Bags on seats announcements should be copied from Amtrak

williamn · 12 Jul 2026

I’d venture that British railways have little to learn from Amtrak, but one thing I noted on recent travels with them were the frequent announcements telling passengers to take their bags off seats and make them available for other passengers.

These announcements were frequent and stern without being rude and on one journey staff were walking through the train enforcing this.

I feel like we could do with a similar approach here. Yesterday two ladies were taking up a bar of four seats with their bags and when I asked to sit down moaned that they had a case at their feet and asked why I couldn’t sit elsewhere, this despite them sitting opposite a half empty luggage rack…

RailUK Forums

swt_passenger · 12 Jul 2026

williamn said:
I’d venture that British railways have little to learn from Amtrak, but one thing I noted on recent travels with them were the frequent announcements telling passengers to take their bags off seats and make them available for other passengers.

These announcements were frequent and stern without being rude and on one journey staff were walking through the train enforcing this.

I feel like we could do with a similar approach here…

I’ve heard similar announcements here numerous times. Eg on XC, GWR, SWR, LNER to name just a few.

speedy1 · 12 Jul 2026

I'll preemptively prepare to duck, but some women are using the excuse that men might sexually assault them so they need a spare seat next to them at all times for their safety. And they are using the luggage as a physical barrier for their "safety". Yes I know it's an issue but it's a matter of scale and proportion and rational response

I sat down next to a woman on a very busy service on Avanti last week and she spent the entire time legs crossed with her knee in my direction and defensively hogging the arm rest. When I gave my seat up to another woman, she suddenly relaxed and pushed herself as far into the window as possible to make room and remained that way the entire rest of the journey....

Yes I know in general the population is getting more selfish and not all women and not just women etc etc

More generally , it's yet another case of lack of an authority presence on trains to give people a sense of security taking matters into their own hands and letting us fight it out. Funnily enough, constant announcemens about CCTV doesn't do much to assure people.

It's a long winded way to say announcements will do sod all to address the issue. Walking through the train will just be a temporary resolution

Rob F · 13 Jul 2026

Last year, I got on a packed EMR train at Manchester Piccadilly, heading for Nottingham. A man had all his luggage on the seat next to him, so I asked him to remove it so that I could sit down. He claimed he didn't have to move it as he had bought two tickets for just this eventuality. I disputed this was actually legal and told him I would take it up with the train manager. He did then grudgingly move his bags and I prepared myself for an awkward journey sat next to him. Strangely he then became quite friendly and proceeded to tell me, at length, about all the people he knew who had been stabbed by immigrants and that Nottingham, where I was headed to, was the worst place for crime in Western Europe. I was mightily relieved when a seat next to my wife further down the coach became available at Chesterfield and I could leave him in peace!

I assume it is total nonsense that you can buy two tickets and occupy two seats? I also don't believe he had actually done this, and his rapid change of stance when I mentioned fetching the train manager made me suspect that he had not even bought one!

Merle Haggard · 13 Jul 2026

Rob F said:
Last year, I got on a packed EMR train at Manchester Piccadilly, heading for Nottingham. A man had all his luggage on the seat next to him, so I asked him to remove it so that I could sit down. He claimed he didn't have to move it as he had bought two tickets for just this eventuality. I disputed this was actually legal and told him I would take it up with the train manager. He did then grudgingly move his bags and I prepared myself for an awkward journey sat next to him. Strangely he then became quite friendly and proceeded to tell me, at length, about all the people he knew who had been stabbed by immigrants and that Nottingham, where I was headed to, was the worst place for crime in Western Europe. I was mightily relieved when a seat next to my wife further down the coach became available at Chesterfield and I could leave him in peace!

I assume it is total nonsense that you can buy two tickets and occupy two seats? I also don't believe he had actually done this, and his rapid change of stance when I mentioned fetching the train manager made me suspect that he had not even bought one!

I recently travelled on a LNR train with a pro-active conductor. He had a conversation with the passenger across the gangway from me on the following lines. 'I asked you to move your bag off the seat earlier, but it's still there. If you don't move it now, you will have to buy a ticket for it'.
If it was a bluff the passenger did not call it, but assented to the request, so the question remains unanswered.

Nottingham59 · 13 Jul 2026

I use the line "Hello! Is that seat free? Would you like me to put that in the overhead rack for you?" So far it has never failed.

speedy1 · 13 Jul 2026

Rob F said:
Strangely he then became quite friendly and proceeded to tell me, at length, about all the people he knew who had been stabbed by immigrants and that Nottingham, where I was headed to, was the worst place for crime in Western Europe.

What a slightly bizarre encounter.

As I suspect in the case of women too regarding sexual assaults, it's social media algorithms, fake news and click-desperate media outlets distorting their views - not "all their people he knew" - causing all this nonsense behaviour.

I don't know what the answer is. I want to hope, like what happens in those YouTube videos of animals lying down next to aggressive animals and not giving up, proving it's OK, the same could happen on public transport: I sat next to a woman, and she didn't get sexually assaulted! You sat next to a man, and he didn't get stabbed!

edit: And with walk up tickets especially, one ticket doesn't buy you even one seat, so it follows additional tickets don't get you more seats! i.e. a ticket is not a legal promise of a seat.

mike57 · 13 Jul 2026

Maybe once a train is close to standing only an announcement "The train manager (or whatever they are called on the service) will be passing through the the train, any passengers with bags on a seat will be charged the anytime single fare for the seat occupied, any bags unclaimed will be removed to lost property"

As for the @Rob F incident, sounds like an entitled try on.

The only issue as I see, on some local services luggage storage is woefully inadequate.

Falcon1200 · 13 Jul 2026

Rob F said:
I assume it is total nonsense that you can buy two tickets and occupy two seats?

ISTR that Steve Howe (Yes guitarist) when flying would but two tickets, one for him and one for his prized guitar which he was reluctant to entrust to the hold! Never heard of the same thing applying to trains, however.

officewalla · 14 Jul 2026

A train ticket does not get you a seat; it secures you a promise to get you from A to B. Reservations should guarantee the seat but it is common for reservations to be relaxed so even this is not a 100% guarantee of a seat.

jamiestuart314 · 15 Jul 2026

been on a few services where instead of just saying "get your bags off the seats please" the conductor/tm will say "if you don't remove any bags from seats you will be charged the price of another ticket". safe to say that usually does the trick as you see everyone rushing to get them off seats

Mgameing123 · 15 Jul 2026

williamn said:
I’d venture that British railways have little to learn from Amtrak, but one thing I noted on recent travels with them were the frequent announcements telling passengers to take their bags off seats and make them available for other passengers.

These announcements were frequent and stern without being rude and on one journey staff were walking through the train enforcing this.

I feel like we could do with a similar approach here. Yesterday two ladies were taking up a bar of four seats with their bags and when I asked to sit down moaned that they had a case at their feet and asked why I couldn’t sit elsewhere, this despite them sitting opposite a half empty luggage rack…

I honestly don’t see what’s wrong with bags on seats (on a train that’s not busy). I usually have my bag on the seat until someone comes and asks me to move it.

Falcon1200 · 15 Jul 2026

Mgameing123 said:
I usually have my bag on the seat until someone comes and asks me to move it.

But that is the problem! On a quiet train with plenty of seats, not an issue, and I myself sometimes put a bag next to me. But passengers should not have to ask someone to move a bag so they can sit down.

jfollows · 15 Jul 2026

officewalla said:
A train ticket does not get you a seat; it secures you a promise to get you from A to B. Reservations should guarantee the seat but it is common for reservations to be relaxed so even this is not a 100% guarantee of a seat.

National Rail Conditions of Travel (https://assets.nationalrail.co.uk/e...e/National_Rail_Conditions_of_Travel_2026.pdf):

23. Taking Luggage and Other Articles with You on Your Journey

You may take up to three items of luggage into the passenger accommodation of a train unless:

23.1.1 your luggage is such that it may cause injury, inconvenience or a nuisance or it may cause damage to property;

23.1.2 there is not enough room for it;

23.1.3 your luggage would obstruct doorways, gangways or corridors;

23.1.4 the loading or unloading may cause delay to trains;

23.1.5 your luggage is not carried or packaged in a suitable manner;

23.1.6 your luggage is one of the prohibited items shown in the list shown in 23.4 below;

23.1.7 a Train Company has set out any special conditions relating to the carrying of luggage on their own train services. In such cases these conditions will be made available when buying your Ticket in advance and will be shown on the Train Company’s website.

No right to put luggage on seats even if paying for a ticket for them. Clearly on a relatively empty train it’s not going to be an inconvenience or a nuisance.

speedy1 · 15 Jul 2026

Mgameing123 said:
I honestly don’t see what’s wrong with bags on seats (on a train that’s not busy). I usually have my bag on the seat until someone comes and asks me to move it.

Because you know many of the British public are too polite to ask you to move it. It also signals you as someone afraid, which reinforces the unwillingness not to ask you to move it.

The question is why is your bag on the seat? You have a lap, and there is a floor and there are luggage racks. Will you share the real reason for it?

Mgameing123 · 15 Jul 2026

speedy1 said:
Because you know many of the British public are too polite to ask you to move it. It also signals you as someone afraid, which reinforces the unwillingness not to ask you to move it.

The question is why is your bag on the seat? You have a lap, and there is a floor and there are luggage racks. Will you share the real reason for it?

A. Legroom is tight on British trains so I usually prefer having it on the seat.

B. It’s makes me more comfortable being able to see where my belongings are because I don’t want to forget them.

C. I don’t really usually take the train in the UK, I mainly do it in Denmark where either people will get you to move your bag or stand up because they don’t want to sit next to a stranger.

Falcon1200 · 15 Jul 2026

Mgameing123 said:
stand up because they don’t want to sit next to a stranger.

Or because they don't want a possible confrontation with another passenger - If people are standing, no bags should be on seats.

styles · 15 Jul 2026

Limited experience with Amtrak myself, and it was years ago, but I don't recall such announcements.

I support such announcements if the service is busy. If the service is pretty empty, I think it's just more noise.

There's definitely a way of making the announcement though in which it is assertive but polite. Sometimes in the UK it's phrased as a request which the majority of people don't comply with; then it gets so bad that the announcement almost has to be a fair bit sterner.

Mgameing123 · 15 Jul 2026

Falcon1200 said:
Or because they don't want a possible confrontation with another passenger - If people are standing, no bags should be on seats.

No trust me I know Danish passengers very well. They see plenty of seats available without bags but because you have to sit next to someone people decide to stand up instead.

ox_chap · 16 Jul 2026

Was on a cross country train, and on the two seats the other side of the aisle, a passenger who seemed very reasonable had her bags on the other seat.

The train manager (TM) came through ten minutes before Oxford, and he asked her to remove her bags from the empty seat. The passenger immediately said, "Well, I fully agree with that, because it minimises standing passengers. But I'm getting off at the next stop Oxford, and I looked up and down the carriage beforehand, and nobody is standing, so I thought it was OK in this instance" The TM and the passenger looked at each other apologetically and laughed it off. Was handled well I thought.

speedy1 · 16 Jul 2026

Hah was she really getting off? Sounds like she had rehearsed an excuse.

Regardless, now she may tell the next guard she was allowed to do it on the last train.

Also sounds like she'd just read How To Win Friends And Influence People

mike57 · 16 Jul 2026

The whole issue of bags on seats should be common sense, a lightly loaded train, not a problem, a fully loaded train, not allowed. I think the problem is 'ordinary' people will now tolerate behaviour which when I was growing up would have been dealt with harshly.

I had one memorable case of bag on seat on a standing train about 10 years ago. Individual sprawled over seat with bags on an adjacent seat. I asked him to move them, politely. He told me to F O and sit somewhere else (There wasnt a 'somewhere else'). I told him I was sitting there anyway and started lowering my substantial 21st 6ft frame onto the seat. Bags moved very quickly. Dirty looks for the next half hour, until his stop, when he had to ask me to move, which came out as barely audible grunt 'Smystop'.

Falcon1200 · 16 Jul 2026

Mgameing123 said:
but because you have to sit next to someone people decide to stand up instead.

Fair enough, I admit to doing that myself sometimes (on short journeys)!

mike57 said:
The whole issue of bags on seats should be common sense, a lightly loaded train, not a problem, a fully loaded train, not allowed.

Yes, that's reasonable.

speedy1 · 16 Jul 2026

mike57 said:
The whole issue of bags on seats should be common sense, a lightly loaded train, not a problem, a fully loaded train, not allowed.

In theory I agree. With the British public, that falls down, because they then feel they have the authority over the policy instead of the guard. Allowing leeway only works if they respect common sense and instructions, which they don't. It's me me me society

officewalla · 16 Jul 2026

speedy1 said:
In theory I agree. With the British public, that falls down, because they then feel they have the authority over the policy instead of the guard. Allowing leeway only works if they respect common sense and instructions, which they don't. It's me me me society

Nothing to do with authority and everything to do with manners and common courtesy. Sits in the same area as feet on seats. Just because you can doesn't mean that you should.

speedy1 · 16 Jul 2026

We'll agree to disagree. Authority (figures) is severely lacking in society. ..

Jim the Jim · 16 Jul 2026

It's redundant though if nobody's standing or looking for a seat. In that case it makes perfect sense for people to keep their bags on the seat next to them. So I don't think a purely automated announcement would be appropriate. Proactive guards frequently do give such announcements manually on busy trains.

speedy1 · 16 Jul 2026

The trouble is people don't actively move their bags as a train fills up. We've all seen what usually happens is that they tend to just look around a bit as a performative bit of concern, or just continue staring into their phone doing their best theatrical performance of being in a coma.

Your position on the topic relies on people being considerate and aware, when many, many aren't

ox_chap · 16 Jul 2026

speedy1 said:
Hah was she really getting off? Sounds like she had rehearsed an excuse.

Regardless, now she may tell the next guard she was allowed to do it on the last train.

Also sounds like she'd just read How To Win Friends And Influence People

Ha ha. She did, in fact, get off at Oxford, as did I. But I take your point, and your post made me laugh!

What I have myself done on occasion, if I feel uncomfortable with the person taking the seat next to me (e.g. if it's obvious they've been drinking a lot), is to say, "I'm getting off soon, why don't you have the window seat?" Gives me a stronger sense of not being trapped, next to the aisle.

35B · 16 Jul 2026

Mgameing123 said:
A. Legroom is tight on British trains so I usually prefer having it on the seat.

B. It’s makes me more comfortable being able to see where my belongings are because I don’t want to forget them.

C. I don’t really usually take the train in the UK, I mainly do it in Denmark where either people will get you to move your bag or stand up because they don’t want to sit next to a stranger.

The point about legroom matters - a real bugbear of mine is the Hobson's choice between an airline seat (not enough room for my legs) or table seat (stuff dumped on floor so nowhere for my feet to go).

Bags on seats announcements should be copied from Amtrak

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