The Man in Seat Sixty-One by Emily Mitchell

Who is the Man in Seat Sixty-One?

He is Mark Smith, a railwayman who travels the world to find us all transport link across land and sea to take us to places both near and far. His website teaches us to enjoy the journey as well as the destination, and how to travel easily and cheaply as an alternative to the eco-enemy that is air travel.

Why Seat Sixty-One?

Zaharoff, a notorious arms dealer, would always book compartment 7 on the Orient Express to or from Istanbul. When treating himself to Eurostar's first class, Mark Smith would always request seat 61 (in cars 7, 8, 11 or 12) to make sure that his seat lined up with the window, one of a cosy pair of seats facing each other across a table complete with table lamp, rather like those in an old Pullman car. It became something of a tradition, and then the name of his brainchild, seat61.com.

What does www.seat61.com aim to do?

Firstly, seat61 aims to help people who have decided that they don’t want to travel by air for any reason, such as fear of flying or environmental issues, and gives them easy and reliable transport links to wherever the wish to go. It also encourages people to enjoy the journey as part of their holiday, instead of just aiming to get to their destination as soon as possible and seeing the journey as an inconvenience.

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