London Banter - View Single Post - First Class within Zones 1-6

MIG · July 6th 06, 08:18 PM posted to uk.transport.london

Jack Taylor wrote:
wrote:
I seem to remember reading somewhere, possibly on this group (but now
of course I can't find it), that within zones 1-6 there was no such
thing as first class, i.e. if you had a travelcard you could sit in
first class carriages on NR services up to the boundary of the zones
on your travelcard.

Not true.

I'm assuming this is no longer the case, as the announcer on my
regular morning train from Waterloo to Feltham is always very
emphatic that passengers sitting in the first class area must have a
valid first class ticket.

Was it ever the case, or have I completely made this up in my mind?

You're possibly getting confused with the fact that SWT have often used
stock with first class accommodation on the Windsor lines on services
advertised as standard class only and it *may* (at the discretion of the
guard - although always, in practise, on class 450s by means of a PIS
message) be declassified on some services.

People are still a bit squeamish about using first class on the 450s,
even though there wouldn't be such a thing as first class on some whole
routes they run on at the moment, let alone services. So it's often
emptier. But when I get an empty train, I prefer the standard class
because the window alignment is actually better than in first class
(that is, it's bad in first class). Also, in first class, the plug
sockets stop me resting my foot on the heater.