I don't, can you resolve the apparent contradiction for me please.The Grand Central service I'm on this evening has the following message on the PIS.
'This is a fully reserved service. Coach B has unreserved seats'.
I know what they mean, but who could blame anyone who was confused...
So did I but, given it is not possible to reserve a Grand Central seat when already on board, I'm not sure how this information is meant to be useful for passengers?I took it to mean all the reserveable seats were reserved and only those which could not be reserved were thus available.
I agree, it's poor phrasing.So did I but, given it is not possible to reserve a Grand Central seat when already on board, I'm not sure how this information is meant to be useful for passengers?
Wouldn't it be simpler to say 'all seats are reserved on this service, except for unreserved seats in coach B'?
You can't reserve a seat, because all those that can be reserved have been taken. Coach B seats cannot be reserved - its a free-for-all.I don't, can you resolve the apparent contradiction for me please.
Thanks, so like what I have experienced, an unreserved coach for those without reservations, in this specific case the only seating option available.You can't reserve a seat, because all those that can be reserved have been taken. Coach B seats cannot be reserved - its a free-for-all.
Which makes the whole compulsory reservation for advance tickets a complete joke!!Even when I reserve a seat I like sitting in an unreserved coach and choosing my own seat. Especially if you use fare splitting, a seat is automoatically allocated so I often prefer my choice to the one I am randomly allocated.
If the train is genuinely “fully reserved” then there can be no “unreserved” seats. “All reservable seats have been reserved, but there are some which cannot be reserved” is something different - but not very snappy.I don't, can you resolve the apparent contradiction for me please.
Is it something like what they had on the Euston to Manchester services where there was a coach that was dedicated for passengers without reservations and on the rest of the train there was the option of reserving a seat?
“All reversations taken. Some unreserved seats in Coach C” could work?If the train is genuinely “fully reserved” then there can be no “unreserved” seats. “All reservable seats have been reserved, but there are some which cannot be reserved” is something different - but not very snappy.
In my experience there are usually seats available Sunderland to York, but beyond York to London is almost always fully seated with occasional need for standing. Same in reverse.Our trip on Tuesday from Sunderland also had this message, so it looks like GC loadings are quite healthy. Although a reasonable proportion of the reserved seats weren't occupied, and I didn't see anyone having to stand on the 12:30 departure.
It is contradictory. If it's a fully reserved service then one coach being unreserved makes no sense. The number of seats being reserved is irrelevant. I know that this is common with TOC's but in the truest sense it's not accurate surely.The Grand Central service I'm on this evening has the following message on the PIS.
'This is a fully reserved service. Coach B has unreserved seats'.
I know what they mean, but who could blame anyone who was confused...
One coach is not unreserved, it is only roughly half of coach B, which means just half a carriage out of 4 Standard class in a five car 180.It is contradictory. If it's a fully reserved service then one coach being unreserved makes no sense. The number of seats being reserved is irrelevant. I know that this is common with TOC's but in the truest sense it's not accurate surely.
Abysmal information, as is becoming the norm on today's railway, where so much stuff seems to have been cobbled together by semi-illiterates.The Grand Central service I'm on this evening has the following message on the PIS.
'This is a fully reserved service. Coach B has unreserved seats'.
I know what they mean, but who could blame anyone who was confused...
As I suggested above, wouldn't ''all seats are reserved on this service, except for unreserved seats in coach B' be simple and clear?The trouble is that, while it is poor phrasing, other methods of phrasing it would also likely be complained about on this Forum for being too verbose! You can't really win with these kinds of announcements - either, in a bid for simplification, you lose clarity (in worse cases, accuracy), or, in a bid for clarity, you lose simplicity. Considering the standards of communication on the rest of the railway, I think that those linking this to GC's attitude regarding ticket acceptance, Conditions of Travel, etc. are barking very much up the wrong tree.
My personal preference would have been for something like, "All seats that can be reserved have been reserved on this service; however, we do have seats which cannot be reserved, and are therefore free for those without seat reservations to sit in. These unreserved seats can be found in carriage B." In such a case, I'd have lost half the train in the last clause of the first sentence, but I wouldn't have been pedantic enough for some (who would doubtless have pointed out that the unreserved seats can, in fact, be sat in by passengers already holding a seat reservation).
It boils down to whether the announcement is really necessary. In its most basic form (free seats are in coach B), I think it probably is helpful (but, again, it won't be detailed enough for some and will be unnecessary white noise to others), but I'm less sure about how necessary it is to announce the service as "fully reserved".
Announcements are such a tightrope act that, in my opinion, you can very rarely please some of the people some of the time. But then I've never tried making them, so I could, of course, be completely wrong!
As I suggested above, wouldn't ''all seats are reserved on this service, except for unreserved seats in coach B' be simple and clear?
There MAY be some unreserved seats in Coach B would be safer (plus where coach B is front/rear)"Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening everyone! There are some unreserved seats still available in Coach B" would probably attune with Mr/Mrs/Ms Normal's attention span.
Yes that's fair. Main thing is to avoid anaesthetising normal punters by regaling them with the minutiae of the operator's reservation policies.There MAY be some unreserved seats in Coach B would be safer (plus where coach B is front/rear)