Solo seats
- Thread starter LarryM
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In the cab for the engineer!
Devil's Advocate
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Every time this comes up I scratch my head. It is my view that Amtrak should offer and abide by the sale of two connected seats to a single occupant. US airlines seem to have no problem with making and respecting such a purchase. Seems like a great way to make more money and keep folks who want to be seated alone happy. If for some incomprehensible reason this request cannot be honored can Amtrak at least install armrests between sleeping strangers? In my view sleeping with a stranger in a single recliner style bed is not that different from expecting you to share a bed in your roomette.
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KmH
Engineer
http://s4.zetaboards.com/amtkz/pages/cars/
Yes.
There are single/solo seats in the Sightseer Lounge car but they are not reserved seats. 1st come, 1st served.
A roomette sleeper has 2 solo seats. The price of a roomette includes coach seating and if it's just you you pay just 1 coach seat fare + the roomette cost, and of course meals are included with the price of a roomette.
However, though you only paid one coach fare you can use either roomette seat, or switch back and forth between the 2 if you want to feel more like you're getting your moneys worth.
At night the 2 solo seats in a roomette can be converted into a bed, or you can choose to sleep in the fold-down upper bunk.
A bedroom sleeper has 1 solo seat, a 'sofa'/bed, a fold down upper bunk, a bathroom, and a shower. Like a roomette all meals are included and you pay for the whole enchilada.
Yes.
There are single/solo seats in the Sightseer Lounge car but they are not reserved seats. 1st come, 1st served.
A roomette sleeper has 2 solo seats. The price of a roomette includes coach seating and if it's just you you pay just 1 coach seat fare + the roomette cost, and of course meals are included with the price of a roomette.
However, though you only paid one coach fare you can use either roomette seat, or switch back and forth between the 2 if you want to feel more like you're getting your moneys worth.
At night the 2 solo seats in a roomette can be converted into a bed, or you can choose to sleep in the fold-down upper bunk.
A bedroom sleeper has 1 solo seat, a 'sofa'/bed, a fold down upper bunk, a bathroom, and a shower. Like a roomette all meals are included and you pay for the whole enchilada.
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Being from the UK, I do find these questions like this kind of amusing. Many ttrains in the UK are full and standing, and that includes what we call long distance, I.e., over 2 hours. Even to get a seat is seen as a bonus and to expect two seats for the price of one seems like a bit over the top. I've slept next to many strangers on planes too with much smaller seats. Why should trains in the USA be any different?
BCL
Engineer
I see a lot of "seat hogging" on my most common ride - Amtrak California's Capitol Corridor. They have a variety of seat types. Each car typically has four single seats, although there are two trays because of a double seat in front where the trays are mounted. We have four seats around a table and four seats facing each other 2+2. It's pretty common for nearly every passenger to block the next seat with an object. I've seen some solo passengers manage to block 3 seats.
Another commuter railroad I occasionally ride has rows of mostly single seats on either side upstairs. It's how they lay out the seating. Even then, there are facing seats where typically one person places an item to keep someone else from sitting.
On all these lines I hear messages that it's one passenger one seat, but I've yet to see it be enforced unless it gets to the point where passengers are standing due to lack of seats.
Shortline
Conductor
I know, it seems strange-Hard to put into words, I too nap on a plane frequently without a second thought, but on a train? No....There is just a difference between a nap, and full on sleeping through the night. And depending on where you're going, a train here can be two nights in a row, or more, if changing trains. For that kind of long trip, I simply want a higher standard of privacy and space. A 2-8 hour trip? No worries. But a true long distance trip? I'm in a room.
Nobody's asking for two seats for one price - Amtrak has a policy where even if the passenger was willing to buy a second ticket, they couldn't get a second seat (except due to size or for a musical instrument), for only a reason that goes like "if the train sells out, it's hard to explain why people can't sit there".
fairviewroad
Engineer
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BC on the Cascades has single seats. There are a handful of coach cars on the Cascades that also have single seats.
While several respondants have stated it can't be done, I have personally witnessed three times that a woman traveling alone in coach on the CZ purchased two seats and received two seat checks, or one seat check marked for 2 passengers. Don't know if she purchased two seats with a fictitious name for the second passenger.
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BCL
Engineer
I noted the California Car corners. They put it right against the wall, with a glass partition about halfway where an adjoining seat would be. I wish I could find a floor plan somewhere, but I haven't been able to locate one.
It depends on the train. The coach attendants assign seats when you board the long-distance trains. On the smaller, regional trains, you just head for the nearest available seat. The conductors will usually try to keep groups and families together.
the_traveler
Engineer
It also depends on where and when you board. If you board at the beginning of the route (like in CHI, LAX, NYP, etc...), you may or may not be assigned a seat. However, if you board in the middle of the night (such as 3 AM), you will most likely be assigned a seat.
My two times riding an LD train "all the way" I got on either at the originating station or just a few stations later and both times I was just told which car to go to. Later, as the train filled up, they assigned seats.
THIS
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The best 'single seats' I have ever had the pleasure to occupy, were the wonderful Karpen recliner's on the originally configured Santa Fe Hi Level transition cars....
These were located on either side of the 'transition' steps at one end of the car. When they converted those cars into trans-dorms, those seats were lost in the conversion...
My 'runner-up' choice would be the revolving, reclining, Heywood-Wakefield "Sleepy Hollow" seats with winged headrests that were featured in the 'one-and-one configured parlor cars on several different roads. If you would include extra-fare parlor car seats in the comparo....
Those seats were even better than my previously mentioned Karpen's, except that they did not have the legrests....
These were located on either side of the 'transition' steps at one end of the car. When they converted those cars into trans-dorms, those seats were lost in the conversion...
My 'runner-up' choice would be the revolving, reclining, Heywood-Wakefield "Sleepy Hollow" seats with winged headrests that were featured in the 'one-and-one configured parlor cars on several different roads. If you would include extra-fare parlor car seats in the comparo....
Those seats were even better than my previously mentioned Karpen's, except that they did not have the legrests....
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Second on the "Sleepy Hollow" seats!
Heywood-Wakefield made a whole range of different model Sleepy Hollow seats....their recliners with the legrests that rolled out were supreme in comfort for long-haul transcontinental trains. They also made ones without legrests, only footrests, used on many Eastern and Southern one night out trains. They also made non reclining low-back seats for sightseeing in Vista-Domes. And they made aluminum framed, deep cushioned armchairs used in many lounge cars. All wonderfully supportive for hours of sitting...
Thirdrail7
Engineer
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I forgot all about the Sleepy Hollow seats. Didn't the Braddock Inn have those when MARC had parlor car service?
Very possibly, could be....
I looked at a few online photo's, and could not really get a good enough view to tell for sure, especially since the 'tell-tale' horizontal sections were covered up by re-upholstering, but the armrest and seat reclines handles look close.....
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