Train passenger praised for refusing to give up seat to older woman

A train passenger has recieved support online after she refused to give up her first-class seat to an elderly woman on a seven-hour train.

The woman, who had pre-booked a first class seat for her journey from London to Aberdeen, Scotland, took to Reddit after the incident to share the details of her experience in a post titled “AITA [Am I the A**hole] for not moving from my booked seat for an elderly person?”

In the post, the passenger said she was a woman aged 32, and described the incident.

“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,” 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 seat she had been assigned was also one of the carriage’s priority seats, which are specifically for those less able to stand, for example the disabled and the elderly. Soon after the woman sat down, she was confronted by an older woman, who she described as look aged about 60.

The woman reportedly asked her “quite rudely” to move out of the seat so she could sit down. She explained in the Reddit post: “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."

When a train guard approached the two women, he explained that the older woman had only booked a return ticket, and not a guaranteed seat. He asked if either of them would consider moving to standard class, which the original poster refused to consider.

He then took the older woman to standard class to try and find her a seat. The poster said: "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."

There are already 1,500 comments on the woman’s Reddit thread.

Many users came out in support of the woman’s post, voting her “NTA (not the a***hle)”, and even more blamed the train company (which wasn’t specified) for the incident.

One said: "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."

Another said: “Without even looking, I knew you were female, as am I. Single female travelers are always asked to give up seats in such situations. Yes, I know that the elderly person was also female, but that doesn’t signify.

“It has happened to me so many times it makes me tired. Paid upgrade seats, early booking, early arrival mean nothing. You’re a girl in a seat I want? Get out.”

In September, a male poster on Reddit also attracted praise for standing his ground when asked to change seats.

Meanwhile, model and TV personality Vogue Williams took to her podcast to rant about an “awful” plane passenger who refused to swap seats with her when she asked to be closer to her family.