Sitting in the long-distance train against the direction of travel – that can quickly become uncomfortable for some. The train doesn't always make it easy to reserve the right seat. FOCUS Online reveals how it always works.
Reserving a seat for long-distance trains on the Deutsche Bahn is now extremely easy: two or three quick clicks online and you have your seat safely for the planned journey.
However, it becomes a little more complicated as soon as passengers want to sit facing the direction of travel. There are some pitfalls to consider here, which could be helpful in the future, especially for people with a weak stomach.
The direction of travel of the train is often indicated by an arrow on the seat map when making a reservation, but this only applies to the 49 vehicles of the ICE 4 series.
These trains are structurally identical: all seats are therefore in the same arrangement. The same applies to the 30 newly ordered ICE 3 trains; they are also standardized. It only becomes problematic when passengers travel in an ICE 1, 2 or ICE T, because there are differences in the seating arrangement within the series. It is therefore not possible to simply indicate which seats are in the direction of travel using an arrow.
The problem with the terminus
The terminal stations in German cities such as Frankfurt, Munich or Leipzig also cause difficulties. If you stop here on your route for a stopover, you often drive in the reverse seat position for the rest of your journey. In this case, you should check beforehand which section of the journey represents the longer distance and adjust your booking accordingly – provided, of course, that you are traveling in a Generation 3 or 4 ICE.
Rail: Always sit facing the direction of travel, even on older trains
However, if the train is of an older generation, the guest must first determine by means of the train number with which series he will travel. The train number is given when making the reservation on the train's online portal.
If you then go to the fernbahn.de portal, you can find out with just a few clicks which train model is behind the respective train number. At the same time, a small arrow symbol can be used to identify which compartments of the train are in the front and which are in the back and thus also deduce the direction of travel.
If the arrow points to the left, the front part of the train is also there. As a result, all seats that, according to the seating plan, point to the left in this case – i.e. in the direction of the front part of the train – in the direction of travel. If you have all this information together, nothing can go wrong with the seat reservation – until the next terminus.
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