Furious etiquette row over 'seat saver' woman who keeps spot for friend on busy train

29 November 2019, 11:15

A commuter has sparked a blistering row by sharing a story about how a fellow traveller on her packed rush hour service saves a seat for a close friend every morning.

In a post on MumsNet, a user asked what the protocol is for people saving seats on trains and asks for advice on the brewing transport row.

The woman explains she takes the same packed train every morning, and that another woman regularly boards the same service as her.

The woman saves a seat for her friend by using her bag. The friend "eventually shows up" at a later stop, she wrote.

The anonymous user said the woman refuses to move her bag, even when asked by other commuters.

She goes on to explain that when people have moved the bag anyway, the people onboard the train "almost cheer".

The anonymous commuter wrote: "Every morning a woman on my train saves her mate a seat.

"Every morning the train is rammed and loads of people ask her to move her bag but she refuses and saves she saving it for her pal, who eventually shows up.

She continued: "People end up standing, the seat free, then pal arrives.

"I've seen a couple of people ignore her, move the bag and plump down in the seat, the entire train almost cheered.

"What's the protocol here?"

In a second post, the woman wrote: "They do not get on at the same stop.

"Saver is always on already, 'saving' as it were, then pal gets on.

She explained: "So what does seat saver do when people just move her bag?

"Pipes up that she's saving it for her friend etc etc. It does usually tend to be huge blokes that move the bag and sit down.

"They just respond with 'you can't save seats love' etc."

It isn't clear which station the 'seat saver' woman boards at, or where her friend gets on.

The post received a strong response from MumsNet users, who unanimously agreed that the seat-saver was in the wrong.

One user simply wrote, "Sit on the bag!" and another said, "No saving on busy public transport! Sit."

A fellow furious commuter said: "If they are getting on at the same station and it's just taking them a while to get through the train, fine.

"If they are getting on anywhere else, tough. If you want to sit together you go to the back (assuming a commuter train into London where the carriages at the back tend to be (a bit) emptier because most of the London stations are terminii).

"Or stand up somewhere and chat if no room to sit."

Another accused the woman of other reservation crimes, saying: "Move the bag. I bet she’s a sunbed reserver on holiday. I take great pleasure in removing those towels as i’m not sitting on the floor whilst a towel sunbathes til 3pm!"

One commenter called her a "Very selfish woman."

"If her friend wants a seat next to her that badly, she can travel down the line to meet her mate at the further station and they can get on together."

"Otherwise, if they want to chat and there are not two seats, they can stand and chat."