Getting a train seat

Norman_Fielding

Is there any law or regulation that I can use against my train company so that they provide me with a seat? Or is it a case of first come first served? I don't think i've ever got a seat in the mornings?!?!

geordieracer

No. They are providing you a service getting you from A to B but unfortunately that does not come with a guarantee of a seat.

Norman_Fielding

Thanks Geordieracer. So, what you're saying is that i pay for a ticket and my train company is only obliged to get me from my start station to my destination?!?! That's a joke.

Do the conditions of carriage not guarantee minimum rights?

Livingthedream

Norman_Fielding wrote: »

Do the conditions of carriage not guarantee minimum rights?

Yes, but not when it comes to seating. Some Train companies have a refund policy when it comes to seat reservations but these are normally just for long distance route and not commuter route.

But here is the NRCOC you might find something that might help your case.

tillycat123

I just park myself in first class if there are no seat. I decline the tea and coffee and just say I would like the seat please. Not been asked to move yet!

Livingthedream

tillycat123 wrote: »

I just park myself in first class if there are no seat. I decline the tea and coffee and just say I would like the seat please. Not been asked to move yet!

Tillycat please read this thread;

http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=45939

So please be careful, there's certain revenue protection officers out there that will report you for prosecution for this.

geordieracer

Norman_Fielding wrote: »

Thanks Geordieracer. So, what you're saying is that i pay for a ticket and my train company is only obliged to get me from my start station to my destination?!?! That's a joke.

Do the conditions of carriage not guarantee minimum rights?

Read the link LTD posted. Your ticket is permission to ride on the train. It is not a seat reservation.
Sorry but theres no way in the world they would put a guarantee into the NCoC about having a seat.

Stigy

tillycat123 wrote: »

I just park myself in first class if there are no seat. I decline the tea and coffee and just say I would like the seat please. Not been asked to move yet!

Then you're asking for trouble. It's not necessarily the staff you have to worry about, other passengers who pay a premium for the service tend to get the hump if they find imposters in First Class! You leave yourself liable to at best a demanded upgrade from the Guard or Train Manager, or at worst be reported under Railway Byelaw 19.1 or the Regulation of Railways Act 1889, both of the latter could render you liable for prosecution. Guards do sometimes de-classify 1st Class sometimes on busy trains, but that's their call.

Regarding seating, as has been said already, the ticket you hold entitles you to a journey, not a seat on a train. Certain TOCs offer part refunds for 1st Class passengers who can't get a seat in 1st though....:):T

I'm not sure the thread in the other forum is the best example, although by no means a dig at Livingthedream, obviously!

For the record, ALL Byelaw and Regulation of Railways Act 1889 offences are heard at Magistrates' Court, and are Criminal, not Civil.

Livingthedream

Stigy wrote: »

I'm not sure the thread in the other forum is the best example, although by no means a dig at Livingthedream, obviously!

No problem stigy and no offence taken, just remember reading it and thought it was a good example of what can go wrong if you have a standard ticket and you travel in 1st class, obviously there is different mitigation with the FCC thread, but the thread does serve a purpose to warn other what can happen.

spiro

Remember it is only since they got rid of 3rd class that all carriages have seats, prior to that 3rd class didn't.

Mark_Hewitt

If you have a season ticket which is a month or more some TOCs will allow you to reserve seats for that trip. However if it's a busy commuter route as you describe, then I doubt it.