On 15 Mar, 19:55, wrote:
On 15 Mar 2007 12:09:11 -0700, "Mizter T" wrote:

Because I don't mind sitting with the real people.

Oh dear by "real people" do you mean people like the stupid women who
allowed her kid to run up and down the coach all the way from Euston
to Preston back in November nearly knocking the train manager off his
feet on one occasion .Or like the family who came pushing into my row
of seats a few weeks ago on a Belgium train and started treating the
train like they owned it not giving a damn about disturbing myself and
other passengers.
It is only the massive extra charge for first class that keeps me out
of there I can tell you, you can keep your "real people", this is the
only reason I own a car because it lets me keep well away from
your "real people" on public transport. I have a free travel card on
our local buses had it two years now and think I have only used it
four times .

It's a shame you ran out of puff because I was enjoying that!

My answer, of course, was somewhat flippant - however the OP was
asking about off-peak take up of first class on suburban routes in the
south east, where I think the advantage of first class advantage is
probably most apparent during the rush hour - first class would
presumably mean one is far more likely to get a seat, and get slightly
more space too. Off-peak there just isn't the need for these things.

Plus of course many suburban trains don't have any first class
accomodation anyway.