Why Coach Letters not Numbers?

[ooo]

Why are letters used for coachs in the UK rather than numbers as is commonplace in many other countries and services such as Eurostar?

 

[PudseyBearHST]

Numbers are used on the Great Western 387s.

 

[jopsuk]

A theory: even when it started, trains wouldn't be turned around between duties. It's possibly easier to understand that coach A is at the rear of the train than it that coach 1 is at the rear.

As noted, on some EMU services, especially electrostars, they do display a coach number, counting from the front always.

 

[30907]

Mainland Europe needs numbers - or did - to cope with through coaches being formed in several consecutive trains on long journeys. Not such an issue here, though that doesn't answer the question as the OP put it.

 

[swt_passenger]

SDO systems almost invariably seem to use numbers, as said above for EMUs normally counting in sequence from the front.

Letters make far more sense for reservations, as the seat numbers will always repeat in successive coaches. Keeps coach number and seat number completely different.

 

[alexl92]

I always assumed that it was because a train of more than 26 coaches is very rare in the uk but there are almost always more than 26 seats in a coach - so it makes sense to give coaches a letter and seats a number to make it clear.

 

[Harshil]

I would have thought it is easier to then name seats as numbers if coaches were letters. A 3 digit system could be used like a hotel where the first digit is the floor number but a letter system has stuck.

 

[gordonthemoron]

Coach numbering elsewhere in Europe is no panacea, I had to turf someone out of my seat on a Polish Pendolino last saturday in Coach 1, their reservation was for coach 6

 

[gingerheid]

Less confusing to find seats A1, J1 and A11 than... 0101, 1001 and 0111?

 

[Crossover]

Coach numbering elsewhere in Europe is no panacea, I had to turf someone out of my seat on a Polish Pendolino last saturday in Coach 1, their reservation was for coach 6

A somewhat amusing (I thought) anecdote being that a service I used in Italy (Italo) had wagon numbers, with digital PIS displays along the platform (at Naples) indicating which wagon will be where. Apart from the set arrived in reverse formation, cue mass panic as everyone did the switcheroo!

 

[F Great Eastern]

Coach numbering elsewhere in Europe is no panacea, I had to turf someone out of my seat on a Polish Pendolino last saturday in Coach 1, their reservation was for coach 6

Perhaps just sitting in first class chancing their arm?!?

 

[gordonthemoron]

Perhaps just sitting in first class chancing their arm?!?

That wouldn't have worked either as the guard checked tickets shortly after departure and turfed someone else out

 

[Tim R-T-C]

Presumably just to avoid confusion, particularly when many stations have boards displaying the coach letter along the platforms and don't want people misreading them as the platform number.

I wonder when it started though?

 

[Deafdoggie]

Less confusing to find seats A1, J1 and A11 than... 0101, 1001 and 0111?

This is generally the reason. Anything that requires two pieces of information has one lettered, and one numbered. Theatres have rows A, B, C, etc, and seats 1, 2, 3, etc. As seat 0510 is far less clear than seat E10.. Also a risk of confusion with the time, seat 0510 on the 0505 could mean someone misses it by 5 minutes. It is just easier all round to have one set of information as letters, and one as numbers. For this reason, no coaches 1 or 0, to avoid confusion with l (or even i) and o.

 

[al78]

Less confusing to find seats A1, J1 and A11 than... 0101, 1001 and 0111?

Especially if you don't understand the binary number system.

 

[fairysdad]

Especially if you don't understand the binary number system.

There are 10 types of people in this world. Those who understand binary, and those who don't.