There's a thread going on in Civil Aviation at the moment, entitled "Tantrums Over Seats". Later on, Flycaledonian made a post relating to seating on trains and states that in the UK it's a fineable offence to sit in a reserved seat or remove the "reserved" label.

I travel on trains fairly frequently, usually between university and home at weekends. I have to travel on a packed train on a Friday night (and I mean packed - anyone who's been on a Virgin Voyager through Birmingham New Street in Friday rush hour will know what I'm talking about), and as such I always book in advance and reserve a seat. There is ALWAYS someone sitting in it, and fortunately so far I've never had any problems from people when I've asked them to move. However, I know that some day I'm not going to be so lucky, so this is where I'd like everyone's advice. What exactly do you say if someone's in your reserved seat? How do you react? There are a number of ways one could react to this that I have mulled over for some time, what would you do?

1) Continue to argue politely, pointing out that they could face a £50 fine, until the other passenger gives way.
2) Make a fuss when the 'train manager' (guard) comes through the cabin, hoping he/she will help. If they won't, maintain that it's the train company's responsibility that your seat is available for you, and you will be requiring an upgrade to Club Class if they won't do anything about it.
3) If neither of the above work, and the passenger isn't built like a world heavyweight champion, physically lift them off the seat and dump them on the aisle floor. (I actually quite fancy the idea of removing some obnoxious fool this way, as long as I'm bigger than them)
4) Irritate them immensely by falling over on them, leaning on them, knocking them with your bag, standing on their toes, farting at them, etc... and then exclaiming a jovial Basil Fawlty style "whoops, sorry!" until they get so mad they go away.
5) Sit on their lap. If they've nicked your seat, you have to take the closest thing. And if their £2000 laptop is in the way, it's their problem.

Your thoughts on any of these, any other suggestions you might have (funny or serious), and any experiences you may have had, would be very much appreciated.

Cheers
Ben