Irish Rail Seat Reservation

dealhunter1985

So I booked a train online for a busy period during the christmas.
I dont usually look for the seat reserved with my booking but in this case Im pretty sure the train is going to be packed, so I am trying to determine in which carriage reserved seat will be.. I have of course the seat number but how do I figure out which carriage it will be in?
Also, I assume it will say my name above the seat?

thanks

miller50841

dealhunter1985 wrote: »

So I booked a train online for a busy period during the christmas.
I dont usually look for the seat reserved with my booking but in this case Im pretty sure the train is going to be packed, so I am trying to determine in which carriage reserved seat will be.. I have of course the seat number but how do I figure out which carriage it will be in?
Also, I assume it will say my name above the seat?

thanks

There is usually a sign on window or on platform that this carriage has reserved seating

daenerysstormborn3

dealhunter1985 wrote: »

So I booked a train online for a busy period during the christmas.
I dont usually look for the seat reserved with my booking but in this case Im pretty sure the train is going to be packed, so I am trying to determine in which carriage reserved seat will be.. I have of course the seat number but how do I figure out which carriage it will be in?
Also, I assume it will say my name above the seat?

thanks

Pretty sure your ticket/e-mail confirmation will show your seat as letternumber, for example A10, A being the carriage and 10 the seat. It shows on the digital display on the side of the carriage which carriage is which.

Yes, your name will be displayed above your seat.

irishgeo

make sure you get on the train early.

Irish people have yet to grasp what a reserved seat means.

oppenheimer1

irishgeo wrote: »

make sure you get on the train early.

Irish people have yet to grasp what a reserved seat means.

Particularly people who reserve seats. Often I'm on the train and the reserved seats are not occupied, meaning that the person who booked the seat is sitting somewhere else on the train. This then deprives other passengers of the seat.

I think if you book a seat your ticket should only be valid if you sit in your assigned seat. It would stop this nonsense fairly quickly.

foggy_lad

irishgeo wrote: »

make sure you get on the train early.

Irish people have yet to grasp what a reserved seat means.

Irish Rail are usually well ahead of the people with a reservations system that is usually not fully functional if working at all!

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

Particularly people who reserve seats. Often I'm on the train and the reserved seats are not occupied, meaning that the person who booked the seat is sitting somewhere else on the train. This then deprives other passengers of the seat.

I think if you book a seat your ticket should only be valid if you sit in your assigned seat. It would stop this nonsense fairly quickly.

Once the train leaves the station for which the seat is reserved from and the passenger has not taken that seat the reservation is forfeited and can be used by any other passenger!

oppenheimer1

foggy_lad wrote: »

Irish Rail are usually well ahead of the people with a reservations system that is usually not fully functional if working at all!

Once the train leaves the station for which the seat is reserved from and the passenger has not taken that seat the reservation is forfeited and can be used by any other passenger!

The name remains above the seat though. If you reserve a seat, I think people should sit in them.

foggy_lad

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

The name remains above the seat though. If you reserve a seat, I think people should sit in them.

The name is only valid if the person sits in the seat from the point of the reservation though. If i reserved a seat from Kilkenny but get on the train in Carlow my reservation is gone as i was not in Kilkenny to claim my seat. having it printed on the ticket means very little, it is just a reminder of your reservation.

Solair

How it works (and to be fair, in my experience it usually does work)

1) Book train online and select seats on the map of the train.
2) Turn up at station, collect your tickets.
3) Your ticket will have the seat reservation number printed on it like A1 = Carriage A, Seat 1.
4) Board train and your name will be displayed above your seat on a LED display.

The carriage is identified by A,B,C,D,E,F etc displayed on the exterior digital displays

It will say something like "B CORK" which means, Coach B destination Cork.

Some trains will also scroll "COACH B" every so often in the coach.

If someone's sitting in your seat when you arrive, don't just run away and sit somewhere else - tell them that the seat's reserved. 99.999% of the time, they'll move unless they're a total asshat.

dealhunter1985

thanks for the replies

parsi

foggy_lad wrote: »

Irish Rail are usually well ahead of the people with a reservations system that is usually not fully functional if working at all!
!

It's usually functional on the Cork <> Dublin routes though I have seen Golden Ticket holders wilfully ignore the reservation notices. Probably because they think they're worth it...which is understandable when they're off visting Decco in prison.

foggy_lad

parsi wrote: »

It's usually functional on the Cork <> Dublin routes though I have seen Golden Ticket holders wilfully ignore the reservation notices. Probably because they think they're worth it...which is understandable when they're off visting Decco in prison.

Lay off the Wonka bars and you won't see so many golden tickets!

juan.kerr

An 'honor' system is only a strong as it's weakest link. There'll always be a type of person who ignores it.

Losty Dublin

parsi wrote: »

It's usually functional on the Cork <> Dublin routes though I have seen Golden Ticket holders wilfully ignore the reservation notices. Probably because they think they're worth it...which is understandable when they're off visting Decco in prison.

It's always the ones who get it for free who abuse and never appreciate things most of all. Tap the chest, that will show him who's boss :rolleyes:

Hilly Bill

I had an argument over a seat on a train before and lost. It ended up with him telling me " Well, you drive the feckin train then " .

parsi

foggy_lad wrote: »

Lay off the Wonka bars and you won't see so many golden tickets!

Sorry - I don't eat Wonka bars but yet I still see all these golden tickets.

schemingbohemia

Solair wrote: »

How it works (and to be fair, in my experience it usually does work)

1) Book train online and select seats on the map of the train.
2) Turn up at station, collect your tickets.
3) Your ticket will have the seat reservation number printed on it like A1 = Carriage A, Seat 1.
4) Board train and your name will be displayed above your seat on a LED display.

The carriage is identified by A,B,C,D,E,F etc displayed on the exterior digital displays

It will say something like "B CORK" which means, Coach B destination Cork.

Some trains will also scroll "COACH B" every so often in the coach.

If someone's sitting in your seat when you arrive, don't just run away and sit somewhere else - tell them that the seat's reserved. 99.999% of the time, they'll move unless they're a total asshat.

Just in relation to 2 - if you're a DART user or if you just call into the train station, you can pick them up in another station once you've booked them which would be useful in avoiding queues at Heuston or Connolly.

dtipp

I find the reservation system completely ridiculous.
The only way I find it interesting is that I've started to put in bizarre names just to keep myself amused.

"Corporal Punishment" reserved a seat on the train the other day :-)

I was on the train lately in Heuston when, just 10 minutes before the train was due to leave (and the carriage was packed) the bloody names appeared over all the seats. I was annoyed to see auld ones getting up and lugging their bags down a few carriages because they didn't want to be sitting in a seat that was reserved by someone else.

Jamie2k9

I was annoyed to see auld ones getting up and lugging their bags down a few carriages because they didn't want to be sitting in a seat that was reserved by someone else.

God love the them...At least it makes a change from most older people thinking they own public transport becasue they don't pay.

Hilly Bill

dtipp wrote: »

I find the reservation system completely ridiculous.
The only way I find it interesting is that I've started to put in bizarre names just to keep myself amused.

"Corporal Punishment" reserved a seat on the train the other day :-)

I was on the train lately in Heuston when, just 10 minutes before the train was due to leave (and the carriage was packed) the bloody names appeared over all the seats. I was annoyed to see auld ones getting up and lugging their bags down a few carriages because they didn't want to be sitting in a seat that was reserved by someone else.

Ive heard worse than that on the enterprise

corktina

dtipp wrote: »

I find the reservation system completely ridiculous.
The only way I find it interesting is that I've started to put in bizarre names just to keep myself amused.

"Corporal Punishment" reserved a seat on the train the other day :-)

I.

great idea, I think I'll use the name "GTFO of my seat asshole!"

MOH

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

Particularly people who reserve seats. Often I'm on the train and the reserved seats are not occupied, meaning that the person who booked the seat is sitting somewhere else on the train. This then deprives other passengers of the seat.

I think if you book a seat your ticket should only be valid if you sit in your assigned seat. It would stop this nonsense fairly quickly.

One of the conditions of booking your seat is that you're in it 20 minutes before the train departs.
Ignoring the fact that the train often isn't in 20 minutes before it departs, I'm usually on the train and seated a good 5 to 10 minutes before the seat reservation system is turned on a couple of minutes before it pulls out. That's when it's turned on at all.

If I happen to find my assigned seat and it happens to be free I'll sit in it, but IE have made a mess of my seat reservations so many times in the past that I'm not going to go out of my way to look for it.