Seating

What seating preferences are available for my journey?

We will do our best to meet your seating requirements, however we cannot guarantee that they will always be met, where we cannot meet your requirements we will offer you an alternative. Seating preferences only appear on tickets where a service has been selected. Your seat number(s) will be printed with your tickets. Please note that seating preferences cannot be guaranteed.

Can I reserve seats?

Seats can be reserved on most train operator services subject to availability. Reserving a seat is optional for the following ticket categories:

• Standard Anytime
• Standard Off-Peak
• Rangers and Rovers (including BritRail)
• Weekender-Superbreak (and other Inclusive tour tickets)
• Standard Super Off-Peak-Season tickets
• If you are travelling on an Advance ticket or a Business Package your seat reservation is included with your ticket. The details of your seat reservations will be printed along with your tickets and this information is also held in Your Account.

Things to note about seat reservations:

• Only one seat reservation can be made per single journey
• If you did not reserve a seat at the point of purchase we cannot guarantee you a seat, particularly at peak times.
• In most cases you can board a train without a reservation if you hold an open ticket, however, there will be exceptions to this such as during busy periods (e.g. Christmas and some Bank Holidays).

I did not receive a seat reservation. What should I do?

There are various reasons why you may not get a seat reservation:

• The ticket type you have purchased does not include automatic seat reservations.
• Seat reservations may not be available on the journey you are taking – e.g. if it is a short distance service.
• The train operator may not have released seat reservations at that time.
• The train operator will only open seat reservations when the train path has been confirmed by Network Rail. This is usually 12 weeks ahead of your travel date.
• The train on which you wish to travel is full at the time of booking.

If you wish to reserve a seat for a ticket already purchased, please visit a Travel Centre/Ticket Office at least 2 hours prior to the train's departure from its originating station.