What's your thoughts on reserving seats on train ?

[Lastdaysofsummer26]

Seen two rows about this, this year already

First time an older man, told a lady with a small child she was in his seat there was plenty of other seats at the time so she grumpily told him can't you just sit there....

Then today two families were on a train, a load of woman came on in hen party and wanted getbthe families to leave,As they had reserved the seats, they refused to move, then a staff member came along asked them to move but the staff member also told the she couldn't force the to move.
One of the hens started shouting we've paid for these seats
And one of the family people said we've paid for our seats too
There where no other seats for them to move to so the families didn't move due to small children

But of an awkward train journey as they just kept saying things
An hours journey

Doesn't seem to really work that well
What do you think

They work if people just respect the fact that others have reserved a seat and go by the system in place. I reserve a seat knowing I don’t want to be standing the whole time, if others can’t get their act together to do it then I shouldn’t have to play martyr, and especially not be met with abuse if I dare to suggest that they need to move for a perfectly valid reservation.

Most of the trains I have used of late say that all reservations have been cancelled. I have been on trains between Nottingham, London and Birmingham.

this is the kind of behaviour that goes with early cognitive decline- making a mistake then getting angry when it causes a problem. It was fair to keep your seats, but not to call them cheeky fuckers. They would end up paying extra for being on the wrong train so it's unlikely they did it knowingly.

There's a place in hell for all the wankers who sit in other people's reserved seats and those who put their bags on seats to stop anyone sitting next to them.

I've started being blunt when this happens to me, "That's my seat". Last time the woman in my seat had her bag on the seat next to it and her lunch out on the table. I'm just not having it - the reservations are clearly displayed. I'm not running the risk of having to move during the journey by not sitting in my reserved seat. Someone behind me had someone in her seat and did the whole, "I'll just find another seat thing", as though she was reasonable and I wasn't. The unreasonable people are the ones who chance sitting where they know there is a reservation, someone else's reservation.

I do reserve seats when I can as I have mobility problems and could not possibly stand for a whole journey.

I remember getting on one train and someone was sitting in my reserved seat - a huge multi-tattooed and pierced man could see I needed help as I was using crutches and strode purposefully down the aisle and turfed the other person out!

It can also just be a mistake and nothing to do with cognitive decline, which seems to be the go-to as soon as age is mentioned. I've done similar myself, but I was in the wrong carriage rather than on the wrong train - I wasn't rude though and apologised.

Exactly, can you imagine going to your seat and there's a crowd of footy fans there. I'm not exactly bashful but there's no way I'd waste my time challenging them.

I've seen similar happen.

I agree that people shouldn’t sit in your reserved seat. However in the last year most of the trains I have been on have been some kind of amalgamation of cancelled services so either my seat reservation is invalid because it’s not my train anymore or someone else’s is invalid because theirs has been cancelled even if they have a reservation that says my seat on it. Also when they make the train a free for all they only clearly say that when you set off so people getting on later don’t know that. Train travel is an absolute shit show in this country.

I also had a problem when our family group had reserved seats on a French TGV train - a woman was seated in one of our reserved seats and could hear we were English so started to try and bamboozle my SIL. I strode over and gave her short shrift in French! She moved.

This

Unless I completely forget, I always try to reserve a seat. I don’t want the hassle of trying to find a random seat. Frankly it would be better overall if seats were all automatically assigned.

The amount of times I’ve had to ask people to move is unreasonable and often they have an attitude about it. Just reserve your own seat and cope.

This. I reserve seats with an older child because he has special needs and has to sit with me. I don’t get people to move if there are other suitable seats, but some people with special needs do struggle to adapt to that change so might still want to sit in the particular seats they reserved. Never had any issues though with people over reserved seats. Much, much, much more the issue is train companies removing reservations and combining trains so they are stuffed- which when you are travelling with someone disabled is just terrible. My child end up sobbing in the aisle and someone kind gave up their seat for him. Passengers shouldn’t be put in that position. Train companies shouldn’t except in genuine emergencies be removing seat reservations - or if they do they should have disabled seating marked up.

My DD travels by train from uni - four hours then a tube. She reserves her seat as it’s often packed but says half the time someone is in her seat and she doesn’t say anything if there’s another available. Thing is you don’t know from where people have reserved the seat so she could get moved on if she sits in someone else’s reserved seat. I’d have no problem telling someone to move if they are in my seat, it’s on my ticket so it’s not just the red light. Like airplanes, if you want to sit together book your seats together.

i travel a lot by train and it can be carnage. Fortunately for my long trips I’m almost always in first class so insulated.

I’ve travelled GWR a few times recently and they have removed reservations on every service. It causes chaos whereas LNER rarely do (I travel with them a lot more).

Last weekend however I got a glimpse of a new kind of entitlement. I got a very early unreserved train out of London to East Anglia. It was a really quiet service as it was early so I took a table rather than an airline seat (most of which due to train design were backwards).

The first stop was Cambridge and an older couple got on and had a huge go at me that I was sitting at a table on my own in a carriage with three other people (who were also sitting at the tables) so about 30 empty airline double seats.
I was happy to share and said so and tidied up the stuff I was working on to facilitate that. They refused.

It then transpired they were only travelling on the train to Cambridge North it’s less than 10minutes. They didn’t ask me but I was going to be on the train for another hour and after Cambridge hardly anyone else was going to get on.

Imagine being so sure of yourself you would ask a stranger to move on an unreserved train with loads of empty seats to enable you to sit in a “better” seat for less than 10minutes!!!

And privatising the Water Industry!

Just wanted to add my two-penneth to this as an ex-Train Conductor who has argued many rude people out of seats they haven't reserved. A frequent argument from these people, and a phrase I've heard repeated a few times on this thread, is "I've paid for a seat".

Nobody pays for a seat on a train. You might have bought a ticket, but that doesn't entitle you to a seat. When you receive a ticket, you enter into a contract. The only thing you are guaranteed, as part of that contract, is travel between the two stations listed (or compensation if that does not occur for whatever reason). At the point of ticket sale, nobody says to you well done, you've paid for a seat. You haven't. You've paid for a journey, and whether that's sitting on a seat, lying on the floor or standing on your head, what position you occupy on the train is immaterial to whether the TOC fulfills its part of the contract. You are only guaranteed a seat if you make a seat reservation, WHICH IS FREE. So "I've paid for a seat" is meaningless, incorrect and massively entitled.

Honestly used to quite enjoy talking to these rude mofos and publicly showing them up, and if they outright refused, the holder of the seat reservation would get transported to first class for a free upgrade.

Sometimes when I buy a train ticket, it automatically books me a seat. I find that annoying when I’m stuck with a seat and there are others available on the day that I’d prefer. You’re supposed to use the seat that’s been booked, unfortunately.

There needs to be more options for the train guard or conductor. Enforcing a travel ban on those who refuse to move is not practical unfortunately.

Silverlink and Virgin go from the same stations. The ticket barriers don’t look at the type of ticket just that it starts from that station.

Ticket inspectors check the rate

The poster didn't say that to them there. It’s not a verbatim report.

Yes, most of us know that. You’ve paid for carriage, not to be seated. But the scenario here seems to describe a seat that was reserved and I’ve definitely heard people being told off by conductors for not sitting in their reserved seat.

Greater Anglia don't do seat reservations. I do wonder how disabled people who need a seat manage when busy.

I rarely travel on trains.Im shocked that train staff cant enforce anything.

I heard of one way round this that may work. If someone is sitting in your reserved seat and staff say they have no power to move them, you go and sit in first class and surely the same rule will apply - they can’t move you.