Finland: Interrail with 15 students - do we need seat reservations?

[jamesontheroad]

Between 14 and 20 June I'm taking ± 15 architecture students on a tour of the buildings of Alvar and Aino Aalto.

We'll use 4-day 1-country Interrail passes on a variety of long distance VR trains.

Are seat reservations necessary / recommended / required? I've tried coralling even small groups of students onto trains, and I'm not sure I can be bothered telling them which seats to take if they're not in a block together.

Also, I'm minded to take paper passes instead of mobile. They will all have smartphones but I'm not sure I can be organised enough to distribute electronic passes to all their phones.

Thanks for any tips.

 

[rvdborgt]

I'd say reservations recommended (for long distance trains) with such a group.
Interrail will only send them via the post, so that will take quite some time and in addition you'll pay an extra 15 x 2€=30€ booking fee plus 9€ delivery fee.
I think it's better to book reservations either at a VR ticket office or via VR by phone, see:

How do I book my reservations?

Certain trains in Europe require an advance reservation. Find out how to make reservations on European trains during your Interrail trip.

www.interrail.eu

(Scroll down to Finland.)

 

[jamesontheroad]

Thanks @rvdborgt. Is there a flat fee for seat reservations on VR?

 

[rvdborgt]

Is there a flat fee for seat reservations on VR?

Yes there is AFAIK. On the Interrail website, it's 7€ including 2€ booking fee, so that looks like a 5€ flat fee. They might have different arrangements for groups but you'll only find out by contacting VR.

 

[dutchflyer]

My own experience-was there last week, it also snowed and there were still also large heaps of old snow. Stayed in HEL and used 1 passday to visit the brandnew Tram in Tampere, in the end decided to not use the senior-discount on local tickets, as it turned out the unreserved local trains were much reduced due to some works along the way. So went there and came back on a very nice double-deck IC.
Asked the day before at station If I would need to REServe and answer was it was not needed. BUT as all local tickets are online (most on fone, some still from machines-these do not have an option for only REServation) and include a seat-RES. it also meant you are not sure if a seat is available or not. For such a fairly short trip not really a prob, but it will be on busy times and long (overnight) routes. BTW: checks are extremely fast as anyone just shows their QR-code and gets a beep.
Also note that counters with personal service are extremely limited now and also have very short opening hrs (even in HEL only from 10.00!). This is common all over Scandinavia (even though technically FI is not in Scand.!)
It would be best to try to contact them with this question.
BTW- there have been several notes that in NOrway-after the reorganisation that saw NSB disappear- there is now said to be a need to REServe all seats, even though info in EU/InterRail is still that it is optional. In NO it cost around 6/7€ in NOK and is best done advance by calling entur, which is a neutral state-run office that now handles all requests re train travel.( and I understand even also some major buslines and ferries).

 

[rg177]

I believe its the case that reservations are recommended, particularly on the basis that they aren't marked on trains so you could be playing musical chairs the entire journey.

As for Norway, there didn't seem to be a particular requirement when I went in 2020 but it seemed to be very much essential for some trains as they were very busy.

I'm not sure what the VR call centre is like but Entur for Norway were extremely helpful and professional.

 

[jamesontheroad]

Thanks everyone.

 

[rf_ioliver]

Yes, VR uses compulsory seat reservation for the long distance trains. Here' the customer service contacts for VR in English: https://www.vr.fi/en/customer-service
Weekdays 5–22, Sat-Sun 7-22: +358 923 192 902 They speak English.

If you are in Helsinki, then take the metro to Aalto University in Espoo and check out the main auditorium building and of course all the other buildings her designed in Helsinki etc. I think your architecture students will also like the new metro stations too.
Don't forget that he also had a hand in designing the "rintamamiestalo" which is the classic wooden house seen all over Finland. Most of these we build after the wars (hence the name - exercise for reader) - I live in one

 

[rvdborgt]

Yes, VR uses compulsory seat reservation for the long distance trains.

AFAIK only compulsory on night trains. What makes you think it's also compulsory on day trains?

 

[rf_ioliver]

AFAIK only compulsory on night trains. What makes you think it's also compulsory on day trains?

Because I use them fairly regularly and VR has had compulsory seat reservation for, 15 years or so...IIRC

Strictly only the InterCity/Pendolino trains (this includes the night services) require a seat reservation. Some trains - known as Taajamajuna - which aren't run on the mainlines do not require seat reservation, namely because these are single Dm12 units. Local trains in the Helsinki Region and also now the M-juna in Tampere similarly, but these are commuter trains.

 

[rvdborgt]

Because I use them fairly regularly and VR has had compulsory seat reservation for, 15 years or so...IIRC

Strictly only the InterCity/Pendolino trains (this includes the night services) require a seat reservation. Some trains - known as Taajamajuna - which aren't run on the mainlines do not require seat reservation, namely because these are single Dm12 units. Local trains in the Helsinki Region and also now the M-juna in Tampere similarly, but these are commuter trains.

In 2019, I used about 6 IC trains with Interrail but the ticket inspectors never asked for a reservation. According to interrail.eu, reservations are recommended on IC and Pendolino. VR does not send the "compulsory reservation" attribute to MERITS, so no planners indicate compulsory reservations.
Of course, that's no proof but it does indicate to me that reservations are optional, if not formally, then surely in practice. And if they're compulsory, VR are not doing a lot to make that known.

 

[rf_ioliver]

You can try it obviously, and it will be up to the discretion of the ticket inspector and further depend upon how busy the train is. If you are sitting in a seat that someone has paid for as part of their ticket you will be asked to move and probably charged the seat reservation fee after that. I've travelled in a group where we all booked a table in Ekstra-class - another colleague who accidentally booked elsewhere in the train joined us; the ticket inspector in this case was very pragmatic and allowed him to stay there. I've also see a group move from Ekstra to the conference room on a Pendolino without being charged the extra.

This is how you book a ticket on VR ... note that a seat place ( wagon 67, window seat 47 ) has been reserved and you have the choice to change the place, or upgrade (in order: Eksta for 9.90, Restaurant Car upper deck 5.90, reserve the seat next to you for 10eur or cabin: 2person 44.90, 4 person 70.70 or a family cabin for 70.70). The seat reservation is included in the price and you can't buy a ticket without it. I can also see from today that IC25 Helsinki-Tampere is full, meaning no seats available. You might get on board with a Helsinki-Tampere ticket, but that would be for another train - again, completely at the discretion of the ticket inspector, but don't trust you luck. On the other hand, VR's on board staff are generally pragmatic and patient. If you sit in a cabin or in Ekstra without a seat reservation for those areas you will certainly be moved or charged.

I'll give another example, last year there was a summer ticket which allowed travel over a week on the network, but a seat reservation had to be bought for each train before boarding - IIRC, either from a ticket office or the VR app.

 

[jamesontheroad]

Am I correct in thinking that there are no electronic displays or colour coded lights above the seats in Pendolino (Pendolini?) and Intercity trains that indicate whether seats are reserved or not?

 

[rvdborgt]

The seat reservation is included in the price and you can't buy a ticket without it.

That is correct, but that doesn't automatically mean reservations are mandatory for Interrail.

 

[jamesontheroad]

Thought I'd come back with a few observations from our recent trip.

Travelled Umeå to Vaasa with Wasaline, and then spent six days in Finland using a mix of adult and youth paper Interrail passes, 5 days in one month, one country. Used an intercity bus Pori-Turku and local buses and trams for visits.

As an individual, travelling with Interrail in Finland is fine, since you are allowed to travel on Intercity and Pendolino trains without a reservation but you will likely find yourself sitting in someone's reserved seat and get asked to move with varying degrees of politeness or rudeness. Doing it with 15 people, however, is a real problem, since we struggled to ever find seats near each other so couldn't really enjoy the more social aspect of our trip. Reservations are available to Interrailers, but are priced per km travelled and are very expensive. As a result, we didn't travel with seat reservations, and spent a lot of time getting up and moving around when asked to, or loitering in the restaurant car. We had to change plans on Friday afternoon because our preferred train had completely sold out.

However as a useful tip, doing a dummy booking on the VR app before your train departs is a good way to check the precise seat availability.

VR Regional trains don't require reservations (and none of them we used even had a ticket inspector) but they are usually only single or double Dm12 railcars with an advertised capacity of just 63. We took two of these, Joensuu-Pieksämäki and Jyväskylä–Seinäjoki, and on busy summer days they were uncomfortably busy, so arrive early if you're in a group.

As discussed above, VR offer summer tickets for 5, 7, 9, 14 or 30 continuous days from 1 June until 30 August. These are much better value than a one-country Interrail pass and include seat reservations, but you have to buy them and use them in the VR app. I don't think I, as a group leader, could buy 15 and distribute them to students like I can with paper.