Seating Type
Most trains just have one kind of seating, which is, yeah, a normal train seat. Some are arranged all facing one direction, but it is not unusual if you have to sit facing the opposite direction from where the train is going. I think the speed and smooth movement makes it still comfortable.
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| ICE German Trains, I want to show that not all seat is facing front, this pic is the closest XD |
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| French SNCF with recliner seats |
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| Spanish Renfe-looking normal? but this was actually one of the most luxurious 😀 |
Some are arranged sequentially with two seats facing each other with a foldable table in the middle. The classic type which is very cute but I don’t really like is the compartment type. This one between the seats are separated and they have a door to enter. It is nice and private. However if you travel alone this would not be so interesting, besides, you cannot stretch your legs so far as you are facing some one elses legs in front of you, so unless you know this person, it won’t be so comfortable. FYI, European people dont like putting legs on the seats, so even the seat in front of you is empty, don’t put your feet up!
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| Normal train seats facing each other with table is good for group travelers: we can have backpacker meals on board! :p |
The next kind, I think the interesting one is sleeper cabin. Here you can find beds in the train compartment. First impression, yay! We can have our legs stretched, maximum rest along the journey, isn’t that nice? 😀 Yes it was really nice, but, there are also downsides. Firstly, it takes time for people to settle in their beds. It turns out there is not much room to put our luggage, only the spaces under the bottom beds. We need time to arrange them, and it can be quite a chaos, because the space between the beds are so small, unless people stay in their beds, it would become even smaller X( sometimes we need to wait outside the compartment door too, and this makes the corridor outside compartment door always crowded. Bottom line, its very hard to move. Secondly, you can’t do anything but lie down. The space between the bunks are not that big, so you cannot sit up.
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| Sleeper Cabin |
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| Can’t do anything but lying down. |
And uh, the other thing that kills me with this sleeper cabin, is that, you don’t (or can’t?) take your boots/shoes off. Its winter, everyone is wearing footwear that “covers” you from the cold and the compartment room is way too small, I can imagine if I take my boots off (that I have been wearing to long walks of the journey) the smell would kill everybody in the room. And its Europe, their access to water is just for hands and face. It was unusual for me sleeping with my shoes on.
Even more interesting there is the trenhotel. This is an international overnight train, only runs to and from specific places. Unfortunately I cannot write so much about this one. I almost going to ride this train, but it was a bad winter weather, so my most expensive train was cancelled, we went on a bus instead. :sadface:
So I googled about the trenhotel. It seems like it is similar to the sleeping cabin, but with larger space, just double bunks, so more space if you want to sit and fold the upper bed. Also the beds have sheets. The grand class even have private toilets in their compartments. :drooling:
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| Tourist class Elipsos Trenhotel that I didn’t get to taste |
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