Can I sit in any seat on Amtrak?

In almost all cases, Amtrak seats are not assigned. The exception is Acela Express route seats and business class seating on the Northeast Regional, Carolinian, Palmetto, and Vermonter. Otherwise, Amtrak has a first-come, first-serve seating policy for coach seats.



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For the smoothest ride, get a seat equidistant between the trucks (wheels). This way a hard bump will be only half as bad. If you want to watch the train ahead going through curves, get a window seat near the rear of the coach.

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There will be a small sign above the seat's headrest indicating it's reserved.

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Can you sit anywhere on a train? If the train company does not offer seat reservations on the train you are travelling on, the reservation ticket will specify the date and time of travel. In this case, you may sit in any available seat on the specified train, appropriate to the class of your ticket.

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Your seat will be automatically assigned when you complete your reservation. You may change your assigned seat at any time after your booking is complete using interactive seat maps on the Amtrak app or on Amtrak.com. There is no fee to change your seat.

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Aisle seats are safer than window seats because of broken glass and the possibility of being thrown from the train. Safety experts recommend rear-facing seats because passengers will be pushed into their seats instead of thrown forward, resulting in less injuries.

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Safety experts recommend rear-facing seats because passengers will be pushed into their seats instead of thrown forward, resulting in less injuries. Finally, tables — whether in the café car or in facing seats — are good to avoid because rigid tables cause serious harm and even amputation.

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You may bring your own food and beverages onboard for consumption at your seat or private Sleeping Car accommodations. However, you can only consume food and beverages purchased in Dining and Lounge Cars in those cars. Personal food and beverages are allowed in the upper level of Superliner Sightseer Lounges.

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The average Amtrak Coach seat measures 23 inches in width (compared to around 17 inches for airplane equivalent seating) with exceptional legroom and the ability to recline for an even more comfortable sleeping position.

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Amtrak offers Wi-Fi onboard 29 of its 39 trains, which accounts for the vast majority of annual ridership. Most service is concentrated on the East Coast, Great Lakes, and some parts of California.

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If overcrowding becomes intense, first class can be “declassified”, i.e. opened up to all passengers, regardless of their tickets. But there is no automatic right to occupy first class. Ad hoc declassification typically happens after other trains have been cancelled or seriously delayed.

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Put simply, not all rail operators offer seat reservations. Their carriages don't have specific letters and you won't find any seat numbers, either. If there's no specific seat reserved on your ticket, then you can sit in any seat in the class of accommodation that your ticket is for.

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Amtrak doesn't have assigned seats, but they may have assigned cars. Even so, there is nothing stopping you from wandering around and sitting together, just take the tag they put above the seat and get to the right car before Spokane.

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The era of the freight train-hopping, job-seeking hobo faded into obscurity in the years following the Second World War. Many hobos from this era have since “caught the westbound,” or died. A small number of so-called hobos still hop freight trains today.

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There are priority seats on all of our trains, usually near the doors and marked with a P sign. Most people are happy to give up their seat to someone more in need of it. Simply show your card to someone sitting in a priority seat and they'll see that you have a need for one of these seats.

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What kind of security do you go through on Amtrak? None! The train stops, you get on, and you go! They have the option of asking for ID, but rarely do.

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They do random bag checks sometimes, but they don't make everything go through security like at the airport.

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Checked baggage service is available at a number of our stations and on many trains and Thruway Services. Not all trains or locations are equipped to handle checked baggage. Before you travel, make sure to check and see if your train and origin and destination stations accept checked baggage.

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