Working from a train tray table: what fits on 40 cm and what doesn't

A three-hour train ride is three hours with no meetings, no doorbell and a view. It is one of the best places to work, if you can get the tray table to cooperate.

Most seat-back tray tables are about 40 cm wide and 25 to 30 cm deep. Measure yours next time with your hand: an open hand from thumb to little finger is around 20 cm, so two hand spans is the whole width. That is less than a café table by a long way, and it changes what you bring out of the bag.

Here is what fits, what doesn't, and the order we set things up in.

First, pick the seat

The seat matters more than the gear.

• Table seats beat tray seats. If the train has four-seat tables, take one. You get a full-width table and somewhere to put a cup.
• Window side, facing forward. You get the wall to lean on, a socket more often than not, and nobody climbing over your laptop.
• Check for a socket before you sit. On many trains it is low between the seats. Plug the charger in first, before anything else is on the tray.

If you only get a seat-back tray, everything below still works. It just needs a bit more care.

What fits on 40 cm

A 13 or 14 inch laptop. A 13-inch MacBook Air is about 30 cm wide and 21 cm deep, so it fits with a few centimetres either side. A 16-inch laptop is about 36 cm wide and overhangs most trays at the back.

The Fold-Flat Laptop Stand. Its footprint is smaller than the laptop, so it sits on the tray without adding width. On a train it does two jobs: it lifts the screen towards eye level, and it tilts the laptop so the screen clears the seat in front when that seat reclines.

Keep it on a low setting. A tray table is already closer to your face than a desk, and a high stand on a wobbly tray feels top-heavy around corners.

The Pocket USB-C Hub. It plugs straight into the side of the laptop with no cable, so it takes no tray space at all. That matters here more than anywhere. Charger into the 100 W PD port, phone into a USB-A port, and nothing dangles into the aisle.

One thing to check: the hub uses two USB-C ports side by side on the same side of the laptop, as on MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. If your laptop has a single USB-C port, it won't fit.

What doesn't fit, and what to do instead

The desk mat, unrolled. The Solid Desk Mat is 30 × 70 cm. That is almost twice the width of the tray. Unrolled, it hangs off both sides.

What works: fold it in half to about 30 × 35 cm and use it as a mouse pad next to the laptop, or on your knee if the tray is full. It is 2 mm thick, so a fold doesn't make it bulky. On a table seat, unroll it fully: it fits and it keeps the laptop off the crumbs.

A mouse, most of the time. On a seat-back tray there is rarely room beside the laptop. Use the trackpad for the journey and save the mouse for table seats.

A full-size coffee. Train cup holders are shallow and trains brake. If the tray has a cup notch, use it. If not, keep the cup on the floor between your feet, not next to the laptop.

Setup, in order

1. Charger in the socket, cable along the seat edge.
2. Tray down, then wipe it. Trays are rarely clean.
3. Stand on the tray, low setting, back edge towards the seat in front.
4. Laptop on the stand, back edge first.
5. Hub into the side of the laptop, charger into its PD port.
6. Mat folded in half beside the laptop or on your knee, mouse on top if there is room.

About a minute, most of it waiting for the tray to stop wobbling.

Work that suits a train

Train wifi comes and goes, especially in tunnels and between towns. Plan for that rather than fight it.

• Download before you board. Documents, slides, the files you need. Set them to work offline.
• Write, edit, plan. Drafting, reading and editing need no connection and suit a moving window.
• No video calls. The connection drops, the carriage hears everything, and the person across from you didn't buy a ticket for your meeting.
• Headphones on. Even without music, they tell people you are working.

Packing up before your stop

Start five minutes before the station. Unplug the hub and drop it in a pocket. Fold the stand flat into the laptop sleeve. Roll the mat. Lift the tray. You are at the door with nothing left on the seat.

The short version

Forty centimetres is not much. It is enough for a real morning's work if you bring the right three things and leave the rest in the bag.