Chance of getting a seat is one of the most important factors considerd in modal choice. In this paper the concept of seating utility is proposed to analyse commuter's behaviour based on seat preference. Seating utility is evaluated by decrease of disutility by seating during a line-haul time. In order to examine applicability of the model, commuter's train choice behaviour was observed in a subway station in Tokyo. Their train choice can be explained by the principle of minimization of expected disutility. Estimation of seating utility distribution shows that there exist two groups of users, one gives fairly high value to getting seats, and another gives relatively low value. The mean value of seating utility is estimated 30 per cent of standing line-haul time.