"Facing" vs "Back" to direction of travel.

[najaB]

Allegedly it'd be safer if aircraft seats faced backwards, but it's said that passengers wouldn't find that acceptable psychologically.

No, not allegedly, empirically. I believe the AAIB, NASA and NTSB have all recommended it at different points in time, but airlines believe passengers wouldn't accept it.

 

[sprinterguy]

I'm fairly indifferent to the direction I face, but thinking about it carefully I do have a preference for facing forwards on longer journeys. I'll take whatever's going though if it means a better chance of a quiet seat, and often sit facing backwards on my daily commute.

 

[herschell]

I don't mind either way but if I can I get a facing window /table seat as that way I can put things on the table if I need to

 

[D6975]

I prefer to travel backwards as a rule, I find it easier to see things that are going away, coming towards you things catch you by surprise.
I don't find acceleration/deceleration have any significant effect, the forces involved being so much less than those encountered in a bus or car.

 

[Requeststop]

I'm a forward facing window by preference, I don't mind reverse facing if there no other available. During my recent trip to the UK I noticed many sideways seating, TPE has quite a few of them I noticed.

 

[47271]

Backwards, table, and mid coach for the smoothest and quietest ride away from the wheels.

The point about acceleration and deceleration is an interesting one. I always thought that one of the reasons I prefer backwards is that on a train deceleration through braking is generally more forceful than acceleration, so I get pushed into the seat more often than out of it. Maybe not. In which case I've no idea why I prefer going backwards!

 

[brompton rail]

Funnily enough on all the train journeys I've embarked on over the years I've yet to experience a front on collision, I've never been struck by lightning either

Don't push it mate!

 

[Tetchytyke]

Allegedly it'd be safer if aircraft seats faced backwards, but it's said that passengers wouldn't find that acceptable psychologically.

Some aircraft seats do face backwards- half the BA business class seats do- and reception is mixed. Apparently it's more comfortable in the air but taking off and landing feels extremely weird. I've never had enough money to try business class, so I wouldn't know.

My preference is to travel facing forwards. But I don't really care that much and will often travel backwards for no other reason than most people don't want to, meaning there's a better choice of seats.

I can't travel backwards on buses though, it gives me motion nausea.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Backwards, table, and mid coach for the smoothest and quietest ride away from the wheels.

Interestingly I'm near enough the opposite - forwards, airline seat (with good legroom) and at the end of the vehicle so I can look out along its length. (I'm tall so only fGW tombstone seats are high enough to prevent this)

 

[Mikey C]

Some aircraft seats do face backwards- half the BA business class seats do- and reception is mixed. Apparently it's more comfortable in the air but taking off and landing feels extremely weird. I've never had enough money to try business class, so I wouldn't know.

My preference is to travel facing forwards. But I don't really care that much and will often travel backwards for no other reason than most people don't want to, meaning there's a better choice of seats.

I can't travel backwards on buses though, it gives me motion nausea.

Agreed, I find the backwards facing seats on London Taxis have the same effect.

 

[Western Lord]

In the days of first generation DMUs, you had to decide if you wanted the forward facing view at the front or the rearward view at the back. I was once travelling in the back of a Cambridge-Lincoln DMU enjoying the US observation car like views when they coupled a four wheel van on the back at March, which rather spoiled the effect.

 

[Deepgreen]

When travelling First class, I prefer to sit facing the direction that staff are most likely to approach from. On Pendolinos for example this means sitting facing backwards leaving London and facing forwards heading towards London.

Is that to facilitate a speedy exit to standard?!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
On all forms of transport I tend to choose forward-facing, especially bicycles.

 

[Dr_Intoxicated]

Wouldn't be very comfortable at take-off I would imagine.

Yes it is I remember back in the 70's BEA used to have backward facing seats on some of their tridant aircraft. After the first time of experiencing this I always asked for forward facing. On trains it does not seem to affect me so I choose to travel backwards as it tends to be less busy.

 

[theageofthetra]

Still don't understand why we don't have reversible seats like the old trams used to. Old stock in Aus & NZ have it and some of the Sydney commuter trains still do. Been travelling on a fair view Chinese high speed lines the last month and they deal with the problem by having a pedal on each group of two or three seats (1st class is 2x2 2nd is 3x2 courtesy of huge loading gauge) and at the end of each journey the pedal is pressed and the whole row spins round to face the direction of travel. Never seen this elsewhere has anyone else?

Have no issue travelling backwards on trains but feel sick within minutes on buses and oddly the Croydon trams!

 

[Haywain]

Still don't understand why we don't have reversible seats like the old trams used to. Old stock in Aus & NZ have it and some of the Sydney commuter trains still do. Been travelling on a fair view Chinese high speed lines the last month and they deal with the problem by having a pedal on each group of two or three seats (1st class is 2x2 2nd is 3x2 courtesy of huge loading gauge) and at the end of each journey the pedal is pressed and the whole row spins round to face the direction of travel. Never seen this elsewhere has anyone else?

I've seen video of seats being turned around on Japanese Shinkansen trains, which can probably be found on YouTube somewhere. It's also done on the modern rolling stock used on New Zealand's long distance tourist services.

Overall, I think that so many people prefer facing the direction of travel simply because we were born to see what's coming towards us, not what's going away. Personally, I also find it gives me the tiniest fraction of extra time to focus on anything interesting!

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Still don't understand why we don't have reversible seats like the old trams used to. Old stock in Aus & NZ have it and some of the Sydney commuter trains still do. Been travelling on a fair view Chinese high speed lines the last month and they deal with the problem by having a pedal on each group of two or three seats (1st class is 2x2 2nd is 3x2 courtesy of huge loading gauge) and at the end of each journey the pedal is pressed and the whole row spins round to face the direction of travel. Never seen this elsewhere has anyone else?

Have no issue travelling backwards on trains but feel sick within minutes on buses and oddly the Croydon trams!

Blackpool Balloon tramcars had reversible seating which also allows family groups to create a bay of seats. Not sure if the modified balloons still have this seating though. The short answer to why we don't have them on trains is safety standards. A system like on the shinkansen wouldn't work with our restricted loading gauge (possibly in 1st on Heathrow Express it'd be doable but that's a tiny fraction of all our passenger stock).

 

[Minilad]

I always prefer a forward facing seat.

We are not allowed to propel these days

 

[westv]

To the people that MUST have the seat facing a certain way.
What would you do if you had a reserved seat on a full train but the seat wasn't facing the way you expected it to?

 

[trainophile]

To the people that MUST have the seat facing a certain way.
What would you do if you had a reserved seat on a full train but the seat wasn't facing the way you expected it to?

I'd sit backwards, it's not the end of the world, just personal preference. It's actually third on my list, after not being in bright sunlight and not being hemmed in.

 

[6Gman]

Right-hand, forward-facing, with table if possible.

Best for trainspotting.

In certain places will choose left-hand (Rugby-Euston, Runcorn-Liverpool) for same reason.

Will also choose to swap sides for scenic reasons - Dawlish for example.

But needs must so quite content with any combination - yesterday I even ended up in the "cupboard seat" (ie no view ... whatsoever) on a Pendolino.

 

[crehld]

I couldn't care less what direction I face. I prefer a window to look out of and, if I intend to work, I prefer a table. If I'm not working I usually go for an airline seat because I generally find there to be a little more leg room and want to avoid the person opposite me rubbing my legs up with theirs. However, Mrs crehld feels sick when travelling backwards - I did suggest it might be psychological but I got told off

 

[najaB]

Right-hand, forward-facing...Best for trainspotting.

Right-hand, rear facing for me: best for infrastructure watching.

 

[cf111]

Some aircraft seats do face backwards- half the BA business class seats do- and reception is mixed. Apparently it's more comfortable in the air but taking off and landing feels extremely weird. I've never had enough money to try business class, so I wouldn't know.

My preference is to travel facing forwards. But I don't really care that much and will often travel backwards for no other reason than most people don't want to, meaning there's a better choice of seats.

I can't travel backwards on buses though, it gives me motion nausea.

It's a bit different but I actually prefer the backwards facing Club World seats. On the A380 you can barely hear or feel the thing take off, they seem to glide into the air.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

To the people that MUST have the seat facing a certain way.
What would you do if you had a reserved seat on a full train but the seat wasn't facing the way you expected it to?

Then I stand in the vestibule.

 

[PermitToTravel]

I'm not sure how that works - since clearly the train is not moving when you get on, and it's not moving when you get off. So the total amount of deceleration during your journey - in which you'd lose back support if facing forwards, but gain back support if facing backwards - must exactly equal the total amount of acceleration. It may be that there's a difference in perception because deceleration is perhaps slower - spread out over a longer period of time?

Pretty much all vehicles decelerate harder than they accelerate (or rather are decelerated harder than they are accelerated), and trains are not an exception. The integral of integration with respect to time will be equal, but the force is noticeably different in magnitude.

A friend, when choosing a seat on the Underground, makes a point of looking for one allowing them to rest their head against the glass pane by the doors under braking

 

[exile]

Captain Scarlett's car had backward facing seats and was driven using TV cameras showing the view from the front. I believe the rationale was that this is safer if the car is in a collision.

 

[Skipness]

I never like travelling backwards on trains. I always prefer a forward facing window seat. I usually spend all of my train journeys looking out of the window, either appreciating travelling over a new route, or more commonly thinking to myself about where I am and specific landmarks to look out for along the way.

Unfortunately you may have a problem on HS2 which will be in a tunnel whenever it passes through a Tory constituency

 

[PermitToTravel]

Captain Scarlett's car had backward facing seats and was driven using TV cameras showing the view from the front. I believe the rationale was that this is safer if the car is in a collision.

There are rear facing seats in the back of some police caged vans, that accordingly do not need to be fitted with seatbelts

 

[backontrack]

I prefer sitting backwards and watching things recede into the distance.

 

[trainophile]

I'm not sure how that works - since clearly the train is not moving when you get on, and it's not moving when you get off. So the total amount of deceleration during your journey - in which you'd lose back support if facing forwards, but gain back support if facing backwards - must exactly equal the total amount of acceleration. It may be that there's a difference in perception because deceleration is perhaps slower - spread out over a longer period of time?

I wasn't so much thinking about acceleration and deceleration, more the 20 or so minutes between stations. On modern, better shock-absorbing units (can't think of the right term) there isn't much noticeable "thrust", and my preference is probably psychological, but the older, more basic trains do tend to force the sitter's body away from the direction of travel.

It makes no difference in Virgin standard class, as the seat backs offer no support anyway and are b***** uncomfortable!