St*. — As a side-issue in the vexed question of reserved seating
in trains may I make a plea to British Railways that on special expresses such as boat-trains there may be provided at least one coach of unreserved seats and the fact stated on the station loud-speaker ?
Travelling from Paris on Sunday, October 3, there were many passengers like myself who had been through uncertainty of plans unable to make reservations. The Paris' Calais train hail been crammed, with all seats reserved, which meant 3+ hours standing or precarious perching on fortunately cool radiators; the Dover-Victoria train, searched from the engine to as far as one could go ill the time before the train left, was also totallY reserved. An inspector advised staking claim on a reserved scat in the hope that the owner would not arrive. She did. En route again, clutching two suit-cases--by this time the train was on its way—I came at last, right at the end of the train, to a fully reserved but empty coach. Beyond that again was all empty unreserved coach which had all the time the train was in the station been tucked away beneath a footbridge, out of sight frog' the entrance from the Customs shed.
Why could not the presence of this coach on the train have been announced two of, three times before the train left ? It would have saved much time, energy and struggle- --Yours faithfully, CECILIA KNoWF.C5
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