Any guesses for what chaos awaits us on this train?
It means you can sit anywhere you want and you’re not stuck in an assigned seat.
You get on the train early you can have any seat you want.
This seems like the exact opposite of infuriating.
This seat reservation doesn't reserve any seats
Submitted 2 days ago by perviouslyiner@lemmy.world to mildlyinfuriating@lemmy.world
https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/592ca8e0-5660-49d1-9ea5-67c234fe003c.png
Comments
Chainweasel@lemmy.world 2 days ago
anarchrist@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 days ago
Then why do you also need this piece of paper that doesn’t even seem to function as a ticket?
valkyre09@lemmy.world 2 days ago
My money is on it being part of the ticketing computer’s programming.
GBU_28@lemm.ee 2 days ago
They only issue as many tickets as seats. They just don’t tell you what seat to take.
adam_y@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Any seat you want
Provided that someone doesn’t have a specific seat booked.
spankmonkey@lemmy.world 2 days ago
In my experience it should be called general seating if it isn’t for a specific reserved seat.
gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works 2 days ago
It means they are essentially guaranteeing you that the seats are not oversold. There will definitely be a seat for you somewhere on the train - that’s all this is saying. It’s capacity management. Have you not used regional rail before?
davidagain@lemmy.world 1 day ago
No, they still sell tickets without reservations and anytime tickets without limit. Your only guarantee is a numbered seat that you can claim. This has no such thing.
Blackmist@feddit.uk 1 day ago
Is there though? I’ve never been unable to buy an Any Time ticket on the day because a train is full.
I’ve only been unable to board a train a handful of times, and that was because people were rammed in like the Black Hole of Calcutta before the train even arrived.
Having used plenty of EMR services before I’m counting down the days until they’re renationalised…
spankmonkey@lemmy.world 2 days ago
So many people in the comments don’t get that having something called a seat reservation which doesn’t literally reserve a seat is mildly infuriating.
Jrockwar@feddit.uk 2 days ago
I think people answering these comments are from other countries that don’t understand that on a train from Reading to London in rush hour, there might be 60 seats and 80 passengers per carriage. 20 of these pax standing despite their ticket that said “Feel free to sit on any free seat you happen to find!”
mykl@lemmy.world 2 days ago
I’m reading some of these replies thinking I’m getting gaslighted by railway operator employees. Unless they actually sell “absolutely no sitting” tickets and the conductors fine abusers, this ticket makes no sense.
IamAnonymous@lemmy.world 2 days ago
It just says no “specific” seat reserved but you’ll have a seat reserved, you just don’t know which one. It’s good if you can get there early and get a window seat.
spankmonkey@lemmy.world 2 days ago
That’s a good example of not understanding, thanks!
Kolanaki@yiffit.net 2 days ago
You see, you know how to take the reservation, you just don’t know how to hold the reservation. And that’s really the most important part of the reservation: the holding.
can@sh.itjust.works 2 days ago
apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Fairly common in Germany. Trains can be so full often times that people are standing butt to belly in the aisles.
tiramichu@lemm.ee 2 days ago
In the UK where this ticket is from, if you buy a ticket from the machine in the station it will spit it out in potentially multiple parts.
You can see this ticket says “Valid only with Travel Ticket”, which means this is the second of two parts. The " Travel Ticket" (not pictured) is the one that actually allows you to travel on the train, and the reservation part (pictured) is the one that gives you a seat.
So the mystery isn’t that there is no reservation, but that this ticket doesn’t even need to exist without a reservation. The machine could have just not printed this ticket at all.
apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Thanks for the clarification!
davidagain@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I suspect it’s an “Advance” reduced fare ticket, which is only ever valid with a seat reservation, but either the seat was over specified (ticking all three of facing forwards, table seat, near the entrance, for example), or the train company continued to issue “Advance” tickets even after all the reservable seats are gone, which you could count as a dick move, or you could interpret as allowing more people to buy tickets at the reduced fare.
It could be that that was one of the least overcrowded trains scheduled on a day that’s expected to be very overcrowded indeed, and they’re trying to spread the no standing room pain across as many trains as possible. It’s certainly cheaper than putting on additional services.
slazer2au@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Not really infuriating at all.
Think of it like an airline. You have a reserved seat, but it isn’t actually allocated until you check in .
ThanksForAllTheFish@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
In the UK you can get on a train without booking a ticket for that train, this is either an open return or just a day pass. The train company has no idea how many seats will be taken or how many people will get on the train. So say it’s a 10 carriage train. Every seat is taken by someone, reserved or unreserved, and theres not a bit of standing room anywhere (this is very common). Which person sat on a reserved red light indicator seat should you kick out? And how do you know they didn’t reserve that seat specifically before you do that? Or do you kick someone specific out of a green lit non-reserved seat, with thier proof that the seat is not reserved and they are allowed to sit there, and your proof that you dont even have that specific seat reserved. It will also be the old people and small children sat down, and you won’t really be popular if you make them stand. Yeah your not sitting if you have this ticket. You’ll likely be stood by the entrance door for 3 hours instead.
OneOrTheOtherDontAskMe@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Is that how airlines work where you are? It’d be wild for me to not pick my seat
WhyFlip@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Same thing as general admission at a concert, but on a train.
XeroxCool@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Everyone crams to the front to get there faster?
my_hat_stinks@programming.dev 2 days ago
Seems reasonable enough to me if you bought a ticket for a train which doesn’t have assigned seating, which is pretty common. Just choose your seat as you board the same way you would with a bus.
Jrockwar@feddit.uk 2 days ago
Yeah but why even give you the checkbox/option for reserving a seat, only to tell you that you might actually be standing if the train is full or you don’t arrive early enough?
perviouslyiner@lemmy.world 2 days ago
I suspect the sales website can’t actually reserve seats itself, but just passes along the request to some other system which enters the “LOL, NO!” into the system for a train that was long-since fully booked.
davidagain@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Not common in the UK where this seat reservation ticket is from.
Chonk@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Heavenly: If there are few people then you can sit anywhere.
Hell: If there are a lot of people then you might not be able to board the train.
ladicius@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Certain tickets in German rail have similar reservations. There are seats kept free in the train for those who have a reservation - simply find one of these seats and sit down there. Always worked fine for me.
perviouslyiner@lemmy.world 2 days ago
My guess is that it printed this “null” failed reservation slip because otherwise people would think that the printer wasn’t working. The message on the last-but-one line is essentially “LOL, NOPE”.
Rentlar@lemmy.ca 2 days ago
I’m guessing that they have limited seats and are trying to make sure no one has to stand on the train by limiting the number of reservations, even if which seat to sit in is not assigned. In Japan, bullet trains and some express services require extra payment with your ticket, for either non-reserved or reserved class.
davidagain@lemmy.world 1 day ago
This is the UK. The train will be heaving, and those without a specific seat number reserved will likely have to stand unless they’re getting on at the first station and are early on to the train.
tal@lemmy.today 2 days ago
I’m not familiar with the ticketing system, but I think that it’d be reasonable for the ticket to simply be used to ensure that there is a seat somewhere, but not a specific seat.
If you go to a restaurant and reserve a table, the table doesn’t need to be a specific one…just means that the restaurant will make sure that one is open.
br3d@lemmy.world 2 days ago
This ticket is odd by UK standards, and the arrangement you describe isn’t the norm. These seat reservation tickets normally specify a particular seat
Dasnap@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Every east-midlands train I’ve been on has had to cancel specific seat reservations when I got on anyway. I think they just constantly overbook or something.
Jrockwar@feddit.uk 2 days ago
Great western railway operates like this, offering you a “mystery seat” regardless of whether they’ve sold 120% of the seats in the train.
davidagain@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I am very familiar with this ticketing system, and if you don’t have a specific seat reserved, you’ll be very lucky to find a seat unless you’re getting on at the beginning of the train’s journey.