“But we have to take issue with the idea that Mr Corbyn wasn’t able to be seated on the service, as this clearly wasn’t the case”. The journey was on an East Coast Mainline service from Kings Cross – a franchise that went from public ownership to Virgin Trains past year.
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Last week, Jeremy Corbyn’s team released a video that showed him sitting on the floor of a Virgin train, reading Private Eye magazine.
The train operator’s footage also showed Mr Corbyn returning to coach H, sitting down in an empty seat – more than two hours before reaching his destination – with the help of the onboard crew; the journey normally takes around three hours.
According to the BBC, Mr Corbyn found a seat in a free carriage and sat for the rest of the journey following the filming.
“There were also additional empty seats on the train (the 11am departure from King’s Cross) which appear from CCTV to have been reserved but not taken, so they were also available for other passengers to sit on”.
Mr Corbyn was travelling to Gateshead to debate Labour leader challenger Smith.
He recorded his video message on the floor around 30 minutes into the journey before finding an unreserved seat at 11.43am with the help of the on board staff, Virgin Trains said.
The staff then upgraded a family to first class so Mr Corbyn and his team could sit in their seats.
Harrison added Corbyn and his party had been seated together, which could explain why he had chose to wait for more spaces to become available.
“I’d just say that’s very, very indicative – the establishment is absolutely petrified about what this campaign is about, what this movement is about”.
But, alas, while Jez was sitting on the floor complaining about the company and hailing the merits of public ownership, there were vacant seats.
Footage released by The Guardian, meanwhile, appears to support Mr Corbyn’s claim, with other passengers seemingly commenting on the lack of seats available.
In his original August 11 video, Coybyn sat on the floor of an “overcrowded” train.
A Virgin Trains spokesperson said they would encourage Mr Corbyn to “book ahead” next time to reserve a seat – but they look forward to welcoming him on board again.
Virgin Trains, which runs the service as part of its East Coast franchise, thanked Corbyn for his praise of its staff and said more capacity was being introduced at peak times.
“The reality is there’s not enough trains, we need more of them, and they’re also incredibly expensive”.
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On Twitter, Mr Smith said his campaign remained “on track” and that he was “proud to be genuinely standing up for ordinary people”.
