A British woman, currently on a working holiday in Sydney, Australia, was left pleasantly surprised after discovering an intriguing feature on a local train – although many were quick to point out it wasn’t as unique as she initially thought. Despite both the UK and Australia speaking English, there are numerous cultural differences and clashes between the two nations.
Living abroad can be an incredibly enriching and enlightening experience, even when residing in countries that share the same language. Many people opt to take the time to travel, or accept job offers that provide them with the opportunity to live in a different country, gaining first-hand experience of diverse cultures and alternative lifestyles.
This seems to be the case for Megan, a Brit who has relocated to the Bondi area near Sydney in Australia, on a working holiday.
Working holiday visas are typically aimed at younger people – usually those aged 18-35 for UK citizens – and permit them to live and work in the country, on a flexible basis, for up to a year.
Like many others, Megan has been documenting her experiences on social media, regularly sharing glimpses of her new lifestyle on TikTok.
In one particularly popular video, Megan expressed her amazement at the Sydney trains, which boast adjustable seats that can be flipped to face forwards, backwards, or sideways. This then allows passengers to sit facing each other.
Over the footage, which was captured from her perspective and demonstrated how to easily adjust the train seat, Megan wrote: “As a Brit in Australia, this has baffled me…”
In the caption accompanying the clip, she simply added: “Their trains are so much cooler here lol!!”
The video has already garnered more than 4.6 million views. In the comments section, people were eager to share their thoughts – with many insisting this was a feature here in the UK.
One person said: “This is very old technology. We used to have seating like this on trams over a hundred years ago. I know because I’ve been to Critch Museum.”
Another agreed: “Trains used to be like this in England”.
A third said: “British trams 100s of years ago did this” while a fourth echoed this: “Trams had this over 100 years ago in Scotland.”
One TikTok user simply said: “Blackpool trams were like this.”
Another shared: “I was on a literal steam engine built in the early 1900s last summer and they had this lol”.
And another joked: “When does this update drop in the UK?”
A local said: “As an Australian this has baffled me too because this is just a Sydney thing”.
Another local was surprised and commented: “TRAINS CAN DO THAT HERE..?”
Someone else observed: “Wait this is so cool”.
Another shared: “I (a Brit) once discovered this on a train in New York by accident and got the whole train of Americans doing it after hahaha”.
And another added: “As an American, I thought all trains did this”.