how manky people are in public,’ said another user, picklespark, while OptionalQuality789 added: ‘It’s a complete lack of respect for everyone, not just the cleaning staff.’

Commenters also shared stories of calling out ‘dumpers’, condemning them as ‘pigs’, ‘degenerates’, ‘scum’, or more expletive-ridden names which you can probably deduce for yourselves.

Although a few argued their behaviour was justified by a lack of bins across the country’s public transport network, figures from Network Rail, TfL and major rail operators suggest the majority of stations and trains feature some sort of waste disposal facility.

And even if bins aren’t readily available (like in locations where they’ve been removed as a counter-terrorism measure), the fact is, it’s still an offence to litter under both the 1990 Environmental Protection Act and UK Railway Byelaws.

Despite this, Keep Britain Tidy research reveals more than 3.7 million (7%) of Brits left rubbish at a train or bus stop in the past 12 months, not only adding to the workload of cleaning staff, but potentially creating hazards and disruption.

‘Leaving coffee cups, fast food packaging or newspapers on trains can lead to items getting stuck in doors or falling on the track,’ London Underground officials previously warned.

Many don’t actually see coffee cups discarded on trains as litter (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

As part of a 2012 campaign to reduce litter-related incidents, the Tube operator aimed to help passengers understand of the impact of littering. But that’s not the only perception issue at play here.

According to a recent Northern Rail survey, the majority of regular train users don’t actually consider used coffee cups left on board to be litter, while a separate study shows younger people believe placing rubbish on a surface (rather than throwing it on the ground) doesn’t constitute littering.

Consciously or unconsciously, ‘dumpers’ may also see their mess as someone else’s problem, potentially even reasoning that it ‘gives the cleaners something to to do’.

Either way, it’s a case of prioritising your own personal convenience over the public good — and a surefire way to earn side-eyes from fellow passengers and staff alike.

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