Hi all.

Just spent 5 hours of my day travelling on a Voyager for an hour
Cheltenham to Temple Meads, then four hours on an HST Temple Meads to
Penzance. Both were enjoyable, comfy journeys, and I had a seat
throughout. The only issue is, because I was returning on an open
(Saver) return, I had no seat reservations. Thus, I had to pretty much
settle for what was available in coach D (in the HST) etcetc.

When you reserve a seat, can you specify a seat?
If so, in addition to the first question, does anyone know of a
published list of prime seats on Voyagers/HSTs/158s that I could ask
for when booking tickets?

Thanks!

spam@microchipped.co.uk wrote:

>
> The only issue is, because I was returning on an open
> (Saver) return, I had no seat reservations. Thus, I had to pretty much
> settle for what was available in coach D (in the HST) etcetc.


You can still reserve a seat, even if you've got a "walk on" ticket.
And you're not obliged to use it - you can still travel on a different
train, or in a different carriage of the same train.


> When you reserve a seat, can you specify a seat?


You can try! It used to be possible to specify Smoking or Non-Smoking
(irrelevant now, of course) and Facing or Back to direction of travel.
These days, modern stock with varied seating layouts has complicated
things, and booking clerks don't seem able to allocate specific seats
to the same extent.


> If so, in addition to the first question, does anyone know of a
> published list of prime seats on Voyagers/HSTs/158s that I could ask
> for when booking tickets?


I find the best seats on a Voyager are the "Priority" ones in the Quiet
Coach. But you may not qualify as a Priority passenger, of course. And
you may not want to be in the Quiet Coach.

Prime seats on an HST: 1) anywhere in the Dining Car; 2) the single
seat at the far end of the TGS. Prime seats on a 158 - the first class
bit if it's a TransPennine Express, otherwise, well, any seat with a
decent view through the window, which is most of them.
-- 
Pat Ricroft, City of Salford, UK
================================

In article , Pat
Ricroft  wrote:


> ... Prime seats on a 158 - the first class
> bit if it's a TransPennine Express, otherwise, well, any seat with a
> decent view through the window, which is most of them.


Except the airline seats behind seats with equipment boxes under them! 
I've only sat in one of those once and for the next hour, Edinburgh to
Stirling in the morning rush so no chance of moving, I *really* wished
I hadn't.

Sam

On Fri, 2 Sep 2005 13:29:14 UTC, "Pat Ricroft" 
 wrote:

: These days, modern stock with varied seating layouts has complicated
: things, and booking clerks don't seem able to allocate specific seats
: to the same extent.

I always ask for B28 on a Pendolino, and I've always got it.

Ian

--

Ian Johnston wrote:


> I always ask for B28 on a Pendolino, and I've always got it.


Another moan at my local ticket office (Canterbury West) - they seem 
totally baffled at even reserving a seat in the first place. Woebetide 
you if you ask for any particular requirements!

-- 
Jonathan Stott
Canterbury Weather: http://www.canterburyweather.co.uk/
Reverse my e-mail address to reply by e-mail

"Sam Wilson"  wrote in message 
news:020920051442394249%Sam.Wilson@ed.ac.uk...

> In article , Pat
> Ricroft  wrote:
>
>> ... Prime seats on a 158 - the first class
>> bit if it's a TransPennine Express, otherwise, well, any seat with a
>> decent view through the window, which is most of them.
>
> Except the airline seats behind seats with equipment boxes under them!
> I've only sat in one of those once and for the next hour, Edinburgh to
> Stirling in the morning rush so no chance of moving, I *really* wished
> I hadn't.


Or the window seat in a 175's airline seat, where part of the support for 
the seat in front gets in the way of one foot :-/

-- 
*** http://www.railwayscene.co.uk/ ***
Rich Mackin (rich-at-richmackin-co-uk)
MSN: richmackin-at-hotmail-dot-com

On Sat, 03 Sep 2005 18:53:41 GMT, "Rich Mackin"
 wrote:


>Or the window seat in a 175's airline seat, where part of the support for 
>the seat in front gets in the way of one foot :-/


Another by-product of the stupid seat support design in those units.
*Why* couldn't they be bolted to the side wall like they are in every
other stock I can think of?

Neil

-- 
Neil Williams in Milton Keynes, UK
When replying please use neil at the above domain
'wensleydale' is a spam trap and is not read.