My previous experiences of riding the Met have been somewhat colourful. Think - a fight, a man throwing up, a man wandering from carriage to carriage laughing hysterically to himself in such an unnerving fashion I actually got off the tram and waited for the next one, and tearaway teens using the overhead hand rails to do pull ups.
So, it was with slight trepidation I boarded the metro at Whitefield to set off on a jaunt around Manchester, armed with my £4.90 day pass to observe how friendly we are up North - and how we compare to the London Underground, where it is well documented people never, ever talk to each other.
READ MORE: Woman gobsmacked after getting £45,000 bill for a QUICHE at her local cafe In 2016 the perception of the London commuter as unfriendly and unapproachable was bolstered by the overwhelming reaction of horror to a campaign that tried to encourage tube passengers to chat.
Badges emblazoned with the question “Tube chat?” were distributed on the tube network in a bid to make the experience more neighbourly.
Read more on manchestereveningnews.co.uk