"B Vaughan" wrote in message
news:8t71m2pafhnj1qn1knigkf90althfdddha@4ax.com...
> On Sun, 19 Nov 2006 11:45:56 -0600, "Donald Newcomb"
> wrote:
>
> >
> >"Dan" wrote in message
> >news:1163956126.391334.251830@f16g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> >> I have posted previously in this group and gotten many good responses.
> >> I just have one additional question. For the first leg of my trip, it
> >> says our assigned seats are "Coach 2: 53 -, 54".
> >>
> >> Correct me if I am wrong, but I take this to mean I need to board the
> >> second train car from the front and look for seats 53 and 54.
> >
> >Actually you need to board coach #2. This could be the second car from
the
> >front or the second from the end. (This is Italy we are talking about
here,
> >not Japan.)
>
> There's a simple reason why the cars are sometimes numbered from the
> front and sometimes from the rear, and it has nothing to do with the
> Italian soul. In stations such as Rome Termini, the tracks end at the
> station. The train pulls in with the cars numbered from the front and
> pulls out with the cars numbered from the rear.
The comparison with Japan was that in large Japanese stations there will be
a queue for a particular coach painted on the platform. If you stand in that
queue the correct door for your coach will open right in front of you when
the train stops. In Italy there may be a sign saying where a coach will be
but it may actually be at the other end of the train.
> >>Is there
> >> an entrance for each train car or do you board the first car and keep
> >> walking until you are in the second car (are they even connected for
> >> that matter)? Are the seat numbers easily viewable?
> >
> >No that would be impossible. There are doors at each end of each car. Use
> >the door nearest your seat as described above.
>
> It's not impossible to walk through the cars; I've done it many times.
> However, when you're impeded with luggage, it's slow going and the
> people behind you might get impatient. It's especially difficult on
> the trains with closed compartments. These have a narrow aisle outside
> the compartments. When the train is full, the aisles will be occupied
> with people who have pulled down the little jump seats in the aisles.
"Impossible" was probably a poor choice of words. "Extremely difficult"
might have been better. Not if you are the only one getting on or off, mind
you, but that's not usually the case. I find boarding Italian trains to be
an "interesting" experience. Finding the easiest way to do it was a minor
study on one trip to Italy.
--
Donald R. Newcomb
DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net
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