Forwards and backwards

[bennorthyork]

Trains from Glasgow - Mallaig and vice versa change direction at Fort William and forward facing seats become backwards facing and vice versa and obviously similar things happen on many lines. Last week I overheard 2 conductors discussion how seat reservations should be placed on the seats.

One said he places the seat reservation according to which is the longer part of the full journey for the train, ie 4f on a journey from Mallaig to Glasgow would be placed on the backwards seat initially which would then be facing for the longest part of the journey, ie Mallaig - Glasgow. I thought this was a sensible approach until I considered that someone who wanted a facing seat for example who was only travelling for a short part of the route could end up facing the wrong way.

Please can someone enlighten me as to how reservations should be placed? I'm confused.

 

[krus_aragon]

Holyhead - Cardiff services operate in the same manner: they reverse at Chester, about a third of the way into the journey. My experience is that the conductor will lay out rear and facing tickets according to which direction the train will travel first.

 

[Mojo]

156s must be one of the few trains that actually retain the forwards and backwards seating number system. Can't remember the last time I've seen it - all trains I use have different seat numbers for each seat.

 

[Old Timer]

Going back many, many years to the days of steam Mk1 stock and 37s working the Yarmouths, a similar situation existed on these services for the section Norwich to Liv St.

The practice was to label facing FROM Yarmouth, except that reservations for Norwich and beyond were labelled as for departure from Norwich (Thorpe), e.g. trailing in from Yarmouth. Similar arrangements applied to the Lowestofts via Norwich.

Sometimes the Guard would advise passengers about the reversal at Norwich and would relabel the seat for them.

On the Down facing was applied to all seats departing from The Street.

One Clerk I knew used to suggest two reservations, to/from Norwich if travelling facing (or trailing) was essential in order to remove any problems at the reversal, e g passengers refusing to move seats.

Trust this helps, even if from a historic point of view.

 

[jamesontheroad]

Liverpool - Norwich must likewise be an impossible one to please everyone with, since the train reverses at both Sheffield and Ely. I'm not sure why they even bother offering forward or backwards facing reservations...