'I refused to give up train seat for elderly woman – she should have thought ahead'

A woman has sparked a debate after refusing to give up her train seat for an elderly woman on a seven-hour journey. The 32-year-old explained she was travelling from London to Aberdeen and made sure to pre-book a first-class seat knowing she'd be spending the best part of the day on the train.

However, shortly after taking her seat, she was approached by an 'elderly' woman who tapped the 'priority seating' sign above her head before gesturing her to move. Taking to Reddit, she said: "I was making the journey the day after returning from a two-week-long work trip abroad and I knew I'd be exhausted/totally unable to function.

"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. On certain trains in the UK, the first-class carriages have 'individual seats' which means you're not sitting next to or sitting opposite anyone.

The space is entirely your own and you can spread out over the little table. I specifically booked one of those seats to enable me to work." She said she was assigned the 'priority seat' by her booking company, despite it usually being reserved for disabled, elderly, or pregnant people.

"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," she said.

"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 (even first class was full) and there were no other seats. I apologised but reiterated that I'd booked the seat and wasn't going to move."

Noticing the disruption, a train guard came over to them and found the woman in her 60s had booked a return ticket – and tried to explain how this didn't entitle her to a specific seat. She added: "For those who don't know how trains work in the UK, if you have an "open ticket" and haven't also booked a seat reservation, it means you can travel on any train, but you aren't guaranteed a seat unless there's one available.

"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. He asked if anyone in the rest of first class would mind changing and no one agreed. Eventually, he took the woman to standard class and I assume found her a seat there."

But feeling uneasy about how she handled the situation, she has taken to social media to ask whether she should have swapped seats or stood her ground. She 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."

Commenting on her post, one user said: "The woman was wrong 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." Another user added: "The rail line shouldn't let people reserve those seats without a disability." A third user said: "If it was a 1st class seat on a plane and someone asked you to move to economy, you’d tell them to f*** right off. The same applies in my mind."