Looking objectively, the improved forward vision offered by theatre-style seating on a coach should mean the configuration is popular with operators involved in coach touring. But it’s not, and for many, still seen as a bit of a novelty. Coach tourism specialist Stuart Render questions whether times are changing
There has long been a connection between coach touring and going to the theatre.
In both situations you sit in your seat and watch something unfold. On a coach it’s the scenery. At the theatre it’s the story. On a coach there’s a comfort break. At the theatre there’s an interval.
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At the theatre the quality of the view of the stage (and that’s really the only view that matters) can depend on whether you’re sitting in the stalls or the dress circle.
Incidentally, did you know that the dress circle is so named because those seats, often the most expensive in the house, originally attracted a clientele that liked to wear evening dress for their visit?
The seating rake – the angle at which the seats slope towards the stage – varies tremendously. It can be modest or non-existent in the stalls, gentle in the dress circle, and really rather steep in the upper tiers.
But how many times have you found yourself pleased with the forward-facing view, only to have a tall person come and sit in the seat in front of you?
The remedies are few and far between. You can move seats, you can gradually lean to one side, or, and I’ve seen this happen, politely ask the ‘tall’ person to slouch a bit.
On a coach, the appearance of a tall person in the seat in front of you isn’t quite so serious. After all, you have a window to look out of, or perhaps you can admire the view of the road ahead on a drop-down or seat-back monitor.
For many years coach manufacturers seemed to give little thought to passengers’ forward view. Unless you were sat at the front, or in the middle seat on the back row, the forward view didn’t really feature very much in the enjoyment of your journey.
Even front seat passengers could have it tough. A sunny day would often see the driver pulling down the full-width sun blind, effectively obscuring the road ahead. Today of course, sun blinds are usually a mix of a solid panel for the driver, and a gauze that allows passengers some element of a forward-facing (albeit slightly mottled) view.
At the beginning of the 20th century, charabancs often had tiered seating. In the 1980s, German coach manufacturer Drögmöller caused a ripple in the coach industry by producing a touring coach with that most daring of an idea, an interior floor that sloped from the back to the front of the vehicle. The idea was a good one, but sales were relatively low. In time the idea was picked up by other manufacturers, notably Van Hool, which brought us the Astronef, a model today marketed as a ‘travelling theatre’. Indeed!
At the Euro Bus Expo trade show at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in October 2018, Volvo unveiled its all-new 9900, complete with unique ‘Z’ design window line. The interior featured theatre-style raked seating, a design inherited from its sister model, the 9700. The combination of the raked seating and a full-height windscreen now offers the two key elements for better forward vision.
There is one potential downside. Having a raked saloon can lead to limited headroom at the rear of the coach. Having had the opportunity to test the 9900 a few weeks ago I can say that the headroom is really rather good. Of course, I’m not that tall!
So why isn’t theatre-style more popular than it is? Talking with a few operators it seems that a normal, flat passenger saloon is what people expect. A raked saloon is, well, a bit different. In an uncertain world, why take any risks?
However, for an operator looking to differentiate themselves in a challenging market place, the 9900 could prove to be a catalyst for change.
Perhaps it’s time for curtain-up on theatre-style seating.
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