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Crosscountry Unreserved Coaches

B

Bozo

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16 Feb 2012
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Hi, Can anyone tell me which coaches are unreserved on 4 & 5 car trains from Leeds to Birmingham New Street please?

I wanted to check as I saw from some older posts on here that is has changed a couple of times.

Thanks
 
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RailUK Forums

voyagerdude220

voyagerdude220

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4 cars don't have any unreserved coaches unfortunately.
5 cars unreserved is B.
 
VT 390

VT 390

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There are also around 26 (the exact number may have changed) unreserved seats in half of carriage D on every class 220 and the Cross Country class 221 (not the ex Avanti units). I believe this is done so that when an ex Avanti unit turns up all seat reservations will still apply as the Avanti units have more tables so fewer overall seats in carriage D.
Carriage C also has around 6 unreserved seats at the end of the carriage.
While this is not as useful as an entire carriage if you can wait in the correct position at Leeds for this part of D there will almost certainly be some passengers vacating some of these seats as Leeds often has a high turnover of passengers on that route.
 
B

Bozo

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16 Feb 2012
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I contacted Cross Country to see what my options were, I was supposed to be on the 11.15am.from Leeds, but because it was delayed an hour it skipped Leeds and Wakefield to make up time. The 12.15pm is also running 70mins late, and I imagine will be packed at it's a 4 car.

Cross Country have told me the 13.15pm which is running about 30 mins late is fully unreserved, but I'm thinking this one may also skip Leeds due the 12.15 running so late.
 
A

alistairlees

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Bozo said:
I contacted Cross Country to see what my options were, I was supposed to be on the 11.15am.from Leeds, but because it was delayed an hour it skipped Leeds and Wakefield to make up time. The 12.15pm is also running 70mins late, and I imagine will be packed at it's a 4 car.

Cross Country have told me the 13.15pm which is running about 30 mins late is fully unreserved, but I'm thinking this one may also skip Leeds due the 12.15 running so late.
Click to expand...
What ticket do you have?
 
B

Bozo

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12.15 is now skipping Leeds they've cancelled the stop, so I'm looking at the delayed 13.15 as the next train.
 
VT 390

VT 390

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I know its probably to late now but there is ticket acceptance on some Northern services between Leeds and Sheffield to connect with Cross Country services.
The specific service options for each cancelled service at Leeds can be viewed on the Cross Country journey check page.
 
T

treyuk

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On most Leeds–Birmingham New Street services, the unreserved coaches are usually at the rear of the train. For 4‑car sets, that’s typically coach D, while on 5‑car sets it’s generally coaches D and sometimes E. Reservations are concentrated in the front coaches, so if you’re boarding without a seat booked, heading towards the back gives you the best chance. Always worth checking the platform screens though, as allocations can change depending on the operator’s setup.

Moderator note: the above post is incorrect
 
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voyagerdude220

voyagerdude220

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treyuk said:
On most Leeds–Birmingham New Street services, the unreserved coaches are usually at the rear of the train. For 4‑car sets, that’s typically coach D, while on 5‑car sets it’s generally coaches D and sometimes E. Reservations are concentrated in the front coaches, so if you’re boarding without a seat booked, heading towards the back gives you the best chance. Always worth checking the platform screens though, as allocations can change depending on the operator’s setup.
Click to expand...
Not sure where to start with this, as almost all of this is incorrect.

For starters, XC 220/221s don't even have a coach E.

Also Cross Country Voyagers never have a set formation, so they could have coach A for example at the front or rear.

Coach D is reservable.
 
Kite159

Kite159

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Indeed, even using RTT to use which way round the train is can be wrong at times, as some stations won't announce which end First Class is located (which is usually a good way to tell)
 
LittleRedTrain

LittleRedTrain

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For XC Voyagers, it's worth looking at the front of the train as it approaches.
If there's a yellow strip at the top of the coupler then that end is First Class.
Gives you a little bit of extra time to move along the platform if the set isn't the expected way round.
 
B

Bozo

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16 Feb 2012
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I ended up on the delayed 13.15 service, but the whole train was standing room only, then it had to stop twice for a fault with the alarms, but I did eventually make it to BHM.

Thanks for all the help.
 
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