When buying a train ticket, a person can choose between different types of carriages: luxury, sleeping car with an increased level of comfort, sitting, reserved seat or compartment. Most often, preference is given to the last two options.
What is reserved seat and coupe
A reserved seat is a budget passenger carriage. As a rule, such a carriage has 54 seats. It is divided into 9 sections, each with 6 passenger shelves, 3 overhead bins, 3 under-bins and 2 tables. In addition, there are two toilets in each carriage. The reserved seat became widespread in Soviet times: when developing such cars, the main goal was to reduce the cost of tickets, and in order to reduce the cost of transportation, it was decided to sacrifice the comfort of passengers.
In the compartment cars there are 9 or 10 compartments, each of which is separated by partitions and doors. The number of seats, as a rule, is no more than 40. There are no side shelves in the compartment, but there is a mirror on the door, and in some carriages there are also individual air conditioners for each "room". The compartment cars also have two toilets and a special water heater, with which you can boil water and prepare tea or food.
The main differences between a reserved seat and a coupe
Since there are no side bays in the compartment, the berths in them are longer than in the reserved seat, and the corridor is narrower. This advantage is enjoyed by many passengers, especially very tall people. No less important is the fact that the compartment has special doors that separate the sleeping places from the general corridor: if in the reserved seat every person passing through the carriage can see other passengers, and what is on their table, then in the compartment you can go to any a moment to close and rest in peace. If you don't have to travel next to strangers, you don't even have to worry about the safety of your belongings. In addition, it is much more comfortable and pleasant to sleep in a compartment, and it is easier to maintain an optimal microclimate. In short, if comfort is important to you, choose a coupe, not a reserved seat.
In second-class carriages, men and women travel together. When buying a ticket in a compartment, you can ask only for men or only for women. If you are confused by the prospect of riding next to members of the opposite sex, this option will help you solve the problem without difficulty.
Of course, comfort comes at a price. The prices for a compartment are about 2-3 times higher than for reserved seats, since we are talking about more comfortable coaches with a small number of passengers. But at the same time, it is more difficult to buy a ticket, since the number of seats in each carriage is one and a half times less. Thus, the most important difference between a reserved seat and a coupe is that the former is cheap and the latter is convenient.
