{"id":2566,"date":"2025-05-16T11:39:01","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T11:39:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/?p=2566"},"modified":"2025-05-20T13:07:27","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T13:07:27","slug":"4-ways-to-get-the-best-train-seat-without-paying-extra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/16\/4-ways-to-get-the-best-train-seat-without-paying-extra\/","title":{"rendered":"4 ways to get the best train seat without paying extra"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\"Young\t<\/div>
A train conductor has shared tips on how to find the best seat (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On a busy train<\/a>, it\u2019s temping to take the first vacant seat you spot \u2014 even if it\u2019s next to a barebacker<\/a>. It\u2019s better than standing for two hours, right?<\/p>\n

But getting yourself into the optimal platform position can help you avoid commuters with annoying habits<\/a> and ensure you don\u2019t wind up next to a stinking toilet.<\/p>\n

Now, a train conductor from London<\/a> Northwestern Railway has revealed their tips on how to find the best seat onboard \u2013 without spending extra cash<\/a> on a first-class ticket.<\/p>\n

Avoid the middle of the train<\/h2>\n

First of all, if you\u2019ve not booked a seat, you\u2019ll want to avoid standard carriages in the middle of the train.<\/p>\n

The reason? These seats tend to be the most popular, particularly with large groups, as they\u2019re typically furnished with social seating and are usually the closest to the toilets.<\/p>\n

\n

\n\t\t\t\tSign up to The Getaway newsletter\t\t\t<\/h2>\n
\n

Fuel your wanderlust with our curated newsletter of travel deals, guides and inspiration.\u00a0Sign up here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

So, if you want to bag a quieter position, you\u2019re best off walking slightly further down the platform and targeting the end carriages. <\/p>\n

After all, the fewer people, the less noise to disturb you if you\u2019re travelling solo and want a bit of peace and quiet.<\/p>\n

Skip the four-seaters<\/h2>\n
\n
\n\t\t\"On\t<\/div>
Four seaters aren\u2019t the way forwards (Credits: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you\u2019re carrying a lot of luggage or simply want a little bit more space, you might make a beeline straight towards the four-seaters \u2013 even if you\u2019re journeying alone. A little extra legroom is always ideal, right?<\/p>\n

Think again. According to our trusty conductor, these seating options are always absolute \u2018magnets\u2019 for friends and family travelling in groups.<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t want your peace to be disturbed, you\u2019re better off opting for a two-seater. <\/p>\n

Sometimes, you\u2019re just not in the mood to have company \u2013 and that\u2019s fair enough.<\/p>\n

Take advantage of technology<\/h2>\n

Boarding a LNR train? The \u2018how busy is my train?\u2019 tool inputs your departure station, destination, date and time, and tells you how busy your train is expected to be.<\/p>\n

\u2018The calculations are based on the average demand on a typical day, and are split into \u2018quiet\u2019, \u2018moderate\u2019, \u2018busy\u2019, and \u2018standing expected\u2019 levels \u2013 highlighting the exact parts of the journey that fall under each category,\u2019 the conductor explains.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"A\t<\/div>
There\u2019s nothing better than an empty train carriage (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thameslink has similar technology in place. Two hours ahead of your journey, you\u2019ll be able to check how busy the train is expected to be by peeking at the live departure boards.<\/p>\n

Just look for the colour-coded symbol \u2013 as green means there are usually plenty of seats available, while red means even standing space will likely be limited.<\/p>\n

Once you\u2019re on board, the screens also use a train loading indicator \u2013 which works by weighing each carriage to determine roughly how many passengers are sat there.<\/p>\n

Each coach is individually marked with a colour code, so if you\u2019ve boarded at a particularly busy point for lack of time, you\u2019ll be given information on where to find a seat.<\/p>\n

\n

\n\t\t\t\t\u2018Bare beating\u2019 is the latest Tube habit tormenting commuters on the London Underground\t\t\t<\/h2>\n
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You\u2019ve somehow managed to get a seat on your Circle line\u00a0train\u00a0and settle in for the gruelling\u00a0Tube<\/a>\u00a0journey into the office.<\/p>\n

But then the person next to you starts listening to\u00a0music<\/strong>\u00a0on their\u00a0phone. And you can hear it. Every. Single. Beat.<\/p>\n

Opposite you, someone else answers their phone. On speaker, broadcasting both sides of their very loud and obnoxious conversation to the entire carriage.<\/p>\n

These bare beaters seem to be the most despised commuters of all<\/a>, appearing on Tubes, trains and buses \u2013 and there\u2019s no shortage of people who take issue with them.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t raise those eyebrows \u2013 it\u2019s a perfectly innocent term coined by\u00a0Metro<\/strong>, to describe the act of letting the beats of your music or phone conversation ricochet throughout the carriage, rather than using earphones.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Steer clear of congested areas<\/h2>\n

It might seem a little obvious, but you\u2019ll want to avoid areas passengers are likely to flock to during their journey \u2013 like the toilets or caf\u00e9, if there is one.<\/p>\n

As our trusty conductor tells us, the noise of people \u2018coming in and out may be distracting,\u2019 while choosing seats \u2018away from the train doors where people on shorter commutes tend to stand and chat.\u2019<\/p>\n

So, the next time you board a train where it\u2019s every man for himself, you\u2019ll want to have one of these tricks up your sleeve. You never know when you\u2019ll need to use them.<\/p>\n

Do you have a story to share?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A train conductor has shared tips on how to find the best seat (Picture: Getty Images) On a busy train, it\u2019s temping to take the first vacant seat you spot \u2014 even if it\u2019s next to a barebacker. It\u2019s better than standing for two hours, right? But getting yourself into the optimal platform position can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2568,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2566"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2572,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2566\/revisions\/2572"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}