Is booking an extra seat for your luggage allowed?

[Bletchleyite]

Just had another thought. If a VIP is travelling on a train, are additional seats booked around them to be kept free for security purposes? Or could one end up sitting next the the King or PM if the train was full?

Usually a special arrangement is made to charter a dedicated carriage which would be a business negotiation outwith the NRCoT. Though having said that it did used to be documented somewhere that one could purchase a whole compartment or carriage to oneself by purchasing a ticket for each seat therein.

 

[43066]

Most people flying from Luton will be hand luggage only these days - it's pretty much entirely a low cost operation there.

I'm kind of intrigued who's taking lots of luggage on EMR - with a maximum journey time of about 2 hours on the mainline most people are day-trippers with a laptop bag or small rucksack. I wonder if it's aimed at reining things in on the Skeggy 170s? (170s also have uselessly small overheads). Might also be so fewer bags end up in the wheelchair area which is increasingly seen as unacceptable, though again the piece concept which encourages you to bring one big bag rather than several small ones is going to make that worse, surely?

Lots take cases on EMR’s IC routes. EMR serves major student cities, then you have people with walking gear heading to the peaks, not to mention lots of cyclists. Quite a few people flying from Luton take more than hand baggage - there are plenty with large cases. Of course passenger numbers there are also rising significantly, especially since the shuttle train opened, so even if the % remains constant absolute numbers with cases will rise.

I can well see why they’ve introduced more restrictions, and I’d expect to see more of this kind of thing in future.

 

[Gloster]

A slightly irrelevant but apparently true story. About a century ago an employee at one of the Glasgow works (Cowlairs, I think) built a very detailed model of a coach several foot long. It passed to the railway and eventually in the 1960s or 1970s to Collectors Corner where it was purchased by a Canadian buying railwayana for a (government backed?) restaurant or bar. This never came off and several years later the collection was got rid of. Somebody who had some connection with Glasgow or the works was told that he could have it if he collected it. After several years this large model became a problem and, loath to dump it, he contacted our National Railway Museum who were happy to have it as a donation. Getting it here from Canada was a bit of a problem as, even carefully packaged, it was a bit too delicate to be sent or go in the hold. So it crossed the Atlantic on the seat next to him, complete with its own ticket made out to ‘Mr Train’.

 

[BJames]

Most people flying from Luton will be hand luggage only these days - it's pretty much entirely a low cost operation there.

I'm kind of intrigued who's taking lots of luggage on EMR - with a maximum journey time of about 2 hours on the mainline most people are day-trippers with a laptop bag or small rucksack. I wonder if it's aimed at reining things in on the Skeggy 170s? (170s also have uselessly small overheads). Might also be so fewer bags end up in the wheelchair area which is increasingly seen as unacceptable, though again the piece concept which encourages you to bring one big bag rather than several small ones is going to make that worse, surely?

Mentioned a couple of posts back but I am one of the ex-students who used to travel from London to Nottingham for Uni - I'd take a suitcase and a backpack (if going home for more than a few days - otherwise just a backpack stored under the seat), but often ended up getting picked up in the car for the longer holidays to make it easier to carry more items back. The trains would be pretty busy and fill up quickly! The overheads were annoying though as my full backpack definitely couldn't fit, even though it would fit easily on LNER.

I remember one time where the MML was shut and I went via Grantham - LNER not a problem but the space on a 2-car unit between Nottingham and Grantham proved very difficult with a huge number of students having the same thought as me!

 

[trainophile]

Liverpool to Norwich EMR is over five hours, and many tourists change at Norwich for holiday resorts on the coast, so it’s not surprising that some people have a week’s holiday sized suitcase.

I’ve made bookings for myself and partner, who has then been unable to travel on the day. I must admit I like the reassurance of having a “Reserved” sign on the seat next to me! I would take the aisle seat, and if the train becomes busy I’d relinquish the window seat, but it’s surprising how many people don’t like to ask for a vacant window seat when the aisle one is occupied.