XC Seat Reservation Displays

[beeza1]

The sooner XC abandon their crazy 10 min reservations the better, I have witnessed several arguments, one was very heated, when the person seated is asked to move. An improvement would be if a seat could be reserved "on the day" at the station, instead of the day before as it is now.

 

[ainsworth74]

If XC style en-route reservations were to be adopted though, there would still be the possibility that a seat would be free when you sit in it but become reserved later in the journey which would require you to leave the seat.

True but them I'm angling for the whole system to be scrapped

 

[Zoe]

The sooner XC abandon their crazy 10 min reservations the better, I have witnessed several arguments, one was very heated, when the person seated is asked to move. An improvement would be if a seat could be reserved "on the day" at the station, instead of the day before as it is now.

As far as I know resevations can be made on the day up until two hours before the time of departure from the origin station. It's only advance fares that have to be booked at least the day before.

 

[beeza1]

As far as I know resevations can be made on the day up until two hours before the time of departure from the origin station. It's only advance fares that have to be booked at least the day before.

That's not what I have been told at HUD, also my girlfriend was told the same when she tried to reserve a seat from Devon, can't remember exactly which station though.

 

[Zoe]

That's not what I have been told at HUD, also my girlfriend was told the same when she tried to reserve a seat from Devon, can't remember exactly which station though.

Interesting, I remember reading that with FGW (who still use reservation cards) you can do this so I'm not quite sure what prevents XC from offering this. If anything I'd have thought the electronic system would have made it easier to do on the day reservations. It's possible that they just want people to use the ten minute reservation system.

 

[Mojo]

Another problem with TMR is that you can only reserve one seat, and the system isn't intelligent enough to realise that if two texts are sent from the same number within 2 Min the chances are you want to sit next to each other. You also cannot reserve the Quiet Zone.

 

[Jeni]

You also cannot reserve the Quiet Zone.

You also can't specify not to sit in the Quiet Zone! I've been allocated coach F a couple of times using TMR.

 

[D1009]

You also can't specify not to sit in the Quiet Zone! I've been allocated coach F a couple of times using TMR.

Another reason the system's crazy. What's the point of having a quiet zone and reserve people who don't want to be quiet in it?

Surely there is never going to be a huge number of people wanting to make reservations on the day of travel, so why not restrict this facility to say half a coach per train? I believe this is what DB do, although they charge extra for reservations.

 

[1e10]

Another reason the system's crazy. What's the point of having a quiet zone and reserve people who don't want to be quiet in it?

Surely there is never going to be a huge number of people wanting to make reservations on the day of travel, so why not restrict this facility to say half a coach per train? I believe this is what DB do, although they charge extra for reservations.

XC may end up charging for TMR.

This trial is taking place on CrossCountry services across the majority of our network, in both Standard and First Class. Reservations are subject to availability and free of charge during the trial.

Seats aren't always available either. This is the reply I got on Friday.

 

[bb21]

What is the point of giving the passenger the RSID if it is not shown anywhere on the CIS?

 

[CC 72100]

What is the point of giving the passenger the RSID if it is not shown anywhere on the CIS?

Isn't the RSID or a similar number shown on the display boards on the exterior though?

(but yes, I do agree!)

 

[Greenback]

The whole thing is a mess. It is a nightmare for staff, and the majority of passengers!

 

[bb21]

Isn't the RSID or a similar number shown on the display boards on the exterior though?

(but yes, I do agree!)

They are, but it's a bit late if you don't realise that you are waiting for the wrong train until it pulls in.

Also they are not implemented consistently. I have seen RSIDs or headcodes being displayed in those panels.

 

[ValleyLines142]

You need to get out more! 4 of my last 5 VT journeys have had faulty/inoperative displays.

I guess that's probably just our own experiences. I live in Cardiff and so Virgin don't operate anywhere near me, but I've had four Pendolino journeys over the summer and my reservations were displayed normally.

Once had a strange experience with xc reservations. I boarded a Manchester to Bristol trainand it told me this seat was available until Southampton Central and the seat next to me was reserved from Stoke to Reading passengers were very confused.

I had that before! I caught the 1705 Manchester to Cardiff a few weeks back and the seat reservations were still displayed from the service the unit had worked before (which I believe in the case of the 1705 is the 1145 from Bournemouth). I panicked and thought I'd jumped on the 1727 to Bournemouth and not the 1705 to Cardiff at Piccadilly!

 

[30mog]

I recently travelled from Sheffield to York. I had no seat reservation, so just picked one showing as 'not reserved'. Immeadiately in the seat next to me a conversation started, 'excuse me, these are our seats'. Reply,'someone was in our seats when we got on and the guard told us to ignore the signs and sit anywhere'. Minutes later, more passengers boarded at Wakefield Westgate. The same happened. Then at Leeds, a passenger challenged me. My reply, 'Oh! no worries. It's only another 20 minutes to York'. I was glad to stand in the quietness of vestibule end, I was sick of hearing it! If a little worried that my next journey on XC with reservations was Sheffield to Basingtoke. It went OK actually.

Root of problem: Putting a 5 car train on a service that deserves 8. And possibly lack of customer service desire on the part of XC.