Are seat reservations still valid on delayed / overcrowded trains?
I was travelling on an East Midlands train from Nottingham to Norwich. This train stops at Grantham. The previous train to Grantham was cancelled, so the train was very crowded.
I had a seat reservation. Despite this, a woman was sitting in my seat, and refused to move. She claimed that because the previous train to Grantham was cancelled, she is entitled to keep her seat reservation on this train, and I can claim my money back because my seat was unavailable. I was not going to argue with her, so allowed her to stay there.
Who was right?
Best Answer
You were right. Her reserved seat was on the cancelled train.
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Answer 2
In cases like this, you need to go fetch the conductor.
She knows her rights and knows that you cannot remove her from the seat bodily, so if she stays put, she keeps the seat and you go hungry. It was no risk to her to bet that you would not go get the conductor.
If you get the conductor, he can not only fetch guards to physically remove her, he can hold the train until she leaves (earning her the wrath of the whole car), and then kick her off the train and void her ticket. You bet she knows that, and would comply after a short and futile argument with the conductor.
When people are jerks, it's almost an imperative to challenge it. But how do you avoid being wrong and accidentally being the jerk? The answer is you seek the neutral expert moderator: the conductor.
Answer 3
The problem is, OP 'willingly' gave up his seat so East Midlands is kinda off the hook.
The conductor could have sorted this out onboard as it was OP's seat. The other passenger was in the wrong seat.
It's really no different that switching seats on an airplane, then complaining after the fact. East Midlands was not given the opportunity to correct the situation when they could have actually done so.
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