The first class doors

Standard fare train passengers have been banned from disembarking from firstclass carriages so they don't disturb their occupants, it was revealed today.

Train operators also argue that the high fares first-class passengers pay guarantees them the right to be first on and first off the train.

A spokesman for Silverlink said: "First class is first class, even in the vestibules. Those in a rush and wanting to leave the train close to the station exit must face the fact that not everybody can be at the front of the train."

Former BBC royal correspondent Michael Cole fell foul of the regulations when he disembarked a One train from Ipswich at Liverpool Street. The Harrods spokesman, due at a meeting, was on a train running 20 minutes late and he made his way to the front so he could get off first and dash to the Underground.

He said: "As I stood waiting to get off, the train manager asked to see my ticket. I pointed out that I was not in the first-class carriage but trying desperately to get out of it.

They had made me late and I was trying to get to my meeting on time. But to no avail."

Jonathan Denby from One said: "The conductor took the view that with the other passengers on board, it would have caused more disruption."

A spokesman for First Great Western added: "Standard class passengers are not normally permitted to use first-class vestibules or aisles."