Travel

From taking someone’s reserved seat to bringing stinky food onto a train. There are some unwritten rules of European train travel.

A couple of additions for the UK:

• Some trains have “quiet carriages”. If you want to use your mobile phone, DO NOT do it in the quiet carriage as the people there may have reserved seats in it specifically to get away from this.
• Do not take someone’s reserved seat. The person whose seat you’re sitting in may have bought an Advance ticket to get a cheaper fare, and they CAN’T sit anywhere else. Advance tickets come with reservations for a specific seat on a specific train.

It is also worth noting that if a seat is reserved, it will have a ticket that says what stations it’s reserved from and to, and if you are getting off before that part of the journey, feel free to sit in it. For example – if a train is going from London to Edinburgh, you get on in London, and you’re getting off in Peterborough. You find a seat that is reserved York – Edinburgh, you can use the seat as you will be getting off before the person who reserved the seat gets on.