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Comment by mathieuh | Hacker News Reader

Trains accelerate and decelerate relatively often compared to planes where you only really notice changes in velocity at take-off and landing so I don't think it would make a difference

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Japanese limited express trains and the bullet train have very few stops (or none, depending), and the ride is very smooth.. still, my wife (Japanese) can't sit backwards-facing without getting sick. Not sure what causes this.

It would not surprise if there was something about human physiology that thinks it’s unnatural to go backwards. Our eyes are in front of our head for a reason.

I don't know for sure, but is very common to see parents carrying children facing backwards in their arms, while walking, with no ill effects. No big deal.

Sure, but there’s a speed limit to that, and you sort of trust the person holding you implicitly.

Not really applicable to an aircraft hurtling along at 300m/s

But you don't notice that speed.. (ref. Newton and Einstein and others). I agree with those saying it must be psychological.. well, mostly. Sometimes you do physically notice that you're facing backwards. At takeoff, for example. And, to some extent, landing. Maybe when banking too. I haven't tried, obviously (the backwards-facing unfolding seats for the crew would be the place to test this).

Tangentially related: The seats on Shinkansen trains can be rotated to adapt to the needs of the passengers.

Many US commuter-rail trains also have reversible seats. The train crew generally orient these to be forward-facing for the direction of travel, possibly excepting the first seat in a car.

(The trainsets reverse directions without being turned around themselves. Those using locomotives rather than electric traction operate in "pusher" mode for half their trips. There's an operator cab in the end car for such trips.)

They can be rotated, but that's supposed to be done by train personnel when changing directions. That's the primary purpose. The only time you're allowed to rotate them yourselves is when you're e.g. a group of four - then you can have two sets of seats face each other.

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