National Express seat reservation charges cause outrage
May 13 2009 by William Green, The Journal
Tyne Bridge MP David Clelland, who sits on the Commons transport committee, blasted the “excessive” charge but backed a charge to deal with “ghost bookings”.
“I would have thought £1 would be a reasonable amount. The fact is it that people reserve seats on several trains during peak times out of London, so they can take the option of which train they catch.
“And that means all the other passengers who wouldn’t get reserved seats have to stand in the aisles in case the other passengers turn up,” said the Labour MP.
Regional CBI director Sarah Green said the East Coast link to London and Scotland was critical.
“Further charges for reservations makes travel even more expensive and reduces the certainty that business people can use travel time effectively,” she added.
National Express confirmed that, from this Sunday, a £2.50 booking fee would apply to some seat reservations on its East Coast and East Anglia routes.
A statement said: “Seat reservations made on some standard class ticket types are optional for the customer and could apply to about 25% of people travelling.
“If a customer does not want to reserve a seat, there is no charge. This does not apply to any advance purchase tickets, first class tickets, season tickets, customers with a disabled railcard or assisted passengers.”
A spokesman said: “We want to improve the on-board environment for our customers.
“We do find that people are often reserving multiple seats as they’re not sure which train they are going to catch.
“Whilst we understand this, by asking people to pay for a seat reservation, seats will no longer be left empty with a reserved sign, therefore being made available for other customers to use.
