RichmondCommu
Established Member
1) Richmond Commuter, have you been having a chat with Katie Hopkins recently?
2) As we often state on here, purchasing a ticket does not entitle the traveler to a seat. I think it's therefore very difficult to argue that larger people should buy two tickets because they take up two seats. It sets a precedent that purchasing a ticket entitles the traveler to a seat, which is not true.
3) Obviously this traveler doesn't necessarily deserve a seat any more than anyone else, and it's clear he's been a bit of a ****. However, plenty of obese people travel on trains every day without causing problems.
4) Do TOCs have the staff and resources to weigh passengers and calculate their fare accordingly? Get real.
5) Width of seats on trains varies. Someone who may fit into a standard seat on an HST may not fit a 3+2 seat on a 321. Would the train operating the service determine the fare used? What about routes where different trains operate, with different seat widths? What about 334s, where the width in the middle carriage (3+2 seating) is less than the outer two carriages - would obese people be barred from the middle carriage?
6) What about standees? Given the obese person has paid twice, does this mean that (s)he's doubly entitled to a seat compared to everyone else when a train is full and standing?
Completely unworkable nonsense.
Ok, an honest question here; who is Katie Hopkins?
Whilst I concur that buying a ticket doesn't entitle you to a seat I never suggested that it did although I accept that I should have made that more clear. However if you are obese you should understand that it's unfair to completely take up two seats (as the bloke did) when you've only bought one ticket. That's no difference to buying a ticket, finding two seats next to each other, plonking your bag on the vacant seat and refusing to move it.
If you are buying a ticket at the ticket office I don't understand why it shouldn't be possible for you two be charged two seats (and given two reservations) if the TOC employee decides that you are too big for one seat. Otherwise if you are only reserved for one seat how are you going to sit down unless someone else moves?
And if you're buying tickets and reserving seats over the internet why shouldn't the TOC state that if you are over a certain size you need to have two tickets and reservations? Either that or if you are over a certain size the TOC simply tells you via the website that it is no able to reserve you a seat.
I would also argue that if you are traveling on a commuter train (citing two examples that you have given of limited seat width) then even if you are obese you should still be able to stand up for twenty to thirty minutes.
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If part of being pregnant was putting the mother and baby at risk by being in this travelling situation then the decision would be to find a work around or not to go ahead with the idea.
In all fairness I'm not so sure that traveling on a busy Tube train is any more of a threat to the mother and child than driving. In which case are you suggesting that heavily pregnant ladies should not be driving? I still don't understand why any of this places additional responsibilities on Tube workers as you have suggested.
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