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Georgetown

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Hello everyone! I'm travelling on a Cross Country train soon. I have an Anytime ticket which I can use for two days, and I have a reserved seat. Does this mean that on every train going to my destination, over two days (around ten trains) has a seat booked for me?
 
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Welcome to the forum.

The above reply is correct - a seat will only be reserved for you on the specific service listed on the reservation coupon.

To expand on this: you also don't have to sit in your reserved seat even if you do travel on that particular service. E.g. if a better, un-reserved seat is available, you're fine to sit there too. However, cross-country trains can be very busy and seats can be reserved whilst the train is en-route: so your best bet is to stick to your reserved seat if you're able.
 

Mathew S

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It's probably also worth pointing out that, even though your ticket is valid for two days, you can only use it to make one journey (and a return journey, if it's a return ticket).
You can stop off at places on the way. So, if you are travelling from, say Exeter to Birmingham, you could stop off in Bristol on the way. But you couldn't, for example, go from. Exeter to Bristol, then back to Taunton, then up to Birmingham. One end to end journey, with stop offs if you want to, is all that's allowed.
 

Georgetown

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On the ticket it says Mandatory Reservation Coupon 1 of 1, but I can use the ticket for two days.
 

Mathew S

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On the ticket it says Mandatory Reservation Coupon 1 of 1, but I can use the ticket for two days.
Something doesn't quite add up there. Mandatory reservations are only issued (I'm pretty sure) for a type of ticket called an Advance, which is only valid on one specific train, for one specific journey, between the stations named on the ticket.
It might be worth you posting a photo of the tickets (with any personal details covered up) so that we can offer the best advice.
 

Georgetown

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Thanks to all who have helped, it was very much appreciated. The reply from Mathew S worried me though, so I went to the railway station today to check the ticket details. Anyway, all is well, and I can now look forward to the journey to Scotland. Thanks again.
 

Mathew S

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Thanks to all who have helped, it was very much appreciated. The reply from Mathew S worried me though, so I went to the railway station today to check the ticket details. Anyway, all is well, and I can now look forward to the journey to Scotland. Thanks again.
Glad everything's sorted for you. Enjoy your trip!
 

yorkie

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Thanks to all who have helped, it was very much appreciated. The reply from Mathew S worried me though, so I went to the railway station today to check the ticket details. Anyway, all is well, and I can now look forward to the journey to Scotland. Thanks again.
Out of interest, where was the ticket purchased/issued? It shouldn't say "mandatory" for an Anytime ticket, but of course an Anytime ticket is valid without the reservation anyway so it's not actually causing a problem but it would be useful to know where this error is occurring.

If you do choose to take the train you have reserved, a reservation cannot be completely guaranteed. For example, on my last two XC journeys from York my seat did not exist. On one of the journeys, an unreserved coach was available and on the other all reservations were cancelled and everyone just found a seat without any disputes.
 

vicki brown

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Out of interest, where was the ticket purchased/issued? It shouldn't say "mandatory" for an Anytime ticket, but of course an Anytime ticket is valid without the reservation anyway so it's not actually causing a problem but it would be useful to know where this error is occurring.

If you do choose to take the train you have reserved, a reservation cannot be completely guaranteed. For example, on my last two XC journeys from York my seat did not exist. On one of the journeys, an unreserved coach was available and on the other all reservations were cancelled and everyone just found a seat without any disputes.

Yes, the same happened to us last time we travelled from York to Newcastle on XC. We had booked seats in coach D but when the train turned up there was no coach D. Thankfully there were plenty unreserved seats so we were ok.
 

221129

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Yes, the same happened to us last time we travelled from York to Newcastle on XC. We had booked seats in coach D but when the train turned up there was no coach D. Thankfully there were plenty unreserved seats so we were ok.
Really? I find that very unlikely..
 
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