Amtrak debuts new seating layout on Northeast trains, including rear-facing seats

Rear-facing seats are debuting on Amtrak's key Northeast trains.

The company announced Tuesday that beginning March 2, all trains in the Northeast Corridor will be transitioning to what it calls a "fixed seating" layout.

What this means is that half of the seats in each train car will be arranged in a forward-facing layout, and the other half will be in a rear-facing layout.

At the outset, this new seating configuration will roll out on all existing Northeast Regional trains, followed later this year by the current Amtrak Acela fleet.

Amtrak's two upcoming new fleets — the long-awaited second-generation Acela and Airo trainsets — will also sport an equal mix of forward- and rear-facing seats.

Amtrak says that this new configuration will allow it to offer more frequencies by reducing the time required between trips.

Right now, many of the trains in the Northeast primarily feature seats in the direction of travel. Some exceptions include the Keystone train, which operates between New York and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with stops in Philadelphia and nearby towns.

Rear-facing seats generally receive mixed reactions from travelers. Personally, I prefer facing the direction of travel when on a train, but I don't mind sitting in a rear-facing seat when flying.

In fact, some of the world's best airline business-class products feature alternating forward- and rear-facing seats. These include Qatar's Qsuite product, as well as All Nippon Airways' The Room.

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Even American Airlines offers rear-facing seats in many of its business-class cabins, though that product is far inferior to the likes of ANA's and Qatar's.

As for Amtrak, the company claims that "most customers say they are comfortable traveling backward and it makes no difference to their onboard experience."

Of course, it remains to be seen how this retrofit actually affects travelers' preferences, but note that forward-facing seats are going to be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

If you're planning to take the train from an intermediate stop, I'd recommend arriving at the platform early to be one of the first people on the train, maximizing your chances of finding a forward-facing seat.

Amtrak did say that if you have a strong preference for a forward-facing seat, then you can ask a conductor to help you find one.

Perhaps the company is training its conductors to ask other passengers to move their seats if someone has a strong preference for a forward-facing seat.

Going forward, the only way to guarantee that you receive your preferred seat assignment is to book a business-class ticket, which includes advance seat selection as part of the booking process.

Business-class tickets on the Acela, Northeast Regional, Carolinian, Vermonter and Amtrak Virginia all allow you to select your seat at the time of booking.

You can also change your seat anytime before departure using the Amtrak website or mobile app.

But for everyone else, you may want to arrive at the train station a little bit earlier to maximize your shot of grabbing your preferred seat.

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