Belperpete
Established Member
- Joined
- 17 Aug 2018
- Messages
- 2,395
Making a journey from New Pudsey to Birmingham this Saturday, I booked my ticket on line. I was given a reservation for New Pudsey to Leeds, but no mention of a reservation on the 1611 XC train from Leeds to New Street. .My previous experiences with XC have shown reservations on their services to be important if you don't want to spend the journey standing. So on Friday I asked at a station if they could book me a seat, only to be told that neither the 1611, or the 1511 or 1711, were reservable.
That evening, I checked on RTT, which showed the trains as reservable. It also showed the 1611 as a single 4 car unit, whereas the 1511 as two units, so I decided it was probably better to travel on the 1511. Particularly as the XC capacity checker wasn't showing any information for those trains. On the morning, I asked at Leeds booking office if they could book me a reservation on the 1511. The initial response was that the system wasn't allowing it, but after a lot of keyboard punching and mutterings, the clerk eventually managed to issue me with an airline aisle seat (my worst preference, but at least I knew I had a seat).
When I duly caught the train, I was expecting it to be rammed - but far from it, it was half empty. I got a 4 seat table to myself. And my reservation was pointless, as no coach letters were displayed until after we had departed.
What was going on with reservations on XC this weekend? Why was I initially sold a ticket without a reservation, despite it being a reservable train, me selecting that I wanted reservations, and the train being far from full? How come Leeds booking office was finally, after a struggle, able to issue me a reservation when my local booking office wasn't? This kind of stupidity is hardly encouraging me to travel with XC again. If they make it this difficult to book a seat on a near empty train, heaven knows what it must be like trying to get a seat on their normally rammed services. How many people will have been put off travelling, thinking that no reservation meant no seats left?
That evening, I checked on RTT, which showed the trains as reservable. It also showed the 1611 as a single 4 car unit, whereas the 1511 as two units, so I decided it was probably better to travel on the 1511. Particularly as the XC capacity checker wasn't showing any information for those trains. On the morning, I asked at Leeds booking office if they could book me a reservation on the 1511. The initial response was that the system wasn't allowing it, but after a lot of keyboard punching and mutterings, the clerk eventually managed to issue me with an airline aisle seat (my worst preference, but at least I knew I had a seat).
When I duly caught the train, I was expecting it to be rammed - but far from it, it was half empty. I got a 4 seat table to myself. And my reservation was pointless, as no coach letters were displayed until after we had departed.
What was going on with reservations on XC this weekend? Why was I initially sold a ticket without a reservation, despite it being a reservable train, me selecting that I wanted reservations, and the train being far from full? How come Leeds booking office was finally, after a struggle, able to issue me a reservation when my local booking office wasn't? This kind of stupidity is hardly encouraging me to travel with XC again. If they make it this difficult to book a seat on a near empty train, heaven knows what it must be like trying to get a seat on their normally rammed services. How many people will have been put off travelling, thinking that no reservation meant no seats left?
