From a social media enquiry from a group looking at travel for older people around Europe - on padlocking your luggage to the train's luggage rack in order to reduce / prevent theft


A mix of responses ranging from recommendations of particular lock products to "don't do it".  I replied: and brough a whole load of "like"s and support such as which I confirmed
But - oh dear - I seem to have annoyed the people who have flown under the radar with this and seem to routinely lock their luggage to racks:
Locking luggage to a train rack is generally discouraged or prohibited by many train operators.  As an example, Lumo (a UK operator) state "For safety reasons, luggage cannot be padlocked to the train's infrastructure or doors."

I am not a fan of AI answers, but this one I got when I asked seems to me to confirm the situation as I understand it:


Personally?   I travel a lot, do not use locks but do place luggage sensibly within sight. My own rucksack has straps which have firm clips on them - released in an instant, but hold if you don't press on exactly the right spot. Where I put my luggage down / have it with me (not so much on train, but in restaurant, waiting or seating areas, etc), I DO clip it to the seat sometimes.  Doesn't stop it being picked up, but does mean that an opportunist doing a grab and would find him/herself pulled up short.  To my knowldege, the effectiveness of approach has never been tested on my luggage, and I do take care to ensure that personal stuff stays much closer to my person.



The rules / regulations on this are not exactly stuff that makes the headlines - after all, there are so many pressing issues around that much need to go unsaid.   I can recall a past conversation about shelling prawns on the underground, which whilst we considered it antisocial didn't appear to be against the rules - but as far as I know, there are no specifics anywhere.

 
Well there was that time, as I retrieved it approaching Newport, the waistband of my rucksack accidentally fastened itself securely to the light fitting of a class 166, thankfully the staff were very understanding as I undertook an unintended trip to accompany it from Newport to Cardiff. I've never seen a carriage full of people travelling to work go so deadpan though.

(When this happens to you, something thin and flexible will make for a quick-release key: push the strap further in to the light fitting, persuade whatever you have to hand to pass beneath the buckle and withdraw both together.)

 
I do wonder what the rate of return is from stealing luggage from racks. In most cases you'd just end up with someone's part-worn clothes and toiletries, with any valuables surely(?) on the owner's body or in a small bag kept with them. It's a pity though that modern trains with seats crammed together don't readily allow for putting luggage behind seats to keep an eye on.

Back in the day I did used to worry a bit about my bike being stolen mid-journey from the guard's van everyone had access to. Knowing that locking it to the train wouldn't go down well, I compromised by locking it to itself, so that at least it would have to be carried rather than wheeled, making any theft harder and more obvious.

 
There's also the problem that goes under the heading of "suspicious packages" to consider.  Promptly moving or removing such items is only going to be made more difficult for the emergency services.

 

Pretty poor I would imagine - but then the act of stealing a piece of luggage in some circumstances is probably low risk. The damage done to the confidence of the victim and the distress and nuisance caused can be massive. In fact, this thread has reminded me that I should be carrying my medications I my close-hand baggage; cost to replace - an apology to my doctor, hassle and problem of so doing if I am in [say] Klangenfurt would be massive.

 

Perhaps in some cases it's the luggage itself. There's some quite expensive bags around that might fetch a few bob, especially if you're lurking near the First Class section?

 
There was that time that someone getting off a train at Reading lifted a bag that didn't belong to him which turned out to contain seven kilograms of Semtex. (https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/man-who-stole-bomb-kit-fears-retaliation-by-ira-1416060.html)

 
I've had luggage stolen by accident. Or at least on the face of it that's what happened! I looked around and realised bag had gone; I scrambled to the door and managed to stop someone who had walked off with the wrong bag. They seemed genuine (in which case maybe they checked the bag more carefully next time they travelled!) but could easily have been a tactic.

When it comes to luggage security, something that bugs me is the lack of visibility of luggage stacks, not to mention the sheer lack of luggage stacks. (Then there's finding a shelf taken up by a tiny bag that could easily go on the overhead rack or by someone's feet!) The move towards stock with 1/3-2/3 doors instead of end doors even for express work doesn't help here. With 'proper' vestibule-saloon-vestibule layout, there can be a decent-sized rack at each end of the saloon, and every door-seating interface passes one.

With saloon-door-saloon-door-saloon layout, there may be one or two racks but not at the start of every saloon. So boarding at the vestibule, one may find the luggage rack is to the left but the free seating is to the right. Visibility of luggage rack lost. And needs twice as many luggage racks to solve this! A few times recently while travelling on Gatwick Express stock (also often used on West Coastway) I've ended up in the composite car, where one vestibule leads to a smaller and larger area of standard seating (because of the way first class plugs the end), and the smaller seating area has the luggage racks!

Fine having awkward arrangements for short journeys (keep luggage in the seating bay and be willing to stand, or put in a luggage rack and stand if no seating nearby, because it's a shorter trip anyway) but on routes where a lot of people are making longer journeys it would make for a more pleasant journey if these things were thought through!

 
Many years ago now, I had to convey a surf-board-like item from Nailsea to Melksham, by train.  (This could be a very long story, so I won't bore you with all the details here. )

I had no problem whatever (apart from lugging the sheer weight of the thing).  I merely propped it up against the bulkhead in the cycle rack area, unpadlocked, on the basis that nobody was was going to 'run off with it'.

CfN. 

 
Many years ago maybe 10+ years ago a younger and fitter broadgage sat upon a thief to detain it until the police arrived.
So doing rendered the quite coach VERY noisy, as they "squealed like a stuck pig" there is a report about the incident somewhere on this forum

 

I've just had a word with said thing; it's not thrilled as the aspersions over its weight.