Deutsche Bahn now offers an individual graphical display for seat reservations for most of its ICE trains when booking on www.bahn.com. Customers get a display of their preferred seat on the train carriage map according to their specific parameters, similar to airline booking systems. The tool also shows alternative seats if the desired seat is already booked. On selected ICE lines users also receive information about the direction of travel. 
“With the graphical seat reservation display we are able to fulfil one of the frequently demanded customer services,” said Ulrich Homburg, Member of the Board for Passenger Division of Deutsche Bahn. “Many of our passengers appreciate being able to know where in the carriage they will be sitting – whether in the middle or near the exit.”
The new online booking functionality is a pilot project, so in the first phase about 75% of the current ICE services are included. The classes ICE 2 and ICE TD are excepted as DB currently refurbishes these types of trains. Once the redesign of the carriages is completed, these services will be integrated into the booking system as well.
Deutsche Bahn offers the graphical seat display on its online portals www.bahn.com and the corporate travel portals www.bahn.com/bahncorporate/en.
