East Coast new livery Mk4 set at Doncaster

[Aictos]

Love the parachutes joke, how much do you reckon East Coast would sell them onboard for?

As to the TV screens on FCCs, I believe they're intended for news, weather, advertising etc...and not showing repeats of The Simpsons, ie only have one or two per coach in the vestibule vs every seatback as per Coach D with the FGW sets.

No idea what it could be, did think it was something ticket related but looking at the wording, it sounds like something that has never been done before or very very rarely - maybe they might introduce a daily Pullman service along the lines of the WAG Express!

In all seriousness, it's interesting what East Coast are planning.

 

[philjo]

I saw the new-liveried set travelling north on the slow lines between Stevenage & Hitchin on Saturday morning. Though the 91 was in the blue livery.

 

[jon0844]

I remember around Christmas time when myself and a load of other tech journalists started to report on what Apple might do with the iPad (we knew they had a tablet coming but little else).

The problem was that we all started to get a little carried away and came up with our prediction of what Apple might do, which was far better than they eventually announced. We were all rather disappointed with the end result!

I wonder if that's going to happen here?

"Is that it? But what about the parachutes and the fully-flat beds in first class?"

 

[silentone]

An enhanced First Class offer seems the most obvious choice but there hasn't been any sign of that, the menu's just changed and the current comp items retained as they are well received.

The fact whatever it is has to go via the Company Council and have staff briefings suggests it is this. But everything currently being done in catering is the opposite to that plan.

The TV and onboard entertainment wouldn't have remained a secret as some company somewhere would have been bragging about it if it was going to happen.

On the subject of Wifi however - that has been improving on some sets but I think they had planned this anyway.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

Not sure that this "rumour" of running Pendolinos on the ECML is related to the presumed "announcement" we're discussng on here, or not, but that's the story currently being drip fed/leaked on this thread.

 

[jon0844]

On that basis, it has nothing to do with this newly painted Mk4 then.

Unless they're going to make it look like a Bendy-leano and pretend they're using them to stop Virgin moaning...

 

[silentone]

Not sure that this "rumour" of running Pendolinos on the ECML is related to the presumed "announcement" we're discussng on here, or not, but that's the story currently being drip fed/leaked on this thread.

I've just found this story. Could be linked, could be just nonsense!

I guess the lure of new rolling stock would get them excited, might be part of the fast Eureka service. It doesn't seem to make sense that they would use it to run the 1 return trip Glasgow service seen as they wanted to get rid of the services there.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

. . . It doesn't seem to make sense that they would use it to run the 1 return trip Glasgow service seen as they wanted to get rid of the services there.

Exactly!

No one goes launching a "new" service that is about to be cut back

 

[RichW1]

Liking this livery which seems unpopular on here! I would remind one poster who said it looks american to remember the Silver Jubilee trains from yesteryear.

Quite frankly I'm so pleased to see a train that looks sleak in silver with darker doors than a toothpaste coloured train than annoys the hell out of me and has different coloured doors to the rest of the train that ruins most liveries anyway! Sorry guys but I'm glad to see the back of complicated colour schemes. BR blue wasn't complex, intercity wasn't complex and this keeps it simple like a ICE train or TGV albeit it's not a High Speed Train.

Sorry for the strong opinion but it's a breath fresh air as far as I'm concerned! It would be nice to see Intercity's or long distance as it seems to be now have a livery separate from local and regional services differentiating the type of service it is. Too many operator get away with using HST's for example as regional services (with regard top their frequent stopping patterns) that are in no way related to older Intercity stopping patterns. But hey, seems not many people like this livery

 

[jon0844]

I am willing to wait until I see one in the flesh before passing a final comment, but from the pictures they look dull.

And the door thing seems to be pushing it on the high contrast requirements - but I am sure they DO comply.

I wonder what they would have looked like if they'd made the doors the same pink/purple colour though!

 

[LE Greys]

Once the train gets to 125mph, it will take off and fly to Edinburgh? That purple stripe is where the wings come out.

On the way back, passengers wishing to get off at Stevenage will have to alight by parachute.

I'm going up north again very soon. Remind me to fold it properly for the way back.

 

[RichW1]

And the door thing seems to be pushing it on the high contrast requirements - but I am sure they DO comply.

What the hell is this door contrast requirement for? I'm speechless. What kind of a policy is that?!! Who the hell thought of that? Like people can't find a door - this has no merit anywhere else in the world so why here? Ridiculous, ontop of which it ruins streamlining on liveries. Intercity would never have existed in that form if this was in place then!

Like I say I love the livery because of its simplicity; don't know why, when these trains now look much more like the old simplicity we were used to and trains on the continent people want multicoloured, complicated clown coloured liveries? I don't think those look good at all! Still all subjective I suppose. I happened to love the silver jubilee look but what can you do.

 

[boing_uk]

The contrasting door is for DDA compliance. In the same way we have to have contrasting colours for tactile paving at road junctions and the like.

As the majority of visually impaired people have some form of sight, the contrasting colours help distinguish where they need to be in relation to what they want such as the pushbutton unit on a pedestrian crossing, or the way to get on to a train.

 

[ert47]

What the hell is this door contrast requirement for? I'm speechless. What kind of a policy is that?!! Who the hell thought of that? Like people can't find a door - this has no merit anywhere else in the world so why here? Ridiculous, ontop of which it ruins streamlining on liveries. Intercity would never have existed in that form if this was in place then!

Its due to visibility regulations or something like that - doors are required to have a contrasting colour so that people with poor sight can easily identify them. Its like how in-train PIS need to be at a certain font size.

Cant exactly remember where I read that from though

 

[Skimble19]

I wonder what they would have looked like if they'd made the doors the same pink/purple colour though!

Like somebody had taken paint stripper to a First livery and forgot about the doors!!

 

[Harry Douthwaite]

When I had heard that East Coast had taken over from NXEC, I envisioned a return to the midnight-blue scheme, with an indigo stripe and perhaps a white or blue "ECML" in place of the golden "GNER" initials.

 

[Goldfish62]

Its due to visibility regulations or something like that - doors are required to have a contrasting colour so that people with poor sight can easily identify them. Its like how in-train PIS need to be at a certain font size.

Cant exactly remember where I read that from though

The requirement for colour-contrasting doors has been in place for quite a few years now. IMO it enhances some liveries, but not others.....

 

[jopsuk]

All the "current" liveries have been designed after the requirement for contrasting doors, haven't they? Apart from perhaps Chiltern- did they start with blue doors? GNER had to change their doors. Did the few DMUs still running around in Anglia livery have to have their doors changed too?

 

[Crossforth]

It seems abit odd this requirement as my mum has a visual impairment and has used trains for long before the requirement came in and had no problems. The other thing is surely you can tell where the door is by when it opens there is a hole in the train where you can get on sorry if I'm being too blunt.

 

[jon0844]

Well, funnily enough, people with some sort of disability did survive before various regulations and guidelines came in. The regulations are there to make things easier, and should be encouraged.

But, you do raise a good point. Depending on the door design, an open door may well 'disappear' and leave just the opening - so the only benefit of the contrasting colours is when the doors are closed. Some trains get around this by having bright lights at the sides of the door in the vestibule - but I am not sure if that's a requirement because many trains don't have them and haven't had them retrofitted.

Although it might make some trains look uglier than they could have been, given the preference of just helping a few people find the doors or having a train that is more photogenic - I know which one wins!

I haven't got time to look around, but I'd be quite surprised if there aren't trains in other countries that don't do the same. Mind you, most of the trains I've used abroad are very modern and have the bright lighting at low-level.

 

[RichW1]

Well, still not convinced; like Crossforth said; there's great hole in the train to see a door and my concern is, if you're visually impaired and need a different colour door to enter a train then......how the hell did you make it to the station in the first place?!!!!

No, I'm against this, I think it's minority requirements gone crazy. People finding something to do for the sake of it under the guise of reason. This simply ruins the liveries. Can you imagine a TGV or white ICE train with high visibility doors?! It would look awful, so maybe East Coast has been clever here and actually made this look good by using a different shade of the same colour!

 

[ert47]

The requirement for colour-contrasting doors has been in place for quite a few years now. IMO it enhances some liveries, but not others.....

*stares @ the last Govia Thameslink livery*
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Well, still not convinced; like Crossforth said; there's great hole in the train to see a door and my concern is, if you're visually impaired and need a different colour door to enter a train then......how the hell did you make it to the station in the first place?!!!!

No, I'm against this, I think it's minority requirements gone crazy. People finding something to do for the sake of it under the guise of reason. This simply ruins the liveries. Can you imagine a TGV or white ICE train with high visibility doors?! It would look awful, so maybe East Coast has been clever here and actually made this look good by using a different shade of the same colour!

Its like looking at those bumpy paving slabs at road crossings.... how do they get there?

 

[jon0844]

Well, still not convinced; like Crossforth said; there's great hole in the train to see a door and my concern is, if you're visually impaired and need a different colour door to enter a train then......how the hell did you make it to the station in the first place?!!!!

No, I'm against this, I think it's minority requirements gone crazy. People finding something to do for the sake of it under the guise of reason. This simply ruins the liveries. Can you imagine a TGV or white ICE train with high visibility doors?! It would look awful, so maybe East Coast has been clever here and actually made this look good by using a different shade of the same colour!

Well, I hope for the sake of others, you're never in a position to have any influence on how people do things for those with disabilities. To say that it ruins the liveries is an outrageous thing to say - and one you may regret if you ever should find your own eyesight failing in years to come.

Also, how do you know how that person got to the station in the first place? Maybe they got a lift, a taxi or spent hours walking along the street - what concern is it of yours? So, they struggled to get to the station and can certainly struggle a bit more to find the door. And what about those damned wheelchair spaces that take up value spaces for people who can walk... (sorry, I'll stop now as I know it will turn into a 1,000 word rant!).

 

[jopsuk]

Can you imagine a TGV ... with high visibility doors?!

Don't need to imagine, they have them.
Oddly, DB have contrasting doors on their red (regional/local) livery but not on their white (intercity/ICE) livery.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

All the "current" liveries have been designed after the requirement for contrasting doors, haven't they? Apart from perhaps Chiltern- did they start with blue doors? GNER had to change their doors. Did the few DMUs still running around in Anglia livery have to have their doors changed too?

As I recall the regulation was less stringent at one point, stating that only part of the door had to be a different colour, which is why the doors on Silverlink trains were not completely yellow (the green band ran the length of the train), although 321428 later received full yellow doors when it was used to advertise the daytripper ticket.

http://www.therailwaycentre.com/Pages EMU/Recognition EMU/IllusEMU_321.html

Also of note was MML's Turbostars as the 17 two car class 170 units were delivered before the requirement was introduced, but the ten additional centre cars were not, so whilst the driving cars had 'body coloured' doors, the centre cars had the grey/biege section of the door painted dark green.

The SWT 170s entered service with completely red doors

ISTR that red was applied to the GNER doors during the 'Project Mallard' refurbishments.

Chiltern's class 168/0s arrived before the requirement for different colour doors (1998?), and were later repainted/revinyled, but the 168/1s and 168/2s didn't. I think the repaint/revinyl happened after the extra coach was added to the 168/0s, but I don't know exactly when it happened. I don't recall having seen a 165 without the revised door colours though.

http://www.therailwaycentre.com/Pages DMU/Recognition DMU/IllusDMU_168.html

 

[jopsuk]

Anyone that is interested in exactly what the rules are can see here with the DfT providing a guide to them here

By which, incidentally, we see that on all stock introduced before 1999 technically is exempt, unless refurbished- technically, even dispensation can be sought here (and clearly has been with a lot of stock with regards certain aspects)- this is perhaps why in some cases for light work the word "refreshed" is often used?

 

[90019]

Can you imagine a TGV with high visibility doors?!

What, like this?

IIRC, most, if not all, new SNCB trains have contrasting doors, and a lot of the older stock has them marked out in some way.
CityRail in Australia have yellow doors on all their stock.
I think a lot of SBB stock has contrasting doors as well.

 

[jopsuk]

What, like this?

Quite. All the single deck stock (Sud-Est, POS, Atlantique, Reseau) has the same colour flashes. They do overlap the door area bit, but the point is not to mark the actual door, but where the door is.

 

[jon0844]

Are the different colours for first class/standard? That's quite clever thinking, given it now makes the colours useful for people with perfect vision.

We don't even seem to have the yellow stripe along the top of first class anymore, presumably as that spoils the liveries too. It's quite sad that the design of a train is more important than anything else in the minds of some people.

 

[90019]

Are the different colours for first class/standard? That's quite clever thinking, given it now makes the colours useful for people with perfect vision.

The blue is standard and the red is first IIRC.

We don't even seem to have the yellow stripe along the top of first class anymore, presumably as that spoils the liveries too.

You still get it on some trains.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Quite. All the single deck stock (Sud-Est, POS, Atlantique, Reseau) has the same colour flashes. They do overlap the door area bit, but the point is not to mark the actual door, but where the door is.

Most of it does, but the Corail stock has just the doors in different colours.