I was fairly impressed that arriving at the station, I could book a space on a train that had departed about an hour ago and was due to arrive at that station in about 15 mins. The reservation does seem to get communicated to the train crew as they are speeding along the rails. And they no longer require a seat reservation when booking a bike space, so you can take a bike on an open ticket. Bike space reservations, however, are fairly pointless unless there's a way of actually keeping the space clear (of unreserved bikes, luggage, surfboards, catering trolleys, other passengers, etc).