Seat reservations in the UK

To know the status of UK seats (Confirmed seats, Unreserved seats or Seat reservation included), you can follow the below process.

Pre booking: Once the passenger names have been added, check the second section under "Traveler".

Post booking: Under 'Overview' => Trip Summary, expand the relevant UK sector and check the second section under "Traveler"

Confirmed allocated seats:

Explanation: The passenger will receive seat number, coach number and seat preference. This means that confirmed seats are assigned, and the passenger will have to occupy the assigned seats itself. They will not be able to occupy any other seat except the one specified on the ticket.

No seat reservation (Unreserved seating):

Explanation: Sometimes UK tickets come on sale before seat reservations. In such cases, only the tickets get booked. No seat reservations get added. Rail Europe can’t arrange seat reservations on the passenger's behalf. However, the passengers can request seat reservations (free of charge) at the station. They must show the tickets to staff at the ticket office and ask for seats.

Note: Seat reservations are not possible on certain trains. Even in such cases, it would be specified as "No seat reservation".

Seat reservation included:

Explanation: When you see "Seat reservation included" mentioned for a UK sector, but no seats have been assigned, it means the rail operator isn't providing seat reservations for the specific train as they may be optional. Passengers can occupy any vacant seat in any of the carriages of the same class of travel as per their ticket. If they do not find a seat, they can always ask the train manager on the day.

Note: Seat reservation cannot be booked separately on the website. If the customer requests to receive confirmed seats, the only option would be to direct them to check with the staff at the ticket counter locally at the train station which would be subject to availability.