Train full - free upgrades to 1st class

Throbbe

Wail wrote: »

I would be surprised to find someone successfully doing this.

Pregnant women can get some dispensation on some operators, although whether this includes First Class travel, I do not know.

WAGN used to offer first class seats to pregnant women if there were none available. Mrs Throbbe regularly sat in first class once she was visibly pregnant with the Throbblets.

WickedWolfie

dad62 wrote: »

I think it is quite reasonable to sit in first class if the alternative is to stand. Sadly the negligence of the rail companies has resulted in several rail disasters in recent decades. In such situations standing passengers are at higher risk of fatality than seated passengers. I really can't see how a responsible rail company would put passengers at additional risk by forcing them to stand when safer (seated) accommodation is available in first class.

You may take that view. The law disagrees. At best if you did this you would be liable to pay the difference between a standard and first class fare. At worst you would be prosecuted for fare evasion.

wealdroam

Throbbe wrote: »

WAGN used to offer first class seats to pregnant women if there were none available.

How did they manage that then?

HappyMJ

If standard is full and there is very little standing room I will sit in first class. The inspector has come by checked my ticket we had chat about it and he said to me if it gets crowded in first class he expects me to move back to standard. Other times when it wasn't so crowded in standard I have just been asked to move back to standard or pay the fare difference if I wanted to stay. That's on Virgin and Cross Country trains.

Throbbe

:rotfl:

I must proofread before posting. You knew what I meant anyway.

wealdroam wrote: »

How did they manage that then?

dad62

WickedWolfie wrote: »

You may take that view. The law disagrees. At best if you did this you would be liable to pay the difference between a standard and first class fare. At worst you would be prosecuted for fare evasion.

I'd be interested to know exactly what the law is with regards to overcrowding of carriages and health and safety. I have been on trains where a 12 carriage train has been reduced to 4 carriages and the guards have allowed the carriages to be filled to what would appear to be a very dangerous amount of passengers. Is there a maximum number of passengers allowed in each carriage? If I were to photographically record evidence of a carriage being allowed to be filled to a dangerous level and submitted it to British Transport Police would they be required to take action?

I personally think it is wrong of train companies who are granted an effective monopoly to take people's money and give them no choice but to stand despite their poor safety record.

For this reason I think it is perfectly reasonable to sit in first class if the only other option is to stand.

Tuesday_Tenor

Twice in the past when Standard Class was very full and First Class was pretty empty I have been offered an upgrade to First Class for a nominal extra charge, £3 or £5 I think it was. Well worth it to avoid 2 hours standing! This was several years ago; don't know if any companies now operate such a policy.

Spirit_2

Tonight on my journey back from London I paid to upgrade my ticket and got the last seat in 1st Class. It was £20+ but a whole lot better than standing for over an hour after a very long day.

My day return ticket had already cost over £75 and I had had to stand for part of the journey in the morning.

I would be happy to pay a few £ extra to prebook a seat rather than the random scrum when an already full train pulls in and you have to board. I am not convinced that first come first served is a reasonable principle when customers at 'later' stations will always have an unmet demand seats.

Livingthedream

dad62 wrote: »

I'd be interested to know exactly what the law is with regards to overcrowding of carriages and health and safety. I have been on trains where a 12 carriage train has been reduced to 4 carriages and the guards have allowed the carriages to be filled to what would appear to be a very dangerous amount of passengers. Is there a maximum number of passengers allowed in each carriage? If I were to photographically record evidence of a carriage being allowed to be filled to a dangerous level and submitted it to British Transport Police would they be required to take action?

And you think we have problems.

dad62 wrote: »

despite their poor safety record.

I think you'll find that trains are a lot safer than travelling by road.

dad62 wrote: »

For this reason I think it is perfectly reasonable to sit in first class if the only other option is to stand.

What a great idea, Edinburgh to Glasgow season tickets are as priced as follows;
Standard 1 month £324
1st £487
I'm sure the Train Companies would love to give up that extra income due to packed trains, I mean why bother paying the price for a 1st ticket when you can get in by making a bit of a fuss.

chickywiggle

*tosh* is the word that springs to mind.

I travelled on an overcrowded 2 hour train journey with my toddler and baby the other month.

We jumped on and put the buggy in the disabled space in first class (as it was the only space i could see - all lugage racks etc were full or I would have folded it). There were around 3 people in the first class carriage.

The conductor came and I explained the problem and was told I could leave the buggy there but me and the kids would have to move. We therefore stepped in the other side of the door and sat down (took buggy with us as it had personal belongings on (this was apparently completly acceptable). despite being a nuscience to other travellers as I had to move it every time the train stopped at a station.

2 other passengers complained to the conductor the attitude of his was unacceptable. At one point he came back and told me there were seats 2 carrages down and when I asked how I was to get to them was informed I should fold the buggy carry that + my cases etc and baby + hold my toddlers hand.

I asked if he could help and he refused.

Lets just say my reply was not polite.