The seat reservation tool is not working

I've just discovered the same and reported to Eurail staff (@Nanja). Hopefully they can fix it soon but I assume it will at least take until tomorrow.

If you say which train you'd like to book (departure, destination, date, time), then it may be possible to give alternative ways of booking.

I only get this 

Trains in GB cannot be reserved after the RDG (which unites all GB operators) decided that it wasn't necessary anymore to be connected to other reservation systems (not Brexit-related). You can now only book GB reservations by contacting the operators directly or by booking at a station in GB. Or if you find a rare travel agency who can sell GB domestic tickets (but they will only give reservations for tickets they sell). Seat reservations in GB are usually free of charge.

London - Glasgow is operated by Avanti West Coast. In their information, it doesn't sound like reservation is mandatory but they would like you to book one. Interrail also say reservation on Avanti West Coast is recommended. I'd try to contact them via Facebook or twitter and ask for a reservation. You can specify your preferences, according to this page.

Glasgow - Oban is operated by Scotrail. Reservations are optional but there are usually enough free seats so I wouldn't bother. If you want one, you can call them or try their Facebook, twitter or Whatsapp.

@Nanja, it looks like RDG is sending incorrect data about Avanti West Coast trains to the European Timetable Centre / MERITS: it should be "reservation recommended” rather than "reservation mandatory”. Maybe you can feed that back to RDG?

@rvdborgt  Many thanks! Very helpful!

Hi @Nanja , I went to book now but it keeps coming up with error messages, is there still an issue?

I can get to the payment page using Chrome.

1. Which browser are you using?
2. At which step do you get stuck?
3. Please post a screenshot of any error message you see.
4. Please post details of the train(s) you're trying to book: origin, destination, date, departure time.

Hi @Nanja , the website is still not working for booking reservations.  I tried safari and chrome.  Neither one is working.

Not working as of March 5 

Attempts to book seats gives the enclosed error, after the website tries for few minutes…..

Hi @Hooli34 and @Krishk, the issue was resolved but seems to be back indeed. Our IT team is aware and working on it. I'll keep you posted. Cheers, 

Hi @rvdborgt, regarding your comment on RDG data on Avanti West Coast trains, we've checked in with them and they are not going to change the attributes on merits because they are specific to Eurail only but rather would like us to do it on our side. The only way for us to adjust attributes ourselves is to do this by applying the rule for every train number that should have reservation optional instead of mandatory. This solution is not desired as it requires a lot of work, maintenance and is prone to mistakes, because we would need all train numbers that need to have changed information. In case any of those trains would change a number or there would be a new one, information won't apply anymore. 

So Avanti West Coast admit they are sending incorrect data but refuse to correct it themselves and ask you to do their work? I understand you're not going to do that.

And what do they mean by “specific to Eurail"? The incorrect attribute "compulsory reservation” is shown by many other planners that use MERITS data. So in that sense, it is not specific to Eurail.

Example from DB planner:

Example from ÖBB planner:

I'd go back to them and say they're distributing their incorrect data to all other timetable planners, they're all showing it, so please correct it in your next MERITS update.

Hi, RDG just notified us that they indeed have some issues in getting the right data into merits. Regarding the Eurail data, our reservation specialist and RDG are looking into other possible solutions that we can help with from our side. I will keep you updated. Cheers, 

Update: we have reevaluated it and the conclusion is that we can only make changes from our side if they are using train numbers. Unfortunately, they are not so we informed them that the only ways to display the correct information is for them to correct attributes in merits or start with using train numbers. RDG is now looking into the option to update the train numbers. 

Hi, I have some updates here, we changed attributes from mandatory to optional for all trains in the UK. Unfortunately, for technical reasons, we cannot specify mandatory for sleeper train. Cheers,