Do I need a railway seat reservation?

Railway seat reservations are not always necessary on all trains. Seats are free on regional trains.

All 1 ^st class tickets are automatically assigned and are included in the rate.

Compulsory seat reservations

Seats are allocated automatically when booking your train ticket. You will also be able to change your seat according to your preferences (aisle seats, windows seats…) and subject to availability. You can request the type of seat you would prefer.

Optional seat reservations

Even though seat reservations are optional for German's ICE trains and OBB's Railjet trains, they will be included in the ticket by default. For trains with optional seat reservations in Switzerland, seat reservation is currently not possible with Rail Europe and must be booked locally at the departure train station. Regarding seat reservation in the UK, you can refer to our dedicated Help article Seat reservations in the UK for more information.

Trains without seat reservations

A lot of regional trains do not have seat reservations at all. Most regional trains typically have plenty of spare seating for all passengers, though you may find that they are busy during peak commuter travel times (when people travel to work in the early morning and return in the evening).