LD Routes Seating Assign Seats

[JoshP]

I'm curious, does conductors assign passenger where they will be seat at for all LD routes as usual? When I was in the ADA bedroom while sitting in Orlando waiting for conductors to assign passenger seats, that took about 30 minutes. If Amtrak could change by allow passengers to go on and seat wherever they like to, the 20 minute delay could be into more like 10 min, at most?

or Amtrak wants to be a idiot, do a old fashioned way?

 

[zephyr17]

Amtrak does not follow any standard system wide practice on coach long distance seating. It depends on the station and on the crew. All the following practices apply:
1. Free for all, passengers can take any unassigned seats (without seat checks). Many times crews reserve certain rows for groups of 4/families and others for singles. This is the practice at most intermediate stations.
2. Crews assign passengers to cars, but free for all within the car, subject to above.
3. Conductors assign seats prior to boarding. This happens at some terminal stations, and large crew change stations. Seattle and Portland used to do this.

It depends on the station, the train and the decision of the conductors working that train. It varies.

 

[caravanman]

Often crews like to at least stipulate which coach a passenger should use, so that all passengers for a destination sit in one area. Easier for detraining, less doors to open, and easier to rouse folk at the late night stops. This sometimes means one coach is almost empty, when another is crammed. It makes sense to pre-allocate seats when all the solo passengers try to occupy vacant double seats at the expense of couples and families.

 

[pennyk]

In Orlando, coach passengers are generally seated by destination, which is convenient for the passengers and for the crew. The stop in Orlando is fairly long and usually there are no delays in boarding all the coach passengers. However, during the holiday season, there are more passengers (and 2 added coaches) and the boarding takes a bit longer.

 

[me_little_me]

Conductors have a random number generator that tells them which method they should use on each train. -