1. Since many people cannot book tickets for even hard seats on a train, they are forced to buy tickets that allow them just standing room on a train.
2. Passengers may unwillingly get stuck with hard seats for an overnight trip.
3. Hard and soft seating had emptied a bit and some passengers spread their lengths across the seats.
4. In fact, railway stations allow reservations for hard seats even hard berths only four days in advance.
5. A family dressed in matching black leather coats boarded in Fuxin and arranged themselves on the seats outside our hard sleeper compartment.