EXHAUSTED Birmingham and Black Country workers are falling asleep on buses and trains in a new trend dubbed "fly kipping".
Bus and train drivers are having to wake passengers at the end of the line as a hard day's work takes its toll on the region's workforce.
Head of communication at Travel West Midlands Phil Bateman explained sleeping passengers are commonplace on the company's fleet of buses.
He said: "There is always someone 'fly kipping' on a journey, I have done it myself. It's a national pastime. Everyone at some stage nods off on a bus.
"It's the soporific value of a bus ride for a contented bus customer, and almost a million passengers a day here in the West Midlands fight it every time they jump on a bus as it follows either a hard night's partying or a day at work."
Recent statistics showing West Midlands workers toil longer than their counterparts across the country explain the rise in passengers dropping off.
Regional secretary of the Trade Union Congress Roger McKenzie is not surprised so many people are "fly kipping".
He said: "It's not surprising because we have to work harder in this country than anywhere else in Europe.
"You can just see it when you get on the train leaving work and see the state of some people who are absolutely shattered."
He added: "People seem to spend most of their time either at work or recovering from work and we are missing out on the good things in life like spending more time with the family.
"What should happen is that parents get home and read their kids a bedtime story but they are so tired they want someone to read them a bedtime story."
* Have your ever fallen asleep on a train or bus? How far have you gone before you woke? Tell us your stories at www.birminghammail.net/news/yoursay
