To ask why people sit in reserved seats?

I don't like to be ageist but I think this is particularly a young woman's trick - probably because they feel uncomfortable sitting next to a stranger.

IME, it's mostly men carrying bags. A McDs once.

@chocolateandpinkgin

Absolutely with you on the bags on seats! On busy trains (and buses). Or sitting on the outer seat with an empty one beside you? I don't like to be ageist but I think this is particularly a young woman's trick - probably because they feel uncomfortable sitting next to a stranger. It's OK to claim a seat for your bag if the train is half empty but you should move it when the train fills up and before being asked. And sometimes the 'empty'. seats have reservations on them so probably not really available.

I quite often book a seat but have a flexible ticket and then miss my original timed train and get a later one (or turn up early enough to get an earlier one).
I'm not booking a seat and sitting elsewhere on the train nor am I deliberately not catching a train where I've booked a seat.

Would you refuse to move, Hurty?

In my experience I sit in reserved seats because as a commuter with a season ticket I am not allocated a seat. On commuter trains you have no idea the amount of times we have to stand or sit in the walkways for 90% of our journey home. I pay around £8K a year to not be guaranteed somewhere to sit, so if the last seat in a carriage is reserved then you bet your ass I’ll be sitting in it. Like a lot of people have pointed out up thread there’s a huge amount of people who either a) miss their train or b) have an allocated seat but choose to sit elsewhere when they actually get on the train.

IMO seat allocation shouldn’t be allowed on the commuter trains, or peak travel trains in general. It should be a first come first served scenario.

Because they're relying on the other person being too much of a mug to ask them politely but firmly to move.

Any huffing/eye-rolling needs to be ignored.

People often buy a flexible ticket but book a seat on the outbound train in case they need it... you have to select outbound train on some train booking websites even for flexible ticket.

Then they decide to go for a later train on the day or whatever.

Its never been a bother to tell someone to move if I have reservced a seat, on the times when I haven't and sit in a reserved seat (hoping it won't be taken) I therefore assume that it's no big deal if I'm asked to move.

And it isn't.
A big deal.

Wow. I’d offer to sit on their lap if they didn’t move. With the full intention of doing it.

If you hate confrontation, make the biggest smile ever, but stand your ground. Be so apologetic and with so many thank yous, plus keep touching their arm in such a friendly manner, that they will seem utterly unreasonable not to let you have your (own) seat. Offer to help them find their reserved seat.
Make up something about needing to sit exactly there and not wanting to make a mess of other people's seating. Also mention your bad back and possibility of being sick (all over the seated person) if having to stand up.
Keep smiling and keep touching them.

Just don't let it pass.

I’ve never had a problem getting the person to move. Maybe I just look scary.

Just say "sorry, that's my seat". Not confrontational and I've not been refused yet.

If the train's not crowded, I just sit anywhere, unless it really is poshly "reserved". Also, its sometimes only reserved for part of the journey.
But I am always happy to move and am v apologetic .

To be fair though, like others have said, quite often people will reserve a seat and then not use it. For example, whenever we take the kids for a trip to London, we'll book off-peak tickets and reserve a seat - but then quite often we'll end up going home on an earlier/later train which means we don't use our reserved seats.

If I'm on a train and it's packed and the only empty seats are reserved, I'll sit in them. What's the point of standing the whole way when the seats might not even get used? But if someone comes along who has reserved the seats, I will always happily move, and I'd never get huffy about it. That's just being a bit of a dick really.

If someone was in your seat and you didn't ask them to move - it's kind of your fault (sorry). I used to let it go and just stand/find another seat but I think I've become more of a bitch assertive as I've got older and now I always ask them to move.

Do you know what REALLY annoys me though. Bags on seats! When you're walking through a packed carriage, there's people stood up, and then you realise half the seats are taken up by people's bloody bags! And they just carry on sitting there, taking up the seat next to them with their bag, looking at all the people stood up with no seats. Now THAT is rude.

If no one ever sat in a reserved seat that wasn't theirs, each train would consist of one carriage of unreserved seating with every seat taken, 3 carriages of fully reserved seats with only 25% of the seats occupied, and every available inch of standing-room packed with people with no reservation for that train (many of whom will have a reservation on a different train albeit with a flexible ticket but decided to get a different train) - and there would be so many standing that those who did have reservations would have no hope of ever getting to their seat through the crush. It would be utterly ridiculous.

The vast majority of reserved seats are never claimed. It is an entirely reasonable gamble to assume it's OK to sit in a reserved seat. It is entirely reasonable to say to such a person "excuse me, that's my reserved seat" and if you can't cope with the emotional fallout from detecting that they are disappointed that their gamble was unsuccessful then that shows a startling lack of resilience on your part and you need to work on that. If they are actively arsey and resistant then they are nasty people. Pretty rare and certainly never sensible to assume this will happen. Being able to live with the fact that there are nasty people in the world without letting that fact stop you from behaving reasonably may also be something you need to work on.

"This is why we need to support the guards' strike. We need guards in trains."

Absolutelyfuckinglutely.

The behaviour of people on trains is absolutely disgraceful.

Have you seen how many people fail to take up those reservations? It's a LOT! Just smile and say "I'm terribly sorry, but that's my seat".

I wouldn't sit in a reserved seat.
I agree that the conductor should have sorted it for you.
I expect the woman was pretending to be asleep so she could get away with it - which she did!

You didn't wake the womanso as far as she knows the booking person didn't turn up so she will do it again

Hollycat, I travel on that route and have probably sat in some of your reserved seats :)

An option for commuters to reserve would be great - I get 2 trains a day on the same route at the same times, and having the extra predictability of ‘my’ booked seat would actually help a lot (I have autism - a disability where you don’t need a seat by the door, but a seat somewhere really helps)

Butchyrestingface

Im a female and slight mid forties and wont take this type of entitled rude behavior anymore from anyone. Quite feisty when I'm 100% correct :-0)

And stare. No please or thank you, or excuse me

They're the ones in the wrong not you

If you were that rude I would still move...however it would take me a lot longer to move...

I'm not in the wrong for taking a seat that might or might not be taken

It's a challenge on busy trains. For example, Manchester to Leeds. I book an anytime return to give me flexibility over when i travel (I'm not a commuter FYI). But I am allowed to book a seat on a specific train. My intention is always to get my train that I have booked a reservation on, but if I'm held up then the train will run and my "reserved" seat won't be occupied by me. I have no way of telling the train company, and why should someone stand if there is a free seat? So naturally, people will sit in reserved seats hoping that the reserver doesn't turn up because quite often they don't.

If someone is sat in my reserved seat I will always, without exception, ask them to move. I do it politely and have never had an issue. To be fair, I always expect someone will sit in reserved seats and I don't mind as long as they move. If you don't ask them to move how will they know you have turned up to claim it?

The best way would be fully electronic seat reservations that update real time so people could cancel their reservations and it could remind people as the train pulls into each station that the seat is reserved and they may need to vacate if they haven't booked it.

You're being too polite OP.

"You are in the seat I have reserved".

And stare. No please or thank you, or excuse me.

They're the ones in the wrong not you. And more fool you to stand when you've booked a seat.

Lots of people don’t bother turning up to sit on the reserved seats. I reserved table seats once from London to Leeds with my DC but only needed three seats so one was reserved for someone else. They didn’t turn up so we used it, if they had turned up I’d have made sure we shuffled up to accommodate but they didn’t so 🤷🏻‍♀️.