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Broadcaster Mariella Frostrup spoke of her frustration at being forced to sit on the floor during a four-hour rail journey between London and Devon, depsite having a first class ticket.<\/p>\n
The 61-year-old shared a selfie of herself next to a carriage door while on the train journey from Tiverton Parkway to London Paddington this week. <\/p>\n
Taking to Twitter\/X she directed her frustration at operator Great Western Railways, writing: \u201cNew lows for \u2066@GWRHelp.<\/p>\n
\u201cA first class advance ticket buys you a seat on floor outside the toilet in a train where it\u2019s standing room from front to rear\u2026 I\u2019m getting back in my car!\u201d<\/p>\n
The post was shared on the social media platform, with one user describing the operator as \u201cunreasonable\u201d for overselling first class seats.<\/p>\n
Another said: \u201cOne might assume that booking a ticket came with a guaranteed seat?\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cSame thing happened to me a month ago,\u201d shared a third. \u201cIt was due to the previous 2 trains being cancelled. It was unbelievable. I got my full fare for the journey refunded.\u201d <\/p>\n
Ms Frostup then followed up her original post with another saying she was unable to work as she should have been on the service. <\/p>\n
The presenter, who was at Times Radio until earlier this year, wrote: \u201cWell @GWRHelp are taking flexible working quite literally \u2013 standing room only, even in first!\u201d <\/p>\n
But the saga did not end there for the broadcaster as she was told she would have to request a refund in writing despite having shared the photographs online.<\/p>\n
Addressing the railway operator, Ms Frostup wrote: \u201cIs photo proof\u2026 that I\u2019ve just sat on the floor from Tiverton Parkway to Paddington DESPITE holding a first class ticket? I\u2019ve just been told (after queuing at your Padd tix office for 15 mins) that I need to write and request compensation! Could you make it any harder?\u201d<\/p>\n
Is photo proof @gwrhelp that I\u2019ve just sat on the floor from Tiverton Parkway to Paddington DESPITE holding a first class ticket?I\u2019ve just been told ( after queuing at your Padd tix office for 15 mins) that I need to write and request compensation! Could you make it any harder? pic.twitter.com\/EhCrXXIRaq<\/p>\n
\u2014 Mariella Frostrup (@mariellaf1) September 21, 2024 GWR wrote in response to the viral complaint: \u201cWe are really sorry to hear of the customer\u2019s experience. If you have reserved a seat but are not able to sit down, you are entitled to compensation and we will follow this up.\u201d<\/p>\n
The rail service from London to the West Country is often busy at peak times as commuters travel to and from the capital. Last year, campaign group Transport Focus to raised the issue.<\/p>\n
Transport Focus chief executive Anthony Smith wrote: \u201cPassengers on both high speed and west services have had to deal with the consequences of short-formed trains leading to overcrowding and in some cases cancelled reservations for far too long.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Independent has contacted Great Western Railway and a representative for Ms Frostup for comment. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the worldSign up to our free Morning Headlines emailSign up to our free Morning Headlines email Broadcaster Mariella Frostrup spoke of her frustration at being forced to sit on the floor during a four-hour rail journey between London and Devon, depsite having a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3650,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n