My daughter has grown out of her 1/2 size cello and needs a 3/4 one. The luthier will do a part exchange so finding a new instrument is not a problem. The problem is that the luthier is in the nearest large town some 80 miles away. This also happens to be the town where I work so ideally I would like to go there on my way home from work and avoid making a special trip but (and this is a big but) I travel by public transport in the peak hour.

First I catch a train - I should be able to get a seat for me but don't decently think I can put the cello on a seat if there are people standing. It is, however, rather cumbersome to be in the aisle.

Then I catch either a bus and a tram or two trams. Both tend to be standing room only and really crowded with people packed against each other. Does anyone have any experience of carrying a cello in a soft case in these conditions? Would you do it?

I don't have any experience of this, but I don't think that I would travel in the rush hour with a soft case. However, I have found that in London the trains are much less crowded if I travel just half an hour earlier or later. Is it feasible to do that?

It's not if I want to do it on a day I'm working - I catch the first train in the morning and I can't go in later because I'm a lecturer and can't change my class times.

Actually, I'm a bit annoyed because our term only starts next week and if the music lessons had started when the schools went back three weeks ago (and not yesterday) I could have changed the cello today when I went in for a meeting in the middle of the day.

I would not chance it. I used to lug my cello around in a soft case and it was always a great worry. Could you borrow a light fibreglass case for the journey perhaps, or ask a friend to give you and soft cased cello a lift on that day?

It might be worth knowing too that the SNCF has some odd rule whereby during rush hour you are not allowed to carry bulky items, including musical instruments, on the train. I only found out about this last year when travelling to Paris with a cellist friend - we didn't believe a word of it at the time, but checked it out and sadly it is true.

It really will just depend on how much of a jobsworth the contrôleur is on the day.

From a safety point of view, the only way forward is to stand and protect the cello as much as you can if you can't get a hard case for the journey. I've always found that, even on packed trains, people tend to be careful of instruments, especially if you make yourself very obvious!

Bon courage - plutôt toi que moi !

Son's previous teacher's daughter commuted on one of the more crowded train lines in Japan through the morning rush hour to get to the National Arts High School - she had her cello in a hard case (bright yellow - maybe BAM???) and carried it backpack style.

"Crowded" doesn't just mean "all seats full" - it means past design capacity with people standing in all available space in the train - so carrying a cello onto a train which has about 230% more people on it than it was designed to carry CAN be done!

She said people used to blanch when the train doors opened and they saw her striding determinedly toward them...

I knew about bikes but didn't realise this extends to other things as well. Quite often there is a really thick contrôleur on the morning train who regularly tells me that I haven't yet "composted" the return part of my ticket! I can just see him getting worked up about a cello.

Sounds like the St Petersburg metro

do they?? not on any of the London underground (or overground) trains that I've been on in rush hour. I've had people almost rip the instrument (violin in oblong case) from my shoulder/grip in their attempt to get on/off or past me on a train. Maybe it's because I'm only 5 feet tall that they just think I can be shoved out of the way. A good solid case when travelling is absolutely essential - whatever the instrument.

A cello backpacked on anyone is an ominous sight. When I used to play the cello I backpacked a BAM case. Believe me, on the London underground, people would move because they didn't want to be wiped off the platform edge as I turned around, rather than feeling they ought to be considerate to the instrument the case housed. Granted, there'd always be at least one ignorant and arrogant so-and-so who'd try to push past. The easy answer to that was to just lean into them until they gave in and let you past.

A few years ago I received a swift upper cut to the chin from a cello case as a short female lifted it onto onto her back on a platform at Morgate Station. Bit my tongue and saw stars. Couldn't have been you by any chance AmandaL?

Never been through Moorgate Station with a cello, so thankfully it wasn't me. Could have been a student from the GSMD though, which is not that far from Moorgate.

I, like most musos, will deliberately keep my distance and treat anyone carrying a musical instrument case as: 'Caution, wide load maneuvering'. But then, I know just how lethal a swipe from one of them can be........

I'm glad i don't live in London!!

If you are planning to go the luthier on your way home can't you hang around for an hour or so afterwards? Have a drink or a bite to eat somewhere and set out on the train home at about 7pm? It should be a lot quieter by then. Alternatively, buy an extra seat on the train, like you would have to do on a plane, and get a taxi instead of the crowded tram, if it's affordable.

I agree with the others, see if you can borrow a hard case. Well worth it.

Good luck!

It's the morning that's the problem. Not the evening. I think I am resigning myself to making a separate trip just to the luthier on a day when I'm not working.