Tyrone Williams, from Bromley in south London, posted a video on Facebook of the incident which has since racked up more than 330,000 views.
In it, the young mum can be seen trying to sit down in one of the Southern train carriage’s priority seats when an elderly lady tells her she can’t sit there.
The elderly lady, who had been using the empty seat to store her bags, told the mum she needed a first class ticket.
The mum said: ‘I asked you nicely to put your bag on the floor and I offered to put it up. I’m carrying a baby and you just had your shit in it [the seat]. You have to respect me.’
The elderly woman replied sternly: ‘And you have to respect your elders and betters. People have actually paid to sit in this carriage.’
In response, the mum said she had paid for ‘a ticket’, but the other passenger challenged her and said she hadn’t paid for a first class ticket.
When the mum pointed to the priority seat sign, the other lady said ‘I don’t want a screaming baby’ – to which the mum replied, ‘He’s not screaming. He is behaving better than you.’
Things got so heated that other passengers got involved. Some argued that the woman did need to have a first class ticket to sit in the carriage, whilst others said ‘she’s got a baby so she can sit where she wants’.
Finally, a passenger further down the carriage asked the mum if she would rather have his seat, and she said: ‘Thank you yeah. That would be nicer.’
A Southern spokesperson said: ‘Our priority seats are available in both standard class and first class.
‘They should be given up if they’re needed more by people with disabilities, expectant mothers, elderly passengers or those carrying infants.
‘Passengers using priority seats in first class should still have a valid first class ticket unless first class has been declassified due to disruption.’
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