XC enforcing invisible reservations

[Bletchleyite]

I think FGW will introduce a similar scheme soon.

If other TOCs are considering it, I would say it would be better if ATOC looked to implement something standard. Software to issue TMRs and journey plans could be added to ticket machines in the way Deutsche Bahn do this, and the mobile booking apps could also do it. Better than messing with clunky text messages.

If it then becomes that easy to get a reservation, we could consider moving to not marking them at all, and simply having a clearly marked unreserved coach (or two) on each long distance train. That way there would never be controversy about it.
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I must admit, I do feel sorry for those people who do not have a seat reservation and try and sit anywhere, but to be fair they must be forgetting that they are travelling on a long distance train that only has 4 or 5 carriages, so they must be aware that there is a possibility there isn't any seats left. This is where TMR comes in.

Well, not really, as if there aren't any seats left to take without a reservation, there aren't any left for TMR either. The problem is simply that there aren't enough seats on those trains at all.

I would like a TMR type system offering seat selection, as it would reduce the boarding scrum while letting me choose the seat I want - less stressful. But TMR won't solve the issue of overcrowding, it would simply move the point of getting a seat (or not) to something done before boarding rather than on boarding. The advantage (as airlines have found) is removing the boarding scrum[1], not anything to do with capacity.

[1] Used Wizz Air from Gdansk to Luton on Friday. They are I think the last to abolish scrum boarding, from the middle of the month, but it remains for now. I forgot just how unpleasant it was.

 

[D1009]

I guess you do have to find that balance between how crowded and how un-crowded a train is.

I must admit, I do feel sorry for those people who do not have a seat reservation and try and sit anywhere, but to be fair they must be forgetting that they are travelling on a long distance train that only has 4 or 5 carriages, so they must be aware that there is a possibility there isn't any seats left. This is where TMR comes in.

I think FGW will introduce a similar scheme soon.

I find as someone who regularly travels on XC without a seat reservation that I have more chance of getting an unclaimed reserved seat than I do an unreserved one, particularly on the 4 car sets. FGW may introduce a similar scheme, but they are currently increasing standard class capacity and almost all trains have 2 unreserved coaches.

 

[Flamingo]

Given that as far as I am aware no FGW trains have electronic reservation labels (at present) and the reservation labels may be printed out the evening before for some morning trains, I have no idea how FGW will implement such a system at any point before the new IEP trains come on stream...

 

[Bletchleyite]

Given that as far as I am aware no FGW trains have electronic reservation labels (at present) and the reservation labels may be printed out the evening before for some morning trains, I have no idea how FGW will implement such a system at any point before the new IEP trains come on stream...

It could be implemented in the manner that DB implement it on their stock requiring labels, which is that some seats would be marked using conventional paper labels as "may be reserved during the journey" ("Gegebenenfalls reserviert", on DB).

 

[Flamingo]

It could be implemented in the manner that DB implement it on their stock requiring labels, which is that some seats would be marked using conventional paper labels as "may be reserved during the journey" ("Gegebenenfalls reserviert", on DB).

I really can't see it happening with the current system.

 

[Greenback]

I certainly hope it doesn't happen, now or when the new trains come in.