I think I may have found the answer to my question!! She is not travelling till April and whilst I can book the tickets 3 months in advance it seems they don't release the seat plans that early. Will have to wait a little while.

Pippa

Pippa - I have done this many times, but would not bother again. On our last trip people were just sitting anywhere, despite there being reserved tickets on the seats, and there was no one in sight to try & rectify the problem. Good luck.

Hi Pippa,

Yes, you have found the answer to your own question! It is too early to try and reserve her seat for travel in April. Given her age I would suggest that you do what I do for my parents now - book her tickets on-line and then when you get them, phone the relevant train operator/s direct and not only reserve her seats but request assistance for her. Then if someone is sitting in 'her' seat there will be a staff member with her who will also have the authority to ask them to move.

I've done this ever since I witnessed the scenario that Helen T warns you about! An elderly woman travelling on her own was accompanied onto the train by a member of the station staff only to find that her reserved seat was occupied. At first the offending passenger refused to move and the staff member pointed out to them that the train couldn't leave until he got off, and he wasn't going to get off until he'd safely seated her. Every minute they sat tight was another minute that would be added onto an already delayed train journey. He refused to countenance the suggestion that there were surely unoccupied seats elsewhere he could put her in on the grounds that this was the seat the passenger assistance staff at her journey's end would expect to find her in, in order to help with her luggage etc when she needed to disembark. Making them look elsewhere for her ran the risk of either them not being able to find her and her being left to fend for herself or else the train would yet again be delayed whilst they hunted through the train for her. In the end the mutters and increasing restlessness of the other passengers shamed the offender into moving.

When faced with this situation on my own, I do usually find that a polite request to let me occupy my reserved seat is all that's needed. However, if that doesn't work and there are no nearby unoccupied, unreserved seats nearby, then my usual strategy is then to simply stand right alongside them, boxing them in by putting my handluggage or small case right by their feet (or even better precariously balanced on the luggage rack right above their head!) or, if it's a table seat to actually place my bags 'out of the way' on the table! And to then make sure that everytime somebody needs to get past that I lean right into them, (even better if they happen to be holding a cup of coffee/tea at the time!) so that people can get up and down the aisle etc. Rarely fails to make them decide that it would be better for them to try and find another seat and let me have mine but if it doesn't at least I know they have had as uncomfortable a journey as I can possibly make it

SM

SM

Thanks for the information.

Seats are available for reserving up until the beginning of April so it shouldn't be too long before the latter part of April is available.

Mum hasn't had a problem with her seats being taken before. I think when it is out of the peak season and peak time then this is less likely to happen.

She is used to train and plane travel - indeed she travelled to Australia on her own 15 months ago!!

The situation you witnessed was absolutely dreadful - how ignorant and rude of the offending passenger - a bit like some of those who travel with Easyjet!

Pippa

Another thing to remember is that the really cheap Advance Purchase tickets are subject to quotas controlled by the reservations systems so aren't normally available until reservations open. This is supposed to be 12 weeks in advance but thanks to the way Network Rail plan engineering it often isn't , especially for weekends. It is also possible that intineries given more than 12 weeks in advance may be altered, especially for travel at weekends or between 21:00 and 06:00.

Details on how to get assistance is given at http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/passenger_services/disabled_passengers/ .It should only take one call for any journey even if involves more than one train company. Don't worry about the word disabled, it does cover the elderly who just need a hand with luggage but be aware many stations are unstaffed and assistance may not be possible.

Yes we have been in the situation of getting the tickets but having to ring up with the reference number at a later date to get the seat reservations.

Just to say that my daughter was unable to take her allocated reserved seat on one occasion as a family were sat there with kids and refused to move. She told the guard and he said he couldn't do anything if they refused to move. This was a packed Manchester to Glasgow train. A long way to stand . Grrr..

Actually there are things that the guard could do but unfortunately that sounds like a case where they would end up waiting for the police which would probably involve a delay of at least 20 minutes and possibly much longer. And if that sounds bad enough, there is at least one police force in England which would have made excuses for not attending if she had been attacked by the family!

This would a matter for the British Transport police which are a nationwide force specifically for anything relating to crime etc on the trains - not the local force for wherever the train happened to be at the time. In my experience they're very efficient and up here in Scotland have witnessed a situation where the guard phoned through to the next main station with a manned Transport Police office and they were waiting on the platform to board and sort the situation out really quickly. I think the trangressors were very much taken aback by the sight of two officers in all their gear looking at them through the carriage window as the train stopped!

SM

BTP being responsible was the excuse used by the county force who had people less than 5 minutes from a schizophrenic who was attacking passengers. The train crew had to sit on him whilst BTP drove nearly 30 miles from their nearest base - and even with blue lights that takes time. It has to be said that not all forces are as petty and others cooperate well but in the case of people occupying reserved seats it wouldn't be worth arguing.

Going back to the original query, I've found the list of when Advance tickets and reservations are available. It's at http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/booking_horizons.html and you'll notice it can vary wildy at weekends!

In my daughter's case the train was chocca with people standing in the aisles. How many of you would would pursue the complaint when there were young children in the party sitting in your seat ? They didn't know that my healthy looking teenager had kidney problems, nor would they have cared but ,all the same ,she felt powerless to take it further than she already had.

But on the return journey there was a nightmare delay so she got that part refunded so all was not lost

They didn't know that my healthy looking teenager had kidney problems, nor would they have cared but ,all the same ,she felt powerless to take it further than she already had.

This is why it is all the more appalling that the Guard wouldn't do anything. Given that you can't purchase the really cheap tickets without a seat reservation the least they should do is ensure that the reservation system is enforced.

SM

Yes I was annoyed when she texted me from the train. However, how many teenagers have the confidence to stand up to a family of 2 bolshie adults with small children in tow . She hasn't been hardened through experience and maturity...YET !!!

Just wait until she comes back after her first term at Uni! Hope all is going well on that front?

SM

She can't wait SM. Thanks. She'll be doing alot of rail journeys so will make good use of her Student Railcard.