Urgent! Sold a Lumo ticket by Trainline without a seat reservation

[nofelix]

Hi, I'm trying to help my wife who has bought a Lumo ticket from Newcastle to London using the Trainline website. She's now at the station and is panicking because there's a big sign saying seat reservations are required for her train, and she will be FINED if she boards without one, even though she has a ticket. There doesn't seem to be any way to make a seat reservation on Lumo's website and there are no Lumo staff at the station. The Lumo website says "If you need to join our trains without a seat reservation, we have some seats on every train which are not reserved and are marked with a green light above the seat", but this is contradicted by the station sign.

Does anyone have any ideas what she can do? Can they really fine her for not having a seat revseration?

 

[Tazi Hupefi]

I think your wife has misunderstood what is being said, there is certainly no sign at Newcastle saying anything about being fined for this.

There are reminders/electronic messages to ensure that you use the train you are reserved on - not necessarily the seat (although technically it is an offence to occupy a seat for someone else and refuse to move).

 

[Merseysider]

Assuming this was the 1251, she was fine to travel on this train with a Lumo ticket providing it wasn’t an Advance fare valid only on another train.

 

[nofelix]

Thanks guys. She is now on the train and has been reassured by staff she won't be fined. There were no unreserved seats but fortunately someone didn't turn up for theirs.

Apparently the sign said "Seat reservations required. Penalties in force". Not sure what that means then.

 

[Wallsendmag]

Thanks guys. She is now on the train and has been reassured by staff she won't be fined. There were no unreserved seats but fortunately someone didn't turn up for theirs.

Apparently the sign said "Seat reservations required. Penalties in force". Not sure what that means then.

Newcastle is a Penalty Fare zone for Northern and Transpennine could she have misunderstood one of those posters?

 

[Bletchleyite]

I'm intrigued how that was sold given that Lumo has all their trains set to compulsory reservation. Or do they sell counted places too?

 

[185]

Where was the sign? Think this may be a staff-generated message either on the train's external CIS screens, or one typed onto the station CIS screens?

Unlikely Lumo would (badly, wrongly) word anything like that printed on paper or on fixed signage.

 

[Mainline421]

Thanks guys. She is now on the train and has been reassured by staff she won't be fined. There were no unreserved seats but fortunately someone didn't turn up for theirs.

Apparently the sign said "Seat reservations required. Penalties in force". Not sure what that means then.

There are 14 non-reservable seats on every Lumo train, and the ticket office at Newcastle could have reserved a seat if reservations are available.

I can't think what that sign could be, but it definitely won't have said that as Lumo have never operated such a policy. LNER did plaster their stations with deliberately misleading posters saying reservations were "highly recommended" but I think they were removed some time ago, and there have never been any penalties on any TOC.