In the last post I described how people usually choose their seats on Swiss trains. The next thing you need to know is: You don’t move once you sat down or occupied your standing location. Only in very rare circumstances would a traveler on Swiss trains move.
Let’s first review a few situations in which it might be quite reasonable to move, but in which people generally don’t move.
1. A single traveler sits in a group of four seat. A family of four enters. They cannot find four seats together, so have to split up. It might be reasonable for the single traveler to get up and move to another group of four seats, where another single traveler is sitting. But that is not done. Instead, the single traveler stays put and pretends not to notice the family.
2. A single traveler sits in a group of four seats. A school class of twenty children enters the carriage. It might be reasonable for the traveler to move, so that the school class can sit in one area of the train. But that is not done. Instead, the traveler stays put, suffering the chatter of school children around him.
3. A single traveler does not want to sit beside anyone and therefore stands in the area normally marked out for wheel-chairs or prams. A mother with pram enters. The single traveler does not move and the mother with the pram needs to stand in the aisle. I have experienced some mothers, who have quite forcefully demanded some space. Also, if the person in the space also has a pram, they usually are considerate and make space for more prams. The one common exception to the rule of not moving is when a wheelchair enters the train: people do make space for the disabled.

There are some situations when it is more common to move and accepted. If you did not get a good seat when you entered the train, and it becomes free and you still have to travel some way, people often switch seats. Such seats are those at the window in the direction of travel; seats with less people around; or any seat at all. But if you already have a nice seat beside the window, people usually don’t move, even though there might be fewer people in other parts of the train.

Obviously I am somewhat critical of people never moving, but have become adjusted to the behaviour. Still, it would be nice if the Swiss could become a little bit more flexible in their seat movements on trains and be considerate to those getting on the train, as well as not being ashamed of looking for a better seat later on.

Readers’ Digest Version: People on Swiss trains stay put, especially if they have a good seat beside the window.