When will Amtrak start using reserved seating?

[NES28]

Because seats aren't reserved passengers boarding at cities where trains originate pretty much have to stand in line until boarding starts. This can be for an hour. This is as bad as as Southwest Airlines ten years, or more, ago, when they adopted the current A/B/C boarding group system, which gave everyone a boarding sequence number (even this is now being replaced with reserved seating). The other downside of not having reserved seats is that boarding at intermediate stations is slowed because passengers don't know where on the platform to stand. Many stations have "Location" numbers on platforms but, without those being printed on tickets, they don't do any good. The picture shows the type of graphic displayed at several spots on every platform at the Köln (Cologne), Germany station so that they can be at the right spot on the platform. With the fully computerized ticketing that Amtrak has now they should be able to do this, greatly improving the customer experience.

 

[MARC Rider]

Because seats aren't reserved passengers boarding at cities where trains originate pretty much have to stand in line until boarding starts. This can be for an hour. This is as bad as as Southwest Airlines ten years, or more, ago, when they adopted the current A/B/C boarding group system, which gave everyone a boarding sequence number (even this is now being replaced with reserved seating). The other downside of not having reserved seats is that boarding at intermediate stations is slowed because passengers don't know where on the platform to stand. Many stations have "Location" numbers on platforms but, without those being printed on tickets, they don't do any good. The picture shows the type of graphic displayed at several spots on every platform at the Köln (Cologne), Germany station so that they can be at the right spot on the platform. With the fully computerized ticketing that Amtrak has now they should be able to do this, greatly improving the customer experience.

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Amtrak does have seat assignment on the Acelas and Northeast Regional business class, as well as sleeper accommodations.. I agree that they should extend this to coach on all of the trains. Knowing where your seat is makes boarding so much less stressful then when you are rushing to be first on board to get a decent seat.

And I should also mention that the Amtrak app now lets you pick your assigned seat before you buy the ticket.

 

[JWM]

Just resrved Montreal-Toronto Business Class in July and selecting a seat was easy. Seat map pops up, chaoice of cars, choice of seats prest. Not "rocket science". If Via can do it, Amtrak can

 

[BlackDiamond]

In many countries that have reserved seating, the trains will have some indication above the seat that a seat is reserved and sometimes even lists the name of the reserving party. For example this was the case when we traveled on Iarnrod Eireann (Irish Rail). Of course none of the current trains have this, although I suppose it could be added to new equipment such as the Airos.

This might reduce the problem of people sitting in the wrong seat. Even in countries where people are more likely to follow rules such as Germany or the UK this still happens, especially since on many trains they allow both reserved and unreserved seating. I suppose if you made all seating reserved like most airlines this would be less of a problem as people as used to this with air travel.

 

[cirdan]

In many countries that have reserved seating, the trains will have some indication above the seat that a seat is reserved and sometimes even lists the name of the reserving party. For example this was the case when we traveled on Iarnrod Eireann (Irish Rail). Of course none of the current trains have this, although I suppose it could be added to new equipment such as the Airos.

Yes, in the past this was done by slipping pre-printed card or paper slips into the reservation indicator. I have never seen people's actual names being printed (that might go against data privacy laws) but if there were group reservations there might be some reference to that. Nowadays this has virtually been replaced by digital displays which i guess save on work and also allow updates for last minute reservations or cancellations. On DB you also get messages saying the seat can be reserved at the last minute, warning the occupier that they may well have to vacate it.

On the down side I have been in situations where for some reason the data had not been correctly uploaded and chaos broke out as people squabbled over reservations.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

On the down side I have been in situations where for some reason the data had not been correctly uploaded and chaos broke out as people squabbled over reservations.

Yes, I've seen this in person on both Brightline and on various trains in the UK. When I went from London to Leicestershire for a day on the Great Central Railway steam train, a family insisted that I was in their reserved seats, even though the sign clearly said "unreserved" - I just moved to one of the many other open seats. On the way back, 2 people got into an argument about a reserved seat, the lady refused to move even though the man insisted it was his reserved seat.

I've also seen a passenger argue with an Amtrak conductor about blocking off seats reserved for people boarding down the line. So it seems like it's a lose lose - nobody is happy kind of deal.

 

[Qapla]

When riding both of the Silvers, though they didn't have customer selected reserved seating - I was always directed to a seat number as I was boarding ... I was never told to just go find a seat.

 

[Amtrak25]

I think Amtrak would rather go on empowering coach attendants to be elemenatary school teachers and order you where to sit rather than have their technically challenged IT set up a seat reservation system on LD trains. With 9 car Regionals, people will never be standing in the right place for their car and dwell times will increase. It also exacerbates that problem at short platform stations like New London.

When the car is to be half-empty, they also like to stuff people into one end of the car so they can lounge around in the other half of the car and read a book. I've seen that on the Capitol Ltd when it leaves Chicago before 2 late transcons arrive and get the "people getting on down the line" excuse, then they go to bed.

That said, I'd still rather re-seat myself away from a screaming baby and cellphone blabbermouth than have either of those two methods. When available, I head to the Quiet car on an NEC train.

I splurged on First Class from Quebec to Montreal last summer. I was fine in my end of the car. I was just lucky to pick that seat because the other end had a screaming baby for 3 hours. There's no Quiet cars up there.

 

[CraigInNC]

I can only assume that most LD trains will not go to reserved seats because the conductors like to sort out the seating on the platform. Almost all LD trains I have been on split the passengers between the cars based on distance traveled. I suppose you could predetermine some of that upon booking, but it would be inaccurate more than a week or two out. As much as I remember, most conductors want long haulers in the back. I am unsure how you square that circle unless Amtrak allows paid passengers to select their seats 24 to 48 hours before travel. While it seems like something that passengers would appreciate, it just introduces an additional level of complexity that would add to the train crew's burdens.

 

[BCL]

I'm trying to figure out what the issue is. I don't recall ever waiting very long to board. I've certainly boarded early at origin stations, but if seating was unreserved it was always just pick a seat. Even in Seattle it was line up, get a slip, then take it to the coach or sleeper attendant.

At intermediate stations, I've boarded and the coach attendant either had an assigned seat or picked one on the spot. Didn't seem like a big issue.

 

[zephyr17]

I can only assume that most LD trains will not go to reserved seats because the conductors like to sort out the seating on the platform. Almost all LD trains I have been on split the passengers between the cars based on distance traveled. I suppose you could predetermine some of that upon booking, but it would be inaccurate more than a week or two out. As much as I remember, most conductors want long haulers in the back. I am unsure how you square that circle unless Amtrak allows paid passengers to select their seats 24 to 48 hours before travel. While it seems like something that passengers would appreciate, it just introduces an additional level of complexity that would add to the train crew's burdens.

That was never a problem on reserved seat trains back in the day. You got assigned a seat in the "shorts" coach by the reservations bureau. No problem. It could certainly be automated these days assuming competent IT staff with accurate data.