I reckon there should be community run public lectures on trains.
It would be cool if there was a co-ordinating body (with a web side) that placed calls for speakers, and advertised a programme.
Then, in a designated carriage (or carriages) you could go and see a talk on [insert subject here] while you did the hour or two commute to work.
Or, what if everyone danced and drank beer on the train in a special carriage.
Why are commuters so boring? They always seem so crushed, but with mock enthusiasm.
A train seems like such a good place to meet new people. Everyone is stuck in there anyway.. I wonder why they don't talk much to each other..? Is it, perhaps, that there is nothing more exciting to talk about than the weather..
I'd like it if it was common social practice to explain some detailed area of your field of expertise to strangers on a train. So, everyone was learning in time that they would otherwise have wasted.
John.