An open coach is a railway passenger coach that does not have compartments or other divisions within it and in which the train seats are arranged in one or more open plan areas with a centre aisle. The first open coaches appeared in the first half of the 19th century in the United States. The prototype for their design were the passenger cabins in the river steamers which were then widespread in America. As a result of their origin they were originally known in Europe as American system passenger coaches or American coaches and the idea soon caught on in European railway companies. Initially they were mainly used for rural regional services, whilst urban local trains and local-distance services were dominated by compartment coaches. Several European railways such as the Royal Württemberg State Railways and the Swiss Northeastern Railway, however, preferred open coaches from the start for all types of train.