How do I reserve a seat?

Online seat reservations

For all Advance train tickets booked on our website or app our system will automatically reserve a seat free of charge. For Anytime fares the site will ask whether you want a seat reserved for a CrossCountry journey. This is in case you have not made a decision on when you want to travel or would prefer not to be tied down to a particular train. If travelling on a CrossCountry Train you can also use the ten minute reservations text message facility.

We are not always able to reserve seats. This could be because:

• the train services you are travelling on do not offer seat reservations e.g. if it is a short journey.
• the train on which you wish to travel is full at the time of booking.
• the seat reservations may not have been released yet. This is done up to 12 weeks ahead of travel.

Even without a seat reservation your tickets are still valid and you can sit in any vacant unreserved seat for the appropriate class of travel for your journey.

Reserving a seat after making a booking

You can use our Ten Minute Reservation service, more details can be found here, alternatively, can visit your local station and arrange a reservation. This is subject to the Terms and Conditions of the ticket and availability is not guaranteed.