Leather Seats On Trains

[LM 170]

All/Most Leather Seats on trains in the UK are 1st Class Seats. I do know that the following do have them but are there anymore on any other services ?

First Great Western - 1st Class on HSTs/Class 180s.
East Midlands Trains - 1st Class on Class 222s.
First Hull Trains - 1st Class on Class 180s.

 

[Yew]

EMT's First class seats on their HST's have leather Headrests.

The caledonian sleeper has leather sofas on the lounge car (that really should be taken out and replaced with more tables)

 

[Carlisle]

First group seem to have a thing about leather seats ,they are installing them on busses too both new and re furnished ones

 

[Butts]

First group seem to have a thing about leather seats ,they are installing them on busses too both new and re furnished ones

Perhaps they have bought a "job lot" of leather from somewhere.

Shame they can't extend the largesse for my Falkirk to Glasgow journey

 

[NLC1072]

I prefer leather seats for public transport as I see it as way more hygienic...

 

[Manchester77]

They were installed into the first class section ofthe 321 demonstrator unit and eversholt proposed them for their Mark IV first class coaches.

 

[yorksrob]

Ooh no. Moquette for me I'm afraid.

 

[JonathanH]

First group seem to have a thing about leather seats ,they are installing them on busses too both new and re furnished ones

Perhaps they have bought a "job lot" of leather from somewhere.

Shame they can't extend the largesse for my Falkirk to Glasgow journey

I think it was because they recruited Giles Fearnley as head of their bus division. He possibly started the craze off with the leather seats fitted to the upper deck of the Ripon to Harrogate to Leeds bus service.

http://www.busandcoach.com/newspage.aspx?id=5002&categoryid=0

Ooh no. Moquette for me I'm afraid.

Yes, me too. Leather seats are very much a matter of individual taste and I don't really like the idea of it being imposed on journeys I make. Moreover, some of the leather used can be really uncomfortable and look tatty quite quickly. I'm not a big fan of whatever they fitted in first class of the East Midlands Meridians, there isn't enough "give" in the heavy leather used.

 

[Bantamzen]

I have to say having used a few FirstBus service with leather seats, I'm really not a fan. If the bus brakes suddenly you can find yourself sliding off the edge of the ruddy seats, especially those at the back of the bottom deck of double deckers. And if they are anything like my mother's Merc, they heat up just a treat in summer & bright sunshine....

 

[broadgage]

Ooh no. Moquette for me I'm afraid.

Leather is expensive, but long lasting and hygeinic and may well come into more general use, it is also non flammable and is a natural renewable resource.

My preference is however for moquette if clean and well maintained. I find the newish leather seats in first class on FGW to be unduly slippery, especialy if combined with a seat that is stuck in the recline position, or that unexpectedly defaults to the reclined position.

 

[GodAtum]

Im always slipping and sliding in the FGW HSTs lol.

 

[Lankyline]

The point about hygiene & cleaning is very relevant, we used to launder the seat covers for Merseyrail many moons ago and you really wouldn't a detailed description of what we had to clean !

From a cost point of view, it is cheaper in the long run to fit leather seats, fabric covers are subject to excessive wear & tear from not only passenger abuse, but cleaning chemicals & detergents ( we never used bleach) & the laundry process itself. Replacement costs outweigh over time the relatively cheap purchase cost of the covers, especially when you add in the factor of service life of the train / bus etc

 

[Lampshade]

First group seem to have a thing about leather seats ,they are installing them on busses too both new and re furnished ones

Easier to clean, only problem is if you're wearing a suit, every time the driver brakes you end up on the floor

 

[Lockwood]

It's time for my dumb question of the week! *fanfare*

Strict vegans and leather seats on a long journey. What'd happen?

 

[D6975]

I travelled in 1st up to London earlier this year and found the leather seats on the FGW HST very comfortable.

The ones now appearing on Bristol buses are nice too, I don't have any problem with slippage, probably due to my 100kg + and not wearing slippy material.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Leather is expensive, but long lasting and hygeinic and may well come into more general use, it is also non flammable and is a natural renewable resource.

It's time for my dumb question of the week! *fanfare*

Strict vegans and leather seats on a long journey. What'd happen?

As far as I'm aware, the 'leather' used on Firstgroup's buses has even less bovine content than a Tesco Value 'beef' burger so I don't think the synthetic seats are either natural or unethical! As for the EMT/FGW first class examples I haven't encountered them so couldn't possibly comment, other than to mention that as far as I understand it the process (Tanning?) of making cow-hide pliable, durable and suitable for use is often extremely harmful to the environment and to the water supply where the process takes place.

 

[JonathanH]

As far as I'm aware, the 'leather' used on Firstgroup's buses has even less bovine content than a Tesco Value 'beef' burger so I don't think the synthetic seats are either natural or unethical! As for the EMT/FGW first class examples I haven't encountered them so couldn't possibly comment, other than to mention that as far as I understand it the process (Tanning?) of making cow-hide pliable, durable and suitable for use is often extremely harmful to the environment and to the water supply where the process takes place.

This press release suggests that First Group's bus leather is real.
http://www.muirhead.co.uk/AndrewMuirhead/AMS_News_2012.aspx

Given that the vinyl / PVC of the 1970s started to lose favour in 1978 and was almost entirely eliminated in new build buses by the time of deregulation in the 1980s, the use of synthetic materials would appear to be a backward step.

 

[broadgage]

I am virtualy certain that the leather used on FGW HSTs is real, when new there was a distinct smell of leather ff the carriage had been unused for a while.

Only slightly O/T, I am aware of a farmer who has spent a lot of money on replacing barbed wire fences with substantial timber and plain wire. This is to avoid cattle scratching themselves on barbed wire and thereby rendering the hides less valuable when the beasts are slaughtered.

The animals are reared mainly for eating, but sale of the hides adds to profits if these have large undamaged areas. (damaged cow hides are fine for shoe making since only small pieces are used, but for furniture large areas without blemishes or imperfections are needed)

 

[D6975]

This press release suggests that First Group's bus leather is real.
http://www.muirhead.co.uk/AndrewMuirhead/AMS_News_2012.aspx

Given that the vinyl / PVC of the 1970s started to lose favour in 1978 and was almost entirely eliminated in new build buses by the time of deregulation in the 1980s, the use of synthetic materials would appear to be a backward step.

I travelled home from work on Firstbus's 'leather' seats on Friday.
Unless someone has managed to breed cattle with a hide that has a repeating pattern on it with a pitch of approximately 9cm, then it ain't real.

 

[yorksrob]

I travelled home from work on Firstbus's 'leather' seats on Friday.
Unless someone has managed to breed cattle with a hide that has a repeating pattern on it with a pitch of approximately 9cm, then it ain't real.

That's genetic engineering for you !

 

[Daimler]

I travelled home from work on Firstbus's 'leather' seats on Friday.
Unless someone has managed to breed cattle with a hide that has a repeating pattern on it with a pitch of approximately 9cm, then it ain't real.

I seem to remember reading some explanation of how leather is produced which explained that lower-quality leather (such as that used in most cars and - by extension - trains and buses) is passed through a kind of leather grain pattern press in order to conceal imperfections, so perhaps this is what you saw on that bus.

It is a long time since I read it though, so I'm very sketchy on the details!

 

[Bevan Price]

I hate to lower the tone of the discussion, and in coaches with working air conditioning, it should not be a problem. However, in hot sweaty weather conditions, I find that my skin tends to stick to leather (real or synthetic.)

 

[JonathanH]

I hate to lower the tone of the discussion, and in coaches with working air conditioning, it should not be a problem. However, in hot sweaty weather conditions, I find that my skin tends to stick to leather (real or synthetic.)

That problem led to my childhood dislike of buses with vinyl seats. Indeed, I referred to them at the time as sticky seats. This is one reason why I don't like the reappearance of leather / vinyl.