nicki

On the SNCF web site, you can reserve the following types of seats: window, aisle, middle, compartment window or aisle, and open plan coach window or aisle. My question is: what does open plan coach mean? Are those the seats that all face in one direction (like on an airplane) -- as opposed to compartment seats which face each other. I don't want to sit knee-to-knee facing another person, so I think if I choose open plan coach I can avoid that. Does anyone know if that is right? Thanks for your help.

StCirq

I'm not sure I can answer this completely, but I do know that compartment seats are seats inside a kind of "room" off a tiny aisle, unlike the regular seats, which are like those on an airplane. Then, in the open seats, you have ones that are all facing the same direction and then some that are grouped into rows of two and two, facing each other. I would guess that "open plan coach" means normal seats like on an airplane facing in the direction that the train is going, but I'm not sure, because I don't understand how that would be different from just a "window" or "aisle" seat. And "middle" seat has me totally confused because all he trains I've ever been on have only two seats grouped, never three.
I hope someone can provide further clarification.

Underhill

Seating partially depends on which class--second or first--ticket you will be using. In first class the open-plan seats are indeed like in an airplane (but two on one side of the aisle, one on the other), except that often some face forward (toward the engine)while others face back. In each car with that seating there is also one set of seats that face each other across a table; we've found that to be an uncomfortable arrangement. If you can request specific seats, do so.

GeoffHamer

An open plan coach is one that is not divided into compartments: the whole railway carriage is one saloon, with an aisle down the middle. Normally, some of the seats will face one way, like aircraft or bus seats, and others will be grouped around tables. Carriages which are divided into compartments have a corridor along one side and compartments seating six or eight people reached by sliding doors. The compartments tend to be quieter, but it obviously depends on the other passengers; they are ideal for families who want to sit together.

nicki

Thanks, everyone. I think I'll choose an open plan coach-window and just see what I get. The website doesn't allow you to select a specific seat. Once you choose your type of seat, it assigns you a seat number. St. Cirq, the "middle" option surprised me too, but I swear it is one of the choices.

hopscotch

The "middle" seat is in those cars with compartments along one side of the car and a narrow aisle on the other side. Each compartment has a sliding door facing the aisle and has six seats, three facing three. This is the arrangement of traditional European rail cars, before the TGV and his brothers came along.

Open coach is basically the same as on airplanes, except that the seats are two along one side and one along the other side in first class, and two plus two in second class, normally. There is usually at least one set of seats in the middle of the car where two face two on one side of the car and one faces one on the other side of the car (first class). Seats are aligned the same way behind these middle seats so half of the people in the car are riding backwards all the time -- except on some trains in Spain where the seats can be rotated.

Don't worry about this. Just take any seat which is not reserved. If you have a reservation for a seat that you don't like tell the conductor and he will be happy to move you. In Italy don't fail to look in other cars for open seating. Over there they pack the people with reservations into as few cars as possible and leave other cars completely vacated.