I know this has been discussed for airlines. But on Amtrak (the American passenger rail system), I was traveling Cascades from Portland to Seattle, and the woman in front of me had purchased two tickets to have her own row. They said absolutely not, and it was not at all a busy train. She had paid for it, but could not get two seat cards.
Is this an administrative issue, because it's the same name on both, or a security issue, or what? I kind of felt sorry for her (in the end, she had almost an entire car for herself the whole duration)? Is there an alternative to it, like on airlines, if I wanted to pay for two seats?