trainophile
Established Member
Travelled today on the 12:31 Euston train ex-Blackpool (we boarded at Wigan and were going to New Street). Only nine coaches and pretty busy. We had seat reservations but there was a young man sitting in one, with his backpack on the other. Luckily he was most amenable, and immediately and apologetically moved to allow us to take our seats.
However my point is that the over-seat display simply said "Reserved to Birmingham New Street", not where it was reserved from, so the occupant was perfectly within his rights to assume the reserver might have boarded at a previous station and sat elsewhere, or not boarded at all, or indeed might be boarding at a future station.
I'm sure they used to read "Reserved from Wigan NW to Birmingham NS" or suchlike, replaced with "Available if unoccupied" after departure from the 'reserved from' station. If this is a new change then it could lead to tricky situations or disputes. Perhaps it was a programming error or something, but I hope this isn't the format for the future.
However my point is that the over-seat display simply said "Reserved to Birmingham New Street", not where it was reserved from, so the occupant was perfectly within his rights to assume the reserver might have boarded at a previous station and sat elsewhere, or not boarded at all, or indeed might be boarding at a future station.
I'm sure they used to read "Reserved from Wigan NW to Birmingham NS" or suchlike, replaced with "Available if unoccupied" after departure from the 'reserved from' station. If this is a new change then it could lead to tricky situations or disputes. Perhaps it was a programming error or something, but I hope this isn't the format for the future.