East Coast Unreserved Coach?

[itfcfan]

Hi everyone,

I'm travelling from Kings Cross to Newcastle tomorrow (9th August). I'm planning on catching the 11:30 and it seems I'm either too late to get a seat reservation on my super saver or the train is completely booked up.

Do East Coast provide an unreserved coach in the same way Virgin do on the WCML? Does anyone have any experience on how full these services are on summer Fridays and if I'm likely to have more chance of a seat on a slightly earlier or later train? I'm travelling by myself, so hopefully if I arrive early I'll be ok...

Thanks,

John

 

[northernchris]

As far as I know, Coach H is unreserved however it is only around 1/3 coach as it is where the buffet is located. Maybe try Coach C, as on departure from London it is getting away from the barriers so less likely to have those without reservations walking that far down

 

[sidmouth]

Can I suggest you catch eithe the 10.30, 12.30 or 14.30 ex King Cross terminating Newcastle as I would expect all the other trains to Newcastle continue onto Edinburgh and therefore might be rammed given the Einburgh Festival. I travelled up to Edinburgh last Monday on the 9.30 ex Kings Cross and even First (at least Coach M) was absolutely full.

I think the standard class adjoining the buffet (if 225) is usually not reserved.

 

[yorkie]

Or the 1108 to York, or the 1121 Sunderland (which overtakes it) changing at York for a Newcastle terminator (XC, TPE or EC) - high chance of a seat at least most of the way, if not all.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

I've been to Edin and back (from Newcastle) on East Coast a few times recently (including yesterday). The Festival does have a slight impact, but I've had no difficulty in finding table seats in standard and tables of 4 in first.

But, the additional long-distance holiday journeys on Fridays are significant, and as you're travelling on a Friday, I'd suggest doing everything you can to get onto the platform at Kings X as soon as it is announced (or sooner, if you can).

 

[RochdalePioneers]

Generally Coach C is unreserved in that the booking system, won't allocate seats unless pushed. I always book my seats on the EC website and always move my seat into C because its nice and quiet....

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

[yorkie]

Oh, and go onto the footbridge, wait at the top of the footbridge until it's clear which platform it is, and you have a head-start over most of the crowd

 

[CallySleeper]

If it helps, the 11.30 is supposed to be a MkIV set from platform 7 tomorrow.

 

[itfcfan]

Thanks for everyone's advice.

I'll plan to arrive half an hour early and look for a seat in C on the 11:30. If I have trouble with that, I'll switch to the 11:21 Grand Central as far as York and then change.

 

[davetheguard]

Generally Coach C is unreserved in that the booking system, won't allocate seats unless pushed. I always book my seats on the EC website and always move my seat into C because its nice and quiet....

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

Very handy (and timely), thanks. I was just about to ask the same question as the OP, but for a long weekend in Newcastle in a week's time.

By the way, now that EC offer "free" food in First Class, do they still do a Weekend First upgrade, and how much is it?

 

[CallySleeper]

Very handy (and timely), thanks. I was just about to ask the same question as the OP, but for a long weekend in Newcastle in a week's time.

By the way, now that EC offer "free" food in First Class, do they still do a Weekend First upgrade, and how much is it?

Depends where you're traveling:

London/Stevenage - stations to Doncaster & Hull £15
London/Stevenage - stations north of Wakefield & York £25
Between any two stations Peterborough or north £15

Bearing in mind though the free food offer at weekends is significantly nothing like during the week. (Read: no hot food)

 

[itfcfan]

Thanks again for everyone's help.

I arrived 25mins early as the live departure board switched from platform 7 to platform 0. When I got on the train, the guard was still putting out reservations in D, so I asked about the numbers in C and was told he had 60-70 reservations in there and I'd be better off heading to H where the seats by the buffet were unreserved.

Walking down, the seats in F near the buffet (mostly disabled and priority aisle, but two that weren't) were unreserved. I took a seat here and enjoyed the calm until 10mins before departure when the platform must have been announced. The carriage filled up and there must have been people standing from departure.

At Peterborough, someone produced reservations for the apparently unreserved seats behind me - as there were plenty of people standing now I began to question my strategy!

At Doncaster the train was held for about 20mins (I believe animals were on the line and there may have been signalling problems at York). The ride from Doncaster to York had at last 30 people standing in coach F. The situation was better from York, but I was very thankful to get into Newcastle!

The following day, I took the 09:59 back from Newcastle and managed to get one of the few unreserved seats in coach M of HST to get a weekend upgrade. So a much calmer journey on the way home!

 

[HST Power]

I travelled up to Edinburgh last Monday on the 9.30 ex Kings Cross and even First (at least Coach M) was absolutely full.

....managed to get one of the few unreserved seats in coach M of HST to get a weekend upgrade. So a much calmer journey on the way home

Avoid Coach M!

It's commonly referred to as 'Cattle First Class' - mainly because if you book your seats online, picking up that cheap Advance 1st, the booking engine will you put there. So it will be the busiest, and you're also furthest from the kitchens, so you wait longer for service. Unless of course the crew decide to start taking orders from M, but I seldom see that happen.

If you want a 'four' to yourself I would say L is your best bet, or K if you want the Quiet Coach, which is nearest to the kitchens. Go for J if you get a HST.

 

[itfcfan]

Avoid Coach M!

It's commonly referred to as 'Cattle First Class' - mainly because if you book your seats online, picking up that cheap Advance 1st, the booking engine will you put there. So it will be the busiest, and you're also furthest from the kitchens, so you wait longer for service. Unless of course the crew decide to start taking orders from M, but I seldom see that happen.

If you want a 'four' to yourself I would say L is your best bet, or K if you want the Quiet Coach, which is nearest to the kitchens. Go for J if you get a HST.

Thanks for the tip. I went to the front of the train on the basis that the platform was pretty full at Newcastle. I'll remember that for next time on the ECML.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

East Coast have told me that they do not keep any vehicle unreserved but that the best chance of finding an unreserved seat is at the end of the train as, barring specific seat requests, the system tends to fill it up from the ones next to the buffet car outwards.