seat reservations

traveller "...

I have booked my tickets in advance for the whole journey... I use the FastTicket machine and my tickets are printed. However, [on this particular occasion] I have no reservation, it just says Suggested Service [which] does not explain the [problem]. I go to the ticket booth. The man sarcastically remarks that [it is] a "waste of time using those". He says I should [book the tickets] at the booth... "We have 20 or 30 a day come back" he says, referring to the number of printed tickets which have problems. [notebook: Lancaster station 26 May 2004 9am]

A woman, mid-60s, is standing miserably by a seat she has reservations for, and in which another woman is sitting who [claims to] also have a reservation... Train manager [announces that the service] is missing Coach D, so all those with a reservation for that coach have to find an alternative seat... "I feel really bad asking someone to get up" I heard a woman say to a rather severe looking lady, who suggests that this is what she must do to get her seat. notebook: Virgin Trains service to Birmingham New Street 14 April 2004 11am]

The train fills up... Arguments are angry about seat reservations... [notebook: Virgin Trains servivce to London Euston 26 May 2004 10am]

system "...

"Seat reservations on Virgin Trains services are free of charge and can be made when you buy a ticket. We strongly advise you to reserve your seat when travelling on our most popular services. You can select a specific seat of your choice, subject to availability" [extract: 'Travelling with Virgin Trains' leaflet collected Lancaster 25 March 2004]

"Fast ticket machines are fast and easy to use. Buy tickets on the day of travel... you can also collect prepaid tickets..." [extract: 'Travelling with Virgin Trains' leaflet collected Lancaster 25 March 2004]

ethnographic guide

Reserving a seat establishes a connection with the train carriage, a place is made for you to on that journey. However, a seat reservation is made in the space of the reservations system, and in that system a traveller is translated and flattened into a numeric. The connection that is made is not between carriage and traveller, but between the carriage and traveller-as-numeric. So, a reservation for a traveller does not include what they may be attached to when boarding: mobile handset, luggage, laptop, lunch etc. A reservation in the reservations system is therefore always partial, always incommensurate, with the traveller.