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Wording on Virgin Trains Reservations displays

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AnkleBoots

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If a train is yet to call at the station from which a seat is reserved, it shows RESERVED FROM [PLACE]

If the train has already called at the station from which a seat is reserved, it shows RESERVED


Is the above accurate? Thank you
 
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_toommm_

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Yes, as if the seat is reserved from A to C, and the train has already called at A but not called at C yet, then it is reserved. Whether it is occupied or not is another question (something which LNER is looking to solve).
 

Kite159

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Sounds about right

Would be better if it said "Reserved from A to H" though, that way passengers boarding midway through the journey knows where that seat is reserved so if travelling beyond H they know they might have to move.

(For example an Euston - Glasgow service, with a passenger boarding at Wigan heading to Lancaster, if they see an empty seat reserved from Euston to Carlisle they feel safe to travel in it knowing someone won't board at Preston to kick them out)
 

ValleyLines142

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We are talking about VTWC right?

I thought reserved seats literally just say 'Reserved' on them, giving no indication of where along the route said seat is reserved to/from?
 

Deafdoggie

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We are talking about VTWC right?

I thought reserved seats literally just say 'Reserved' on them, giving no indication of where along the route said seat is reserved to/from?

They only say that if someone should be sat in it. If it’s not reserved till later in the journey, it says “Reserved from...”
 

Lemmy99uk

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According to VTWCs Twitter feed, if the indicator says ‘reserved’ with no origin or destination, then the seat is reserved for the entire journey.
 

route101

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Does not always say reserved from . Ive had it display my name before .
 

ag51ruk

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According to VTWCs Twitter feed, if the indicator says ‘reserved’ with no origin or destination, then the seat is reserved for the entire journey.

It just means it's reserved at that point in the journey. It may become free later, but you have no way of knowing.
 

vlad

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From experience a seat could still be reserved even if the display is blank....
 

Elecman

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Does not always say reserved from . Ive had it display my name before .
Mine was displayed as my name on the Pendo this afternoon from Crewe but just reserved from MKC on the For th3csame journey reservationVoyager
 

Mollman

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At one point it was doing what I think was the best way which was to say reserved from X, then reserved at X and finally available when arriving at the next station. For example a Euston bound train leaving Glasgow would have "Reserved from Preston" then on approach to Preston this changed to "Reserved" with it switching to "Available" on approach to Wigan (when seats reserved from Wigan would switch from "Reserved from Wigan" to "Reserved"). This got around the issue which became quite common on the old 9-car formation when seats reserved from Carlisle but unoccupied still said "Reserved" at Preston meaning people would avoid sitting in them and leading to lots of empty "Reserved" seats and lots of people stood up until someone was brave enough to risk sitting down.
 

trebor79

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Never understood why people stand instead of sitting in obviously unoccupied reserves seats.
If there's standing room only I'll sit in a reserved seat. If the rightful owner comes to claim it then I am happy to vacate it for them.
 

voyagerdude220

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I was on a 221 from Preston to Birmingham in First Class towards the beginning of the year and didn't have a seat reservation.

I initially sat in an unreserved seat, but spotted a better individual seat, with clear window view, which was marked as "reserved." I asked the Train Manager if she knew if it was simply a reserved seat which hadn't been taken, or reserved later on in the journey and she didn't know.

I took a gamble, but had to move at Wolverhampton, as it had been reserved later in the journey from there.
 

Clip

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Yesterday i was on a Pendo that had 'Reserved from Birmingham' on it with the others all reserved from Euston saying 'Reserved'
 

Up_Tilt_390

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If I were to guess I'd say that "Reserved" would only show up if the station call that the passenger was due to get on has been called at. I mean maybe the passenger would quickly go to the toilet while someone without a seat is wandering around looking for one. If it said "Reserved From [Insert Destination]" then it's fine to sit there so long as you don't when the destination it is called at arrives. It it just says "Reserved" though you could take that as a way to say the passenger may be on the train but has left the seat for reasons such as going the onboard shop or toilet or something. I'd say it's a good system if it clears up confusion, but I reckon given our rail system is full of surprises it probably doesn't.
 

route101

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I was on a 221 from Preston to Birmingham in First Class towards the beginning of the year and didn't have a seat reservation.

I initially sat in an unreserved seat, but spotted a better individual seat, with clear window view, which was marked as "reserved." I asked the Train Manager if she knew if it was simply a reserved seat which hadn't been taken, or reserved later on in the journey and she didn't know.

I took a gamble, but had to move at Wolverhampton, as it had been reserved later in the journey from there.

Thought there was a list of reservations , maybe not .
 

snail

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My VTWC train to Euston this morning had AVAILABLE UNTIL... or AVAILABLE IF UNOCCUPIED on the displays. I didn't notice when it switched over for the future stations.
 

faddy

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Am I alone in not finding it intuitive as to which display is for the window seat and which for the aisle seat?
 

Skie

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They've stuck fairly obvious 50 = Window 51 = Aisle stickers all over them now, and the placement makes it obvious. Was a bit hard to decipher before, thanks to the seat hand-hold stickers not liking to stick and ending up in the vacuums.

From aaages of experience of these blasted things:
Available = You can sit here, but expect someone with a badly printed ticket to rock up and claim you're in their seat because they have mistaken 8 for 0.
Reserved = Either this is a reservation for the entire journey or just part of it (and you've got on at the station the reservation started at, or one after)
Available Until.... = The train hasn't arrived at wherever the display says. As soon as it does arrive (linked to the PIS deciding you've arrived) the displays update simply to "Reserved"

One stupid oversight on these boards is that they have more characters than the system can support, so text gets truncated despite there being plenty of space left on the LCD. I really should count exactly how many letters they can handle, so I can figure out something the bookers wont balk at but ends up on the trains themselves with an entirely different message. Donalds Big Assistance team meeting perhaps :D
 

Kite159

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Available = You can sit here, but expect someone with a badly printed ticket to rock up and claim you're in their seat because they have mistaken 8 for 0.

Or they have a seat reservation for a different train (i.e. they hold open tickets and think the seat reservation they had on the AA:FF service is valid on all services that day). Something I've seen a couple times with Birmingham/Manchester - London services.
 

Skie

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Or they have a seat reservation for a different train (i.e. they hold open tickets and think the seat reservation they had on the AA:FF service is valid on all services that day). Something I've seen a couple times with Birmingham/Manchester - London services.

Oh yes, usually get these people at Crewe when they hop on the first train they see. No, your ticket isnt valid for any train that may arrive at the station and that certainly isn't your seat, do you think we reserve you a seat using some sort of Schrödinger system that only once you see a seat it becomes booked for you?
 
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