A Scottish woman has been praised after she stuck to her guns and refused to give up her seat for a pensioner on a train journey from London. The incident has sparked a debate on travel etiquette online.
While it’s known to courteous to offer your seat to a senior, individuals with disabilities, or a pregnant woman, this particular traveller stood her case firmly stood her ground and kept her priority seat she had reserved in advance, reports Edinburgh Live.
The woman was travelling from London to Aberdeen on an unnamed rail service and splashed out extra cash for a first-class ticket to guarantee a private seat to work without any disturbances. However, when she boarded, she found her allocated seat was marked as a priority seat but stood her ground when a woman in her 60s demanded the seat.
Sharing her story on online platform Reddit, the passenger explained: “I recently got a train across the UK from London to Aberdeen. It’s a seven-hour journey so I booked myself a first-class seat well in advance”.
Paying for first-class train seats in the UK can hit the wallet hard, but the passenger decided to indulge for a couple of reasons. She wrote: “First-class seats on trains in the UK can be expensive, but I decided to treat myself because 1), I knew I’d have work to do on the train, so I wanted to make sure I had space/comfort to be able to work, and 2), certain trains in the ‘individual seats’ which means you’re not sitting next to or sitting opposite anyone. I specifically booked one of those seats to enable me to work.”
The journey began smoothly as they boarded un London and settled into their specially selected seat, she said: “I got on the train in London and sat in my seat. The seat they’d assigned me was also the ‘priority seat’. Priority seats are the ones at the end of carriages for people with mobility issues due to age or disability.”
However, things soon took a turn for the worst, when a woman around 60 demanded the seat, citing her age: “A woman got on after me who was around 60 years old and pointed at the sign above my head and, quite rudely, told me to move because she was elderly.”
The seated passenger stood their ground: “I told her I’d booked the seat and she’d need to speak to a member of staff to find her one. She pointed out that the train was full and there were no other seats. I apologised but reiterated that I’d booked the seat and wasn’t going to move.”
A staff member soon informed the older woman although she had a first-class ticket, she had not reserved a seat, thus not guaranteeing her one. Despite attempts to negotiate a compromise, with the woman offered a seat in standard class, the passenger who had booked the seat remained firm in her decision not to move.
She detailed the experience: “Eventually, a train guard came over to try to help. The lady had booked a return ticket, but she hadn’t reserved a specific seat.”
She added some insight for those who don’t often travel by train: “For those who don’t know how trains work, if you have a ticket but haven’t also booked a seat reservation, it means you can travel on a train, but you aren’t guaranteed a seat unless there’s one available.”
The story continued, as she detailed the guard’s request: “He asked if either of us would consider moving to standard class if he could find us a seat. I again refused, explaining I’d booked the seat well in advance and that I needed it. Eventually, he took the woman to standard class and I assume found her a seat there.”
Despite being firm, the woman expressed her feelings about the incident: “I felt bad, but I also don’t think I needed to put myself in severe discomfort because someone else didn’t think ahead and reserve a seat.”
Reddit users were split over the situation, with debates emerging about the train company’s responsibility. One person reasoned: “The train company are the a**holes here. They sold the disability seats as the most expensive seats on the train. Those seats should never be sold unless the occupier is disabled. That’s on the train operator. It’s not on you.”
Meanwhile, another strongly pointed out: “If it was a first-class seat on a plane and someone asked you to move to economy, you’d tell them to f**k right off. Same applies here, in my mind.”
Another person weighed in on the matter, commenting: “The woman was for thinking she was entitled to your reserved seat though. Elderly or not, you paid in advance and shouldn’t have to move just because she showed up.”