Reserving a seat can sometimes be confusing. So, we’ve put together a quick guide to help when you plan your journey.

  • some of our services don’t have reservations at all; you can buy a ticket and sit in any seat
  • on our trains that have reservations, you can usually do this when you buy your ticket; this is the best time to make sure you get an allocated seat for your journey
  • we’ll ask what type of seat you want, such as facing forwards or at a table, and will do our best to find the right one for you
  • most reservations on GWR trains will give you a specific seat in a specific carriage; you can find the details on your ticket or in your confirmation email
  • sometimes we’ll allocate you a space on the train rather than a specific seat; this means you are booked to travel on that train and can sit in any vacant seat for your class of travel
We don’t reserve all the seats on our trains. This is so that there is room for customers who have bought their ticket on the day, have tickets that let them choose their train (such as Season tickets), or who might have been disrupted and need to change their plans.

To help with social distancing, when you buy a ticket on a reservable GWR service online or at a ticket office, you will need to make a reservation. If all the available spaces have already been allocated, we will ask you to choose a different train.

Adding or changing a reservation

If you already have a ticket and want to add a reservation or change what you already have, then you can do it:
  • in the booking section of your online account
  • by calling us on 03457 000 125
  • by visiting a ticket office
If you need assistance with this please message us on Twitter @GWRhelp, or on Facebook Messenger @GWRUK.

If you have a season ticket, you can make reservations for your regular trains by emailing details of your services, seat preferences, the duration of time you’d like the seat reserved for, and your photocard number to gwrreservations@gwr.com.
  • Our seat guarantee