Hull Journal: 03 / 04 / 2007; 1526BST

Just settling into the hotel room after a very bizarre journey.

The 11:42 train from Piccadilly ceased running at Huddersfield. Had to board the next train and change at Leeds. One passenger said the 11:42 had run out of diesel. A large number of passengers boarded a TPExpress at Leeds terminating at Hull. Not long after the conductor had checked tickets, a man came round in a high-viz jacket selling the Big Issue magazine. He was shabbily presented but very polite. At first I was commending First for helping the homeless. Then the conductor appeared. "You don't have permission to sell things on board!" The hobo could only mutter. He stumbled passed and carried on. About twenty minutes later we pulled into Selby. The conductor announced there would be a delay in the doors opening. Great: another delay. For five minutes passengers stood, waiting, while nothing happened. Eventually British Transport Police appeared. The set of doors in my eye line opened and two officers came aboard. They handcuffed a chaved-out man roughly my age: he had assaulted the hobo as he made his way through the front carriage. The hobo was also detained by British Transport Police officers. His relationship with authority is a blurred, even confused one.

I personally think he had a great idea. He was in possession of a valid ticket and he was polite to the passengers. Train operators should consider this as something worth considering.

Yours, wherever you may be,
Daniel C. Wright