What does "Reservations not applied throughout" mean?

[221129]

It was a few years back that I read that they no longer did but if they have started again then the issue must have been resolved. I haven't seen any reservations with names printed on them for a few years though.

Its not all just a few per train I think, but there were deffinately some Last night.

 

[Eagle]

seems odd - what data could you extract except a Smith (no gender) was going from London to, say, York?

Every time I've had a reservation with East Coast it's printed my full name (well, minus the last two letters as they don't fit, but it's still obvious what those letters should be). And I'm one of only about four people in the country with my combination of given name and surname.

 

[CC 72100]

It was a few years back when I read that they no longer did but if they have started again then the issue must have been resolved. I haven't seen any reservations with names printed on them for a few years though.

I've not seen them done with 'normal' trains, but I believe they do on the Night Riviera. My seat didn't have my name on it as someone else was booked after Taunton, but others with just one reservation on did.

 

[D1009]

Speaking as a regular user of FGW, my personal view is that for other than the longest journeys, seat reservations cause more trouble than they are worth. Why should a walk up passenger paying the full whack have to stand because someone with an advance ticket costing a fraction of the full fare can be guaranteed a seat ? Also busy trains are often delayed because people have to be evicted from reserved seats, or a window seat has been reserved so the person in the aisle seat has to move out to let them sit down. Both these scenarios cause a queue along the corridor and sometimes outside the train causing delay. SWT seem to manage to have advance tickets without reserving seats, so why can't other TOCs ?

 

[jon0844]

Except the lighting has to only be a little indicator to glance at, not full blown strobe lighting.

Having been to South Korea and travelled on coaches with multicoloured lighting throughout, it could be quite cool.

Gangnam style

 

[craigwilson]

Why should a walk up passenger paying the full whack have to stand because someone with an advance ticket costing a fraction of the full fare can be guaranteed a seat?

This old chestnut again.... :roll: You'll not get advances on the busiest trains, anyway, only on the less full trains. If someone has thought to book in advance so that they get a seat, and have booked early enough to get a cheap ticket, then good for them. If you didn't get to the train in enough time to get one of the remaining unreserved tickets, then it's just tough luck unfortunately.

Additionally, they don't have the option at all to travel on another train - however you do - that's why your ticket is the full price. They get a cheap ticket for restricting their travel itinerary - I'd say a guaranteed seat reservation is a nice bonus for doing that.

Also busy trains are often delayed because people have to be evicted from reserved seats, or a window seat has been reserved so the person in the aisle seat has to move out to let them sit down. Both these scenarios cause a queue along the corridor and sometimes outside the train causing delay.

I've travelled on many a busy VT service from Euston, and I've never seen a train departure delayed for that reason.

SWT seem to manage to have advance tickets without reserving seats, so why can't other TOCs ?

SWT, whilst they do have some longer distance journeys (into Dorset etc), they're not really a long-distance TOC in the same way Virgin/East Coast/FGW are.

 

[Eagle]

SWT, whilst they do have some longer distance journeys (into Dorset etc), they're not really a long-distance TOC in the same way Virgin/East Coast/FGW are.

Although Waterloo to Weymouth is quite a bit longer than either Paddington to Bristol TM or Euston to Birmingham New St (and time-wise it's a hell of a lot longer).

 

[craigwilson]

Although Waterloo to Weymouth is quite a bit longer than either Paddington to Bristol TM or Euston to Birmingham New St (and time-wise it's a hell of a lot longer).

I meant it more in the way that SWT have more of a commuter network of trains in addition to the longer distance stuff, as I suppose do FGW, whereas Virgin and East Coast are pretty much all about the long distance expresses.
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Also your example (to Weymouth) only takes so much longer because of the large number of stops once you're into Hampshire and Dorset.

 

[Eagle]

Also your example (to Weymouth) only takes so much longer because of the large number of stops once you're into Hampshire and Dorset.

And the much lower linespeeds (beyond Eastleigh it's 90 tops).

 

[SS4]

Yay disco lights on trains... :roll:

Disco Stu has a seat for you!

 

[D1009]

I've travelled on many a busy VT service from Euston, and I've never seen a train departure delayed for that reason.

I agree, but from experience it does happen on FGW.

 

[221129]

I've travelled on many a busy VT service from Euston, and I've never seen a train departure delayed for that reason.

I Travel on FGW Alot and I too have never seen it. Just from Overcrowding.

 

[scandal]

This old chestnut again.... :roll: You'll not get advances on the busiest trains, anyway, only on the less full trains. If someone has thought to book in advance so that they get a seat, and have booked early enough to get a cheap ticket, then good for them. If you didn't get to the train in enough time to get one of the remaining unreserved tickets, then it's just tough luck unfortunately.

Its a nice idea which I wish Cross Country would adopt, many a time I have been on Cross Country (both peak and off-peak ) finding nearly half the train booked out in advanced, given the already noted issues with walk-on capacity on the trains it's fustrating to see Cross Country selling so much of the train in advanced and not accounting for turn-up-and-go passengers. Theres also the added headache of hoping that the reservation GPS is actually working and hoping that as you pull into the next station your seat and those around you haven't all miraculously become reserved (as often it feels on the Voyagers). My issue is simple with advanced fares on Cross Country, the trains already struggle to cope with turn up and go demand and on top of that the TOC is selling discounted tickets with a guarantee of a seat, whilst the average person pays far more and often has to stand.

 

[Stats]

You'll not get advances on the busiest trains, anyway, only on the less full trains.

Believe that if you want. There were plenty of people with Advances on the 14.30 East Coast ex KGX on Friday which was full and standing to YRK. And Standard was fully reserved.

 

[Holly]

My issue is simple with advanced fares on Cross Country, the trains already struggle to cope with turn up and go demand and on top of that the TOC is selling discounted tickets with a guarantee of a seat, whilst the average person pays far more and often has to stand.

All a matter of business judgment, the joys of privatisation.

If the TOCs were to decide that the extra costs involved in selling turn up and go tickets make them unprofitable to sell at any price, and they want such passengers to go away, then that is their call. They are there to make a sustainable profit after all, anything more is charity.

 

[wintonian]

Good. I can't stand the electronic reservation display. It is impossible to quickly identify unreserved seats.

Especially when the don't turn on until the train leaves the station and people have sat down in any old seat because no could find the reservations. :roll:

 

[calc7]

Believe that if you want. There were plenty of people with Advances on the 14.30 East Coast ex KGX on Friday which was full and standing to YRK. And Standard was fully reserved.

Likely to be because this is the last train (to York and Newcastle) before 6.15pm on which Super Off-Peak tickets are valid. Anybody could have booked this train the night before for max £46.

How do you know they were all Advances anyway? Plenty of people get seat reservations with walk-up tickets.

 

[jnjkerbin]

Interesting reading this thread. I've only travelled on a Voyager once and din't even realise there were reservations!

Joe