For journeys where seat reservations are required, you must travel on the specific train listed in your Journey Guide. These services are usually high-speed, international, or night trains, and they have limited seating and compulsory booking to manage capacity. Your reservation secures you a seat on that exact departure, so you cannot board an earlier or later train without arranging a new reservation.
For journeys where reservations are not required, typically regional or short-distance trains, you have much more flexibility. You can take any other ‘no reservation required’ service on your chosen travel day, as long as you have no onward journeys that are subject to seat reservations.
Just remember to:
Search for your chosen train in the Planner tab of the Rail Planner app
Add it to My Trip
Activate the journey before boarding
On these services, you can sit in any unreserved seat and show your activated Pass if requested by train staff.
