Trains...

[doozer]

I discovered the other day that if you are travelling on the train in the UK you are entitled to a free upgrade to first class if you are pregnant! On a 6 hour journey from north wales to portsmouth the comfy seat and extra legroom was a blessing!!!

Just thought I would share in case any of you are crazy enough to travel by train!

 

[trixipaws]

gosh, thanx! x

 

[KikoDinoGirl]

Oh that is a treat! Brilliant!

 

[Rock-Angel]

how pregnant do you have to be? Im really wantin to go see my sister soon who lives in oxford, but its a long ass journey and dont fancy either having to stand a lot of the way, or ending up squashed up in some corner!! lol! how did you find this out?

 

[doozer]

Well I am only 9 weeks gone!

I found out because the train was packed and I was sat inbetween carriages on the floor...the guard asked why I was sat on the floor and I told him I had been sick the whole journey cos I was pregnant and was feeling a bit tired. He said pregnant women are allowed in first class. Yay!

All you need to do is tell the guard you are pregnant.

 

[Bec78]

ooh thats good! I wonder if partners can go with you?

 

[doozer]

Not sure love, didnt ask. I was travelling on my own.

You're in Gosport? I was on a South West train to Portsmouth harbour. The guard was lovely. He even jumped off the train when we stopped at a station to grab me a bottle of water cos the buffet cart was closed.

Bless 'im!

 

[Rock-Angel]

certainly need more people like that in the world!

 

[Kerry&Rich]

That has made my day!! I am sick on the train everyday but now I know I can do that I feel much much better xxxx

 

[Ocean Star]

I just had a little look into this out of curiosity and I'm afraid it's not as good as it first appears. There is no legislation anywhere that states that a pregnant woman will automatically be upgraded. It depends on the train company, how full the train is and to some extent possibly the niceness of the guard.

Some train companies have no policy, some say if you are over a certain number of weeks and there are no other seats avalable you can be upgraded (you have to prove you dates by your NHS pregnancy card thingy), some say that you are no more deserving than an older or disabled person. It's luck of the draw I guess and dependant on which company you travel with. Doozer, I recon you got a nice guard.

I recon the best thing to do is to find out the policy of the train company you will be travelling with before you go.