The inadequacies of LNER's electronic seat reservation signs

[Marton]

My experience is that they don’t display from initial boarding at KX.

For those who have open tickets it means hanging about “in the way”.

 

[Scotty]

For those who have open tickets it means hanging about “in the way”.

Or just go to the unreserved coach...

 

[FQTV]

Or just go to the unreserved coach...

There is no unreserved coach on an LNER HST. On a 225, it’s only a half coach, the other half of which is the buffet and kitchen.

It’s moot today anyway (Sunday 2nd December) as the Sensa system is completely broken, apparently, and there are no reservations being placed on any LNER services.

 

[rg177]

There is no unreserved coach on an LNER HST. On a 225, it’s only a half coach, the other half of which is the buffet and kitchen.

It’s moot today anyway (Sunday 2nd December) as the Sensa system is completely broken, apparently, and there are no reservations being placed on any LNER services.

XC TM has told me no reservations at all across the network today.

 

[Bletchleyite]

XC TM has told me no reservations at all across the network today.

Beg to differ

 

[Esker-pades]

My Virgin Voyager this morning had fully working reservation displays.

 

[leo knight]

All this confusion can be easily avoided if you all go by the colours instead of the destination...
Green is available for whole of the trains journey meaning starting point to end destination.
Amber is partly reserved.
Red is not available for the whole of the trains journey. So if I were going from London to Edinburgh without a reservation I would look for green lights above the seating area as it is av for the whole of the trains journey example being 1300 LNER service kx to Edinburgh finishing point.
Go by the colours not destinations.

 

[leo knight]

Also avoid using seat finder its easier just to walk through the train and look at the traffic light system above the seats expecially ones showing green which will be fully unreserved.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Green is available for whole of the trains journey meaning starting point to end destination.
Amber is partly reserved.
Red is not available for the whole of the trains journey.

Oh dear...different meanings than the Class 800 then.

On those a more helpful distinction:-
Green - not reserved between here and the end destination
Amber - not reserved now but will be later
Red - currently reserved

 

[Fuzzytop]

Oh dear...different meanings than the Class 800 then.

On those a more helpful distinction:-
Green - not reserved between here and the end destination
Amber - not reserved now but will be later
Red - currently reserved

I'm pretty sure that those definitions are also those used on the retrofitted Mk3/Mk4 above-seat displays.

It's the online seat-finder (the bit on the Wi-Fi portal) where things differ. That uses the following schema:
Green - not currently reserved and unoccupied
Amber - currently reserved but unoccupied
Red - occupied

And that means:

1. Someone sitting in an unreserved seat would cause that seat to show red online, but the above-seat display would show green.
2. An unoccupied seat which is only reserved later in the journey will show green online, but the above-seat display would show amber.
3. An unoccupied and reserved seat will show amber online, but the above-seat display will remain red.

Because the online finder only becomes available 5 minutes after departure, I can see that they're trying to tailor the information accordingly, but having two different colour schemas for seats on the same train does make things more confusing.

 

[gallafent]

Oh dear...different meanings than the Class 800 then.

On those a more helpful distinction:-
Green - not reserved between here and the end destination
Amber - not reserved now but will be later
Red - currently reserved

Yes, this system is excellent, … I only wish it were actually working more often!

 

[westv]

EMT set this evening.
No displays, no reservations and no LNER wifi.

 

[TUC]

All this confusion can be easily avoided if you all go by the colours instead of the destination...
Green is available for whole of the trains journey meaning starting point to end destination.
Amber is partly reserved.
Red is not available for the whole of the trains journey. So if I were going from London to Edinburgh without a reservation I would look for green lights above the seating area as it is av for the whole of the trains journey example being 1300 LNER service kx to Edinburgh finishing point.
Go by the colours not destinations.

But you can't see the colours until you're right next to the seat and, if it"s amber, it doesn't tell you what legs of the journey are reserved except for the one operational at that moment.

 

[westv]

EMT set this evening.
No displays, no reservations and no LNER wifi.

The other ex EMT set this evening so displays but no reservations showing.

 

[PeterC]

Or just go to the unreserved coach...

Do trains have a coach clearly marked as "unreserved" for the benefit of travellers who were foolish enough not to study this discussion group before travelling?

 

[cactustwirly]

Do trains have a coach clearly marked as "unreserved" for the benefit of travellers who were foolish enough not to study this discussion group before travelling?

No but the station PIS says coach D on EMT HSTs

 

[Failed Unit]

I have only had it in operation on 2 journeys. Both of them people were sat in my reserved seat and both refused to move. (We had 4 in the party)

Going north on a London - Newark service lots of options so no drama. Just found another table as it was the terminator.

Going south the train manager kindly upgraded us to first. Hull trains passengers thought they were entitled to it because their train was cancelled.

Not sure if people don’t look. (Or know where to look) or if I was just unlucky but with the paper reservations they were normally respected.

 

[Scotty]

Do trains have a coach clearly marked as "unreserved" for the benefit of travellers who were foolish enough not to study this discussion group before travelling?

Displays at stations show the loadings of the reservations by coach.

 

[robbeech]

Once again, everything showing available with green lights until 2 minutes before departure from a KGX. People saying ‘you are in my seat’ and people pointing to ‘Available’ and refusing to move (quite rightly, they’re not enforced if they’re not displayed) causing people to have to stand. At 2 minutes before departure (20 minutes after the train starts boarding) they update and the same fight ensues again. This time they’re thrown out of their seat and THEY have to stand. There were unreserved seats, but they’d been taken.
The concept is great but it’s simply not working on many services and is making it far more difficult for passengers.

 

[Esker-pades]

What was wrong with the little paper slips? I am a great believer in not messing around with a system that works.

 

[cactustwirly]

EMT set this evening.
No displays, no reservations and no LNER wifi.

An EMT set wouldn't have that anyway?

 

[kev1974]

What was wrong with the little paper slips? I am a great believer in not messing around with a system that works.

A train prep person had to go down the train and put them out?

 

[route101]

The beauty of the paper slips was you could see at the glance , any free seats down the coach. Now you have to go along inspecting the displays . I took HST from Dundee to Kirkcaldy few weeks back and thought coaches nearest the buffet in standard would have more unreserved seating , got it wrong . Maybe a indicator that looks like a paper ticket , same size but lit up with a Green A or a Red R on the top of the seats would be better.

 

[reb0118]

Here's a thought that seems to work in Europe. There are broadly three classes of train when it comes to reservations:-

1) No reservations possible.
2) Reservations recommended.
3) Reservations compulsory.

In 1) & 3) it is fairly simple as everyone knows where they stand (or even sit).

2) is the "problem" as very often there are no labels or displays, however, the expectation is that you will make a reservation, which you pay for, and this trumps any display. The onus is on the passenger "squatting" to prove he has a right to the seat otherwise he will have to move. Reservations are generally available up until a few minutes before the train departs - even from intermediate stations.

 

[westv]

EMT set this evening.
No displays, no reservations and no LNER wifi.

A break for Christmas and my first Friday service of the year has no working reservations. For me, that's the third service in a row.

Edit: The TM has blamed a "wifi issue" to do with the train although the public wifi is working.

 

[AngusH]

A question I've been wondering about with these things:

are the colored (red/green) lights sufficiently different for people with colour vision deficiency ("color blind" in the common phrasing)?

 

[westv]

Back to paper this evening.

 

[Deafdoggie]

A question I've been wondering about with these things:

are the colored (red/green) lights sufficiently different for people with colour vision deficiency ("color blind" in the common phrasing)?

Probably not. But are announcements loud enough for the hard of hearing? Are displays clear enough for those with dyslexia? Is there enough space for those with claustrophobia? You can only do so much.

 

[route101]

Back to paper this evening.

How it should be!

 

[mde]

Probably not. But are announcements loud enough for the hard of hearing? Are displays clear enough for those with dyslexia? Is there enough space for those with claustrophobia? You can only do so much.

This would be a comparatively easy fix though… the same perhaps can't be said for the others.