Conductor “Offices” On Board

[seat38a]

I'm sat on a pendolino train in the UK next to the conductors office. It's sat empty while the on-board crew have taken over 4 seats opposite.

Paying passengers are standing in the aisle....

Happens on the Surfliner as well. Conductors still will not release the rows of seats ahead of their table even with jam packed standing room only.

 

[ScouseAndy]

As unfair as that is, pax standing in the aisles and even vestibules is rather common from what I’ve seen in these documentaries. It looks like you can purchase a seat (likely for extra) or you can just purchase a ticket and hope you get one. Demand for rail travel exceeds capacity and there isn’t a lot that can be done about it without major capital spending.

It's actually cheaper to have a seat then stand in the UK.

If you book a cheap advanced ticket with can be a 10th of the price of a walk on ticket it includes a free seat reservation. If you don't book an advance ticket and pay full price you risk standing..