Asking someone to move on train

[openjoy]

Is it unreasonable to ask someone to move if they are sat in a train seat that is allocated to you on your train ticket?

I’ve always thought it was ok to do. There are the screens above the seat that say “seat booked” or “seat available until x” etc. I was on a train recently where a woman asked someone to move as they were in her seat and they refused. It caused a bit of a scene in the carriage.

Should the seat allocation (which is free with the standard ticket booking) be ignored and if you get a seat you do and if you don’t, you don’t?

If you are in someone's booked seat you should move when asked - without grumbling. (I wouldn't ask if the train was super empty though). You don't know why a person has booked a seat - they may be doing a really long journey or have a condition or disability that makes standing hard.

You can get train staff and they will make people move.

I'm disabled, and I book the disabled space. Lots of people sit in it or put their luggage there.

People who have restricted mobility often book seats as well and if they have assistance booked then assistance will make people move if someone is in their pre-booked seat.

No. If there is a free seat then the person sitting in the seat you've booked should move to that one. I'd threaten to sit on top of them if they don't move, and I would do it.

The problem is that if trains are cancelled, delayed etc, then seat reservations aren't valid. If there hasn't been any issues on that line (ha ha ha) then you can get a guard, who should move the person in your seat.

I have twice asked someone to move off my Reserved seat .
I;m doing a long journey I have pre-booked my seat for a reason.

There were other seats but what if they were reserved too ( they might have been, might not , I simply CBA looking , that was for the other person to check)

Be polite . Be firm
One woman asked "Oh did you book it" ?
I said yes and showed her my ticket .
She then said she wasn't a train traveller usually .

I said nothing ( obvs thanked her for shifting ) but the thought "Well here's a tip Missy , don;t take a reserved seat unless you are prepared to move when the booked passenger rolls up)

If I’ve reserved a seat I will be sitting in that seat! Yes, at times seat reservations are cancelled due to cancelled trains and then it just turns into a free for all. If seat reservations are still running then I will be using my seat. It’s not my problem if other people haven’t reserved 🤷🏼‍♀️

It is absolutely fine and normal to ask people to move (but also fine and normal for people to sit there until asked).

Occasionally you get people who are chancing it and will whinge about how they really wanted a seat and got there first or whatever. And occasionally you get people who genuinely have no idea about it all. I remember an American woman getting absolutely incredulously furious that she could be expected to move from a booked seat, and eventually the guard ended up saying either she could move, or she'd be asked to leave the train at the next stop. I don't know how he planned to enforce that, but she did move! With much grumbling. American friends of mine were mystified as to why she thought UK trains wouldn't have booked seats/what she thought the little message above the seat was for!

Of course they ought to move. Next time, maybe they should book in advance.

Yes of course you ask someone to move if they're sitting in your reserved seat. Sometimes people don't show up or sit elsewhere so nothing wrong with chancing it, but if you're in a reserved seat you'd expect to move.

You can't always book seats

Well the person who HAS been organised enough to book early takes priority. Unless there are extreme circumstances like the other person is disabled and cannot sit anywhere else etc

Every single time - it's my seat! It's normally clear if the reservation system has been cancelled (other passengers tend to let you know / the digital signs advise).

The more someone kicks off, the less I think of them - all they need to do is apologise and move or not fecking sit there in the first place.

Not my problem though.
If I have a seat reserved I am sitting in it no matter how many other free seats there are. You can't know how full the carriage will get further along the journey and you don't want to be moving all the time

I always tell people to move and I will be the one to cause a commotion if they don’t.
I have only had one person initially refuse (an old lady who simply wanted to sit in my seat) and I made them move.

Absolutely they should move. I’m a long term commuter and always ask people to move. It’s a bust train so people often chance their arm. I’m pretty firm about it.

The problem is with the train fares, there’s an inverse relationship between the cost of the ticket and chance of getting a seat (excluding first class). So sure, it’s fine to ask them to move but don’t expect the other person to be happy about having to stand for someone who has paid less.

How would anyone know what anyone else paid?

I always ask them to move. I booked the seat, they didn't.

Only time I didn't was for an elderly lady who was clearly struggling. She needed it more than me.

I always ask them to move, only been an issue once where the woman and her dog were taking up the table for four we'd booked, she attempted to argue about it but ultimately moved when I very firmly told her to.

I don't really care how much someone else has paid - nor would I have anyway of knowing. If I have a seat reservation I will sit in it. I've asked people to move before. They may grumble but I have a ticket with a seat number so it's tough luck.

I've never had this problem thankfully but I would expect anyone to move without argument if they were sat in my reserved seat.

Recently I was travelling by train. Two young men were sitting next to each other, one in the seat I had reserved. The carriage was quite crowded, so I asked the person in my seat to move and they reacted with astonished panic. They objected because 'they didn't know me'. I wasn't really looking for a social occasion, just my seat. I did spot a free seat and took that one, as I didn't want to traumatise the poor darling. I think that was my introduction to the term 'snowflake'!

Because I know the fare structure. Advanced booking, fixed train tickets are cheapest and allow people to book seats. But I’m a regular commuter who doesn’t know which train I’ll be able to catch until last minute. So I have no choice but to pay for the most expensive same day peak ticket, and absolutely no option to ever book a seat. So I’ll move if asked, but I will sit there if no other seats and I’ll probably look grumpy about it. I wouldn’t say anything or start an argument though.

Yep! Took my son on a day trip with a 2 hour train ride. He was 4 I think so had the option of him going free and no guarantee of a seat at all or buying him a ticket and reserving seats. The way out was fine but the way back was rammed as the train before ours was cancelled. Fought our way through the busy carriage and politely asked the people to move, which they did.

I then heard a woman stood up nearby say to whoever she was with that she didn’t realise she could do that and that she was off to claim her seat!

Once getting on a train in Paris heading for Turin, we had just got seated when a French guy insisted that we were in the wrong seats, ie his seat, and showed us his ticket. With great pleasure, in (not bad) French I informed him that he, in fact, was in the wrong carriage. To our surprise, neighbouring passengers also joined in to let him know and see him off!