Daniel M

Poor on-board regulations

In mid-2019, I embarked on a return journey from London Victoria to Lille using FlixBus. The coach service was punctual, orderly, and smooth. I also found the seats to be reasonably clean. The return trip was spoiled, however, by fellow passengers who talked incessantly on their mobile phones and also used their mobile phones as 'private' televisions, blaring out noise irregardless of whomsoever happened to be in the vicinity (no, they did not wear earphones or headphones). The blame for this cannot be laid entirely at the door of FlixBus. On the other hand, I noticed that the coach drivers' announcements through the intercom system said nothing about the on-board etiquette expected of passengers. Absent any such regulations from the FlixBus driver and the inevitable happened: an otherwise pleasant trip became significantly less so for those passengers like myself who felt that the public space had been intruded upon. This was a lengthy journey. It didn't have to be unpleasant and, to be fair, it wasn't always so. But what pleasure there was came only as an intermission between the noise. On balance, therefore, I cannot wholly recommend FlixBus.