Is there a reason why SWR long-distance trains you cant reserve a seat?

[GodAtum]

Is there a reason why SWR long-distance trains you cant reserve a seat? Travelling from London to Weymouth is 3 hours which seems silly not being able to reserve a seat when London - Birmingham is half the time!

 

[yorksrob]

Possibly because its easier just to find a seat, than to have to wade through hundreds of reservations which may or may not be taken up.

 

[Class800]

It's a regional style service, works better that way

 

[CarrotPie]

Is there a reason why SWR long-distance trains you cant reserve a seat? Travelling from London to Weymouth is 3 hours which seems silly not being able to reserve a seat when London - Birmingham is half the time!

The Weymouth services are often operated by 444s as well as 450s. They're also used for short-distamce hops; for those south-west of Bournemouth, they're their only service!

 

[island]

south of Bournemouth

There aren’t any trains in the English Channel

 

[Joe Paxton]

SWT did away with seat reservations circa 2010.

 

[DMckduck97]

I imagine seat reservations are also a pain in the arse and headache to manage onboard.

So I can see why they done away with them so long ago

 

[island]

Is there a reason why SWR long-distance trains you cant reserve a seat? Travelling from London to Weymouth is 3 hours which seems silly not being able to reserve a seat when London - Birmingham is half the time!

It's more convenient for the operator not to do them.

 

[Bletchleyite]

It's more convenient for the operator not to do them.

It's also better for the majority of passengers on SWR, who are commuters with season tickets. Yes, a couple of services per hour from Waterloo extend out a fairly long way, but the predominant custom is commuters and other shortish distance travellers, and so the service is designed for them.

 

[infobleep]

I imagine seat reservations are also a pain in the arse and headache to manage onboard.

So I can see why they done away with them so long ago

Playing devil's advocate, if they are such a headache, why do the long-distance operators persist with them?

 

[DMckduck97]

Playing devil's advocate, if they are such a headache, why do the long-distance operators persist with them?

A very very good question! Everytime I've been onboard long distance trains there is hordes of seats reserved yet empty.

When the intercity trains are full seat reservations go out the window anyway, maybe it's seen as a luxury item?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Playing devil's advocate, if they are such a headache, why do the long-distance operators persist with them?

Because it's a completely different market.

The majority market on short distance services is commuters and other day trippers who tend not to like to fix themselves to one train.

The majority market on long distance services is leisure and business travel which because of the longer trip does lend itself to fixing to one train.

It's the same reason why Advances on Northern are absolute nuts.

 

[CyrusWuff]

Further playing devil's advocate: Given that people tend to ignore seat reservations and just sit anywhere, would it be better for long distance operators to do what TfW were doing pre-Covid?

Namely default to counted place reservations, but with the option of reserving specific seats (e.g. for groups travelling together.)

I realise that would require development work from TIS suppliers if retailers wanted to offer it during the purchase flow, but it could also be done on a standalone basis.

 

[infobleep]

Because it's a completely different market.

The majority market on short distance services is commuters and other day trippers who tend not to like to fix themselves to one train.

The majority market on long distance services is leisure and business travel which because of the longer trip does lend itself to fixing to one train.

It's the same reason why Advances on Northern are absolute nuts.

Carrying on my theme, what about Cross Country, which can be a mix of long distance and short distance?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Carrying on my theme, what about Cross Country, which can be a mix of long distance and short distance?

XC is a bit of a mess generally, to be honest, there's a lot to change about it before looking at reservations.

Sure, Avanti and LNER do carry some short distance passengers but their market is primarily long distance.

 

[infobleep]

XC is a bit of a mess generally, to be honest, there's a lot to change about it before looking at reservations.

Sure, Avanti and LNER do carry some short distance passengers but their market is primarily long distance.

But reservations might be an easy quick fix compared to the other stuff.