EMR Advance tickets with no seat reservation?

[BlueDanger]

Hi. I’m trying to book Advance tickets from London to Sheffield for later this month. Towards the end of the booking process it says "Sit in any vacant unreserved seat except first class” although in a previous screen it says that reserved seats are included.

I’m now confused as to whether seat reservations are included. I see from the EMR website that reservations are not included with on-the-day advance sales butI am buying tickets a few weeks in advance of travel.

Any help you can give would be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[John R]

I recall seeing that seat reservations are (or will be) suspended pending the rollout of the Aurora fleet, so that might be the reason?

 

[edwin_m]

I recall seeing that seat reservations are (or will be) suspended pending the rollout of the Aurora fleet, so that might be the reason?

I think (hope!) this is only on certain services, presumably the ones that might or might not be worked by the new units.

 

[BlueDanger]

Thanks guys. It looks like seat reservations are offerred for other trains on the same day that I was looking at, so I guess the issue is indeed regarding the Aurora units as suggested. I’ll see what turns up on the day!

 

[SirAlf]

For some months now seat reservations on EMR trains have been pot luck and it’s getting worse. There might be a seat reservation on your ticket but when you get on board its increasingly likely that no seat reservations have been loaded

This is irritating but it has became more than that on evening trains leaving St Pancras, especially on Saturdays. I used to ignore the headlong rush when boarding was announced and stroll to the train because I’d got a reserved seat, only to find that I hadn’t when I got on board. So standing as far as Leicester because the seat reservations hadn’t been loaded was beyond irritating

 

[317 forever]

From experience EMR do have reservations on the London journeys but not other routes.

When I book Advance tickets to/from Stockport on this line it never includes a seat reservation.

 

[edwin_m]

From experience EMR do have reservations on the London journeys but not other routes.

When I book Advance tickets to/from Stockport on this line it never includes a seat reservation.

They used to do them on Liverpool-Norwich but stopped around the time of Covid. Never had reservations on any other route that I recall (except London).

 

[317 forever]

They used to do them on Liverpool-Norwich but stopped around the time of Covid. Never had reservations on any other route that I recall (except London).

An enigma about that route is that, it is like an inter-city route, and longer than London-Norwich topically, but is just run by EMUs, sometimes the same ones (158s or 170s) as their local routes.

 

[Royston Vasey]

An enigma about that route is that, it is like an inter-city route, and longer than London-Norwich topically, but is just run by EMUs, sometimes the same ones (158s or 170s) as their local routes.

It's always worked from the common pool of 170s and 158s, although the 170s are usually 3 car.

It's just a very long regional service connecting multiple secondary cities with each other. They planned but seem to have dropped the idea of splitting it at Nottingham which is good for me as I do prefer my regular Cambridge to Sheffield or Manchester trips to be via Ely on EMR than having to go to London.

The difference is that the market from Liverpool to Norwich will have few end to end passengers, but lots of flow from Norwich to Ely or Peterborough, Ely or Peterborough to Nottingham or Sheffield, Nottingham to Sheffield or Manchester, Sheffield to Manchester or Liverpool and Manchester to Liverpool.

Hence it's not an intercity route like Norwich to London, where a good proportion of passengers are long distance, if not quite full length.

The 158s were built to make this sort of route work and provide good comfort in a practical efficient regional diesel unit. They were hauled Mk 1s before Sprinterisation, and for years were 156s!

 

[317 forever]

It's always worked from the common pool of 170s and 158s, although the 170s are usually 3 car.

It's just a very long regional service connecting multiple secondary cities with each other. They planned but seem to have dropped the idea of splitting it at Nottingham which is good for me as I do prefer my regular Cambridge to Sheffield or Manchester trips to be via Ely on EMR than having to go to London.

The difference is that the market from Liverpool to Norwich will have few end to end passengers, but lots of flow from Norwich to Ely or Peterborough, Ely or Peterborough to Nottingham or Sheffield, Nottingham to Sheffield or Manchester, Sheffield to Manchester or Liverpool and Manchester to Liverpool.

Hence it's not an intercity route like Norwich to London, where a good proportion of passengers are long distance, if not quite full length.

The 158s were built to make this sort of route work and provide good comfort in a practical efficient regional diesel unit. They were hauled Mk 1s before Sprinterisation, and for years were 156s!

I remember plans to split the route and how they could not even decide who would have operated the western section.

It does make a refreshing change from going via London as you say. When I go to Cambridge in December I shall travel there via London, as I have a local matter to see to there before my first ride on a 720. Then I shall come home via Ely and the through EMR train.

 

[edwin_m]

The difference is that the market from Liverpool to Norwich will have few end to end passengers, but lots of flow from Norwich to Ely or Peterborough, Ely or Peterborough to Nottingham or Sheffield, Nottingham to Sheffield or Manchester, Sheffield to Manchester or Liverpool and Manchester to Liverpool.

Many of those intermediate flows are long enough that travellers would appreciate the reassurance of having a seat booked, and the trains can get crowded at peak times. So it's a shame that reservations aren't offered, but the industry seems to have given up on them except where the stock has been fitted with electronic displays (same with the XC 170s). Perhaps whatever eventually replaces the 158s will have these displays and reservations will be available again.

 

[SirAlf]

Not that seat reservations would have helped but I often travel Chesterfield to Manchester or Chesterfield to Grantham for an LNER connection. A few weeks ago Manchester United were at Nottingham Forest so how did EMR plan for this? Answer - a 2 coach train! To say it was standing room only is an understatement, Chesterfield to Nottingham was unreal! Am I asking too much that a TOC might plan for football fans? Then again, people on this forum think we’re all yobbos…..

 

[Royston Vasey]

Many of those intermediate flows are long enough that travellers would appreciate the reassurance of having a seat booked, and the trains can get crowded at peak times. So it's a shame that reservations aren't offered, but the industry seems to have given up on them except where the stock has been fitted with electronic displays (same with the XC 170s). Perhaps whatever eventually replaces the 158s will have these displays and reservations will be available again.

I'm ok with them not being there. So many go unused, or ignored (most people are on flexible tickets not tied to a specific service, I expect), and there's so much turnover at every major call that I've never not had pretty much my pick, at very least by the second or third stop. The times I've been given a reservation on a pillar or packed in with other people or undesirables, I've moved anyway.

Same story with the Birmingham-Stansteds, now reservations have gone, I tend to get a better seat by knowing where it will stop, being assertive/elbows out on the New St platform, and heading straight to a suitable seat when I board. When boarding at Leicester or Peterborough, there's so much turnover that you get a reasonable pick on most services.

But, admittedly, I am able bodied, have firm elbows and know more than the average traveller. I know my elderly mother, for example, would be more stressed without a reservation, and less assertive and knowledgeable than I am when she boards.

Any new fleet may well be reservation ready, but the new CAF TfW fleet have all got reservation systems and I've never seen them display anything but "Dim data"!

 

[mm3309219x]

Just noticed this when booking an advance ticket to London on a Sunday next month. Tried making a few more “test” bookings and it seems that reservations are not available only on the services currently worked by 7-car 222s (which will likely be the first diagrams the 810s will run according to the introduction thread). No idea if they will be out on weekends during the initial introduction so hoping to be surprised